ARTOS Foundation is a non-profit organization established as an independent and international platform supporting the responsible integration of new technologies and artificial intelligence into the film industry.

Its aim is to build a network of collaboration in which professionals, producers, educational institutions, industry organizations, and technology companies not only work together, but also co-lead initiatives, share knowledge, and jointly develop new standards for creative and technological collaboration while preserving the values and structures long recognized and cultivated within the film industry.

We work according to the MIT Collaborative Innovation Network idea: a model in which artists, technologists, institutions, and companies develop knowledge and standards together what leads to a greater Collaborative Learning Network.

The foundation was established out of the belief that the greatest challenge of the generative era is not simply the emergence of new tools, but the lack of a common language, methodology, and standards of collaboration. First time in the history of cinema, pictures can be created not only by a camera, but also by generative algorithms. This means that the principles of cinematography, creative collaboration and authorship must be redefined and rooted in filmmaking practice.

We responds to this shift by creating an environment that organizes knowledge, experience, and responsibility around the creative process. It brings together research, education, production implementation, exchange of practices, and legal support into one coherent system, so that innovation strenghtens authorship.

How It Works

The ARTOS Foundation model is built on five pillars which together form a complete infrastructure for the responsible implementation of new technologies in film. These are not separate, closed departments, but interconnected areas of work in which knowledge and experience circulate freely among participants. Tools and methods are researched, transferred through education, tested in real productions, reinforced by the professional community, and secured by legal standards. Leadership in each of these areas is lead by the person and institutional partners with the highest competence in a given context, while the remaining pillars support them with their resources. Each subsequent implementation increases the competence of the entire environment, because its results return to the network as an open resource for all members.

PillarR

Mission

To help filmmakers and producers integrate new technologies and AI without losing authorship, creative leadership, quality of collaboration, or responsibility for the picture. ARTOS develops practical methods, shared language, and working standards that allow innovation to support filmmaking rather than fragment the creative process or displace those responsible for the final work.

Vision

A film industry in which new technologies and AI are shaped with filmmakers, not around them. ARTOS envisions a future where cinematographers, directors, producers, educators, technologists, and legal experts work together to build standards grounded in real practice, so that the evolution of cinema strengthens authorship, collaboration, and creative responsibility instead of dissolving them.

Learn together.

Build together.

Evolve together.

Programs and Approach

The foundation organizes all of its activities around a jointly developed standard of collaboration: the ARTOS Framework, which forms the basis of its operating model. It structures technological development, member education, and the principles of transparent use of tools so that these remain compliant with applicable AI regulations. The purpose of the Framework is not only to guide innovation, but to secure an inclusive model of collaboration in which existing professions can participate to the fullest extent, preserving the conditions for meaningful creative exchange and the best possible production outcomes.

All ARTOS programs are developed on the basis of this standard. They include independent research led by our teams, educational programs that both upskill working professionals and prepare the next generation for emerging industry standards, advisory support for producers and production managers in planning, budgeting, integration, and production, collaboration models for clients and studio teams, and community events that share findings and keep knowledge in circulation. At the same time, ARTOS works to stimulate the legal and regulatory evolution needed to align future frameworks with these standards and to protect authorship rights in practice.

What we've done so far

Pioneering Generative Cinematography

Lecture at the PSC New Technology Event presenting the fundamental knowledge on generative AI and video diffusion models as key to understanding the algorythimic processes for filmmakers.

Visual Leadership

10-day course on Generative Filmmaking during Film Spring Open 2025 camp. Key aspect of this course was teaching visual structure behind each narrative and the concept of Visual Leadership.

PSC Awards Gala

Presenting the concern for the future of cinematography and intention behind creating ARTOS Foundation to the cinematography community in Poland during the Polish Society of Cinematographer Award Ceremony.

Cinematography World Magazine Publication

CW Jan-Feb 26 Issue published Bartosz's text on the concept of Visual Leadership and thought piece on future of Cinematography.

Structure and Leadership

The Foundation is structured as a Collaborative Innovation Network so it's primarily a mission-led, trust-based network in which strategic direction remains clear, while knowledge, experimentation, and leadership circulate across an interdisciplinary community of filmmakers, technologists, legal experts, educators, and other partners.

In practice, this means ARTOS combines formal institutional responsibility with a decentralized, rotating model of collaboration, where initiatives are led by the people most relevant to a given challenge and strengthened through open exchange across the network.

Honorary Board Member: Janusz Kaminski

Two-time Academy Award–winning cinematographer and longtime creative collaborator of Steven Spielberg. Widely regarded as one of the defining image-makers of contemporary cinema, he has shaped the visual language of some of the most important films of the last decades, combining artistic authorship with technical mastery at the highest level of international filmmaking. His presence within ARTOS carries both symbolic and substantive importance: it affirms the Foundation’s commitment to authorship, excellence of craft, and the belief that the future of moving images must continue to be shaped by practitioners who understand both the responsibility and the expressive power of visual storytelling.

ADVISORY BOARD

The Advisory Board is composed of experts who actively co-shape the foundation’s program directions, partnership development, and industry standards. They contribute the perspectives of their respective fields and co-create a network of competencies. At present, its members are: Phedon Papamichael ASC, cinematographer; Pınar Seyhan Demirdag, AI director and co-founder of Cuebric; David Heuring, writer and industry strategist; Piotr Śliskowski PSC, cinematographer and President of the Polish Society of Cinematographers; Adam Bajerski PSC, cinematographer and AI researcher representing the Katowice Film School; Katarzyna Piotrowska-Mańko, attorney and intellectual property law specialist; Jacek Nagłowski, director and VR/AR researcher affiliated with the Łódź Film School; Joanna Matczuk - patent attorney and expert in IP law and new technologies and Sylwia Lewandowska, business psychologist, facilitator, and leadership coach.

PARTNERS

The ARTOS partnership program is the foundation of the network through which the Foundation can achieve its goals. By bringing together educational institutions, industry organizations, technology companies, and other committed partners, it creates the collaborative structure needed to build programs, develop standards, and test new models in practice. Partnership with ARTOS means active participation in shaping the ecosystem itself. Partners help lead initiatives, contribute knowledge, and strengthen the shared framework through which responsible innovation can take root across the industry.

Authorship.

Innovation.

Integration.

MANAGEMENT BOARD & TEAM

Strategic direction and operational coordination are the responsibility of the management board:

Bartosz Nalazek, PSC - Founder, President

Paweł "Spider" Pająk - Vice-President

Founders Note

ARTOS was founded in response to a defining moment for cinema. For the first time in film history, images can be generated not only through the camera and the set, but through algorithms and with that shift comes a new responsibility to protect authorship, creative leadership, and the collaborative nature of filmmaking. We believe these changes cannot be left to platforms or technology providers alone. They must be shaped by filmmakers, together with producers, educators, legal experts, and technology partners, in ways grounded in real practice. ARTOS exists to create that space: a platform for shared learning, experimentation, and the development of standards that help new technologies strengthen, rather than weaken, the craft, responsibility, and expressive power of cinema.

Bartosz Nalazek, founder

connect@artosfoundation.ai

FOUNDATION FOR INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE FILM INDUSTRY ARTOS

FUNDACJA NA RZECZ INTEGRACJI I ROZWOJU NOWOCZESNYCH TECHNOLOGII ORAZ SZTUCZNEJ INTELIGENCJI W BRANŻY FILMOWEJ ARTOS

KRS 0001221559, REGON 543915897, NIP 5214151555

Bank Account (PLN): 17114020040000330286458855

Al. Polski Walczącej 26 lok.49 00-712 Warsaw, Poland

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