# AI Short Film 'The Gifted' Wins $3.5M Xprize and Path to Feature Production

_Funding · published 2026-09-28_

AI-generated sci-fi short "The Gifted," directed by Jeff Synthesized, has won the $3.5 million grand prize at the Future Vision Xprize, one of the world's largest film competitions. The award was announced live at Moonshots Live in downtown Los Angeles before a judging panel that included astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, novelist Neal Stephenson, and Roddenberry Entertainment CEO Rod Roddenberry. The film follows a boy who reconstructs his late mother from her texts, voice, and diary entries.

The prize package includes a $2.5 million equity investment toward a full-length feature film, with development and production backed by Range Media Partners and Google's 100 Zeros initiative, plus $100,000 for screenplay development. Republic Film will launch a public investment campaign to allow fans to invest in the feature. The Gifted also swept the Snap-sponsored SPECS Audience Choice Award, determined by public Elo-ranked head-to-head voting across all 65 official selections.

## Sources
- [gamesbeat.com](https://gamesbeat.com/ai-short-film-the-gifted-wins-3-5m-xprize-and-chance-to-become-feature-movie/)
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