# Cinema St. Louis Bans Generative AI from Festival Submissions Starting 2027

_Legal · published 2026-08-31_

Cinema St. Louis has adopted its first formal AI policy, prohibiting the use of generative AI to create any portion of a film's creative content in submissions to its festivals, including the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase and the St. Louis International Film Festival. The policy, announced August 27, takes effect for 2027 submissions and requires filmmakers to disclose any AI use during the application process. AI remains permitted as a support tool for functions such as VFX, editing, or post-production assistance. Under the new rules, a film like Anomaly — the AI-generated short that ignited the debate — would not be eligible for selection.

The policy emerged from months of community engagement led by Festival Curation & Education Director Emmett Williams, including a public screening of Anomaly at the Hi-Pointe Theatre in July and a panel featuring SAG-AFTRA chief counsel Sarah Fowler and Hysteria Fest director Paul Hibbard. Filmmaker Jack Snyder, who wrote the screenplay and directed Anomaly using generative AI for its visual imagery, said he understands the decision and views the project as an experiment; he also revealed that Anomaly has attracted initial funding interest toward a feature-length version to be made with human actors.

## Sources
- [stlamerican.com](https://www.stlamerican.com/arts-and-entertainment/cinema-st-louis-adopts-new-ai-policy-following-community-debate-sparked-by-anomaly/)
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