JAILBIRD

JAILBIRD is a short experimental AI documentary written, directed and edited by Andrew Salter, a UK-based filmmaker and editor. It runs 3 minutes 39 seconds and was posted on Salter's YouTube channel on 8 June 2025. His site dates the project to April 2025.

Salter says the film began as a series of illustrated storyboards he drew in the hope of interesting real-life charity projects. He then described those drawings in detail to artificial intelligence and gradually refined the generated clips into the shots he edited together. Apart from the drawings shown at the end, he says all of the visuals were generated using AI. He has not named the generation models in the pages he published.

The film won the Gold award at the third Runway AI Film Festival (AIFF 2025), whose Grand Prix went to Jacob Adler's Total Pixel Space. The festival screened its ten finalists in New York and Los Angeles in June 2025 and then in IMAX theatres across ten US cities from 17 to 20 August 2025. Deadline called it a standout of the festival, with AI flourishes less obvious than in the more dreamlike entries, while Salter's site quotes The Hollywood Reporter calling it the most affecting and humanist piece.

Salter's other work is mostly editing and sizzle reels for television and music clients. His site lists credits with Passion Pictures, Plimsoll Productions and Dirty Hit. A film database that rates AI work lists the AI tool as Runway and gives mixed reviews from its automated critics.