Robert Gaudette

Robert Gaudette is a Canadian writer and director who makes films with generative AI. His own site places him in Welland, Ontario, while The Hollywood Reporter and The Guardian both interviewed him at his home in Toronto. THR, which put his age at 54, reports that he worked in tech, then as a full-time photographer, then in nonprofits, and taught himself editing and sound with no formal film training. After Midjourney and similar tools arrived in 2022 he began generating AI shots for agency pitches and Canadian TV series, which THR says is now his full-time work.

A Face Only a Mother Could Love, just under eight minutes long, follows Marcel Dupont, a Parisian man with a facial disfigurement who dances alone each night. Gaudette made it from a story he had written some time before, with no cast or crew; Reply names Grok, Nano Banana and Seedance as his tools, and AI Film History credits ElevenLabs voices and a Suno score. THR reports it took two weeks of 17-hour days, with shots regenerated many times so that scenes could run 30 seconds or longer.

The short won the $50,000 Grand Prix at Runway's AI Festival in New York in June 2026, and in September took first place at the Reply AI Film Festival in Venice, picked from over 3,000 entries by a jury chaired by Gabriele Salvatores. Other wins include best picture at Australia's Omni festival and best AI film at the New York International Film Awards; AI Film History counts twelve awards, among them Best Director (short) at the Portugal Indie Film Festival.

In August 2026 he and TV producer Kirk Hipkiss launched Nolia Studios, an AI-native production company announced from Toronto and supported by Hipkiss's Radical Point Media. Its slate includes The Little Cloud Thief, an animated property in development as a feature and a series. For directing work in Germany, his site lists WhatIf as his representation.