NYU Tisch brings Runway AI into its virtual production center

Hollywood may still be debating the ethics of generative video, but its top film schools are no longer waiting on the sidelines.

Runway just announced a new partnership with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, bringing its generative AI video suite directly into the Master of Professional Studies in Virtual Production curriculum.

Starting in the Spring 2025 semester, the tools will be taught inside a brand-new course titled Special Topics in Virtual Production. The classes will take place inside NYU's newly opened Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center.

From Scorsese's studio to the AI timeline

Running from January through May 2025, the course will be led by Leilanni Todd, an award-winning artist and member of Runway's Creative Partners Program.

Rather than treating AI as a novelty toy for one-off clips, the curriculum aims to weave Runway into every stage of the filmmaking pipeline.

Students will use the tools for early concept art, complex previsualization, and their final master's thesis projects.

NYU Tisch is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2025 cohort of its virtual production degree, positioning modern AI workflows as a core selling point for future filmmakers.

Why it matters

Generative video is moving from viral social media experiments straight into accredited film master's programs.

For emerging filmmakers and students, this hands-on access dramatically lowers the cost of previsualization. Turning an abstract script into dynamic visual pitches previously required expensive VFX teams and weeks of labor; Runway allows a single student to prototype camera moves and lighting moods in hours.

For Runway, the move is a clever grab for mindshare. While tech giants like OpenAI circle the entertainment industry with tools like Sora, embedding directly into Tisch means training the next generation of cinematographers, directors, and VFX supervisors on Runway's platform before they even graduate.

However, we think this integration highlights a growing tension. While universities embrace the tech for efficiency, traditional Hollywood unions and studios remain deeply cautious about copyright and intellectual property. Teaching students how to generate AI footage is one thing; preparing them to navigate the thorny commercial and legal realities of today's film industry is an entirely different challenge.