# Better Call CineCrew: Consistent Ultra-Long Narrative-to-Film Generation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.07720 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.07720/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 42 of its 49 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 42)

- [Wan: Open and Advanced Large-Scale Video Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.20314/) (2025)
- [Stable Video Diffusion: Scaling Latent Video Diffusion Models to Large Datasets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.15127/) (2023)
- [Video Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.03458/) (2022)
- [CogVideoX: Text-to-Video Diffusion Models with An Expert Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06072/) (2024)
- [HunyuanVideo: A Systematic Framework For Large Video Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03603/) (2024)
- [CogVideo: Large-scale Pretraining for Text-to-Video Generation via Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.15868/) (2022)
- [WorldSimBench: Towards Video Generation Models as World Simulators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.18072/) (2024)
- [Text2Video-Zero: Text-to-Image Diffusion Models are Zero-Shot Video Generators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13439/) (2023)
- [ModelScope Text-to-Video Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.06571/) (2023)
- [VideoCrafter2: Overcoming Data Limitations for High-Quality Video Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.09047/) (2024)
- [Latte: Latent Diffusion Transformer for Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.03048/) (2024)
- [VideoPoet: A Large Language Model for Zero-Shot Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.14125/) (2023)
- [MagicVideo: Efficient Video Generation With Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.11018/) (2022)
- [Latent Video Diffusion Models for High-Fidelity Long Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.13221/) (2022)
- [MAGVIT: Masked Generative Video Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.05199/) (2022)
- [StoryDiffusion: Consistent Self-Attention for Long-Range Image and Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.01434/) (2024)
- [LTX-2: Efficient Joint Audio-Visual Foundation Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.03233/) (2026)
- [Open-Sora 2.0: Training a Commercial-Level Video Generation Model in 200k](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09642/) (2025)
- [Vidu: a Highly Consistent, Dynamic and Skilled Text-to-Video Generator with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.04233/) (2024)
- [VideoDirectorGPT: Consistent Multi-scene Video Generation via LLM-Guided Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.15091/) (2023)
- [Motion-Conditioned Diffusion Model for Controllable Video Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.14404/) (2023)
- [Animate-A-Story: Storytelling with Retrieval-Augmented Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.06940/) (2023)
- [Automated Movie Generation via Multi-Agent CoT Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.07314/) (2025)
- [Make It Move: Controllable Image-to-Video Generation with Text Descriptions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.02815/) (2021)
- [TaleCrafter: Interactive Story Visualization with Multiple Characters](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.18247/) (2023)
- [DreamStory: Open-Domain Story Visualization by LLM-Guided Multi-Subject Consistent Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.12899/) (2024)
- [Mora: Enabling Generalist Video Generation via A Multi-Agent Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.13248/) (2024)
- [Anim-Director: A Large Multimodal Model Powered Agent for Controllable Animation Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.09787/) (2024)
- [MovieBench: A Hierarchical Movie Level Dataset for Long Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.15262/) (2024)
- [DreamFactory: Pioneering Multi-Scene Long Video Generation with a Multi-Agent Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.11788/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [PACE: Precise AI Cinematic Expression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.19853/) (2026)
- [Don't Read the Log: Execution Traces Contaminate Verifiers in Video-Generation Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.28564/) (2026)
- [Sensitivity or Criterion? Measuring and Moving When Language Models Act](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.15415/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Long-form narrative-to-film generation requires shot-level controllability and cross-clip consistency in both visual identity and character behavior-requirements that remain difficult to satisfy with current prompt-based workflows. A core reason existing workflows remain brittle is the lack of a structured intermediate layer between scripts and video models, especially when screenplays are underspecified at key cinematic decision points. We introduce a structured orchestration layer for film-oriented script-to-video generation, implemented as a multi-agent framework that operates between scripts and off-the-shelf video generators. The layer is centered on FilmDSL, a film-oriented domain-specific language that makes cinematic constraints explicit, including shot and camera directives, asset and continuity requirements, and persona cues, so that agents coordinate through a shared structured specification for planning, generation, critique, and repair. Specifically, a generation agent constructs asset packs and storyboard keyframes that anchor composition before clip-by-clip synthesis, while a critic agent produces structured QA signals and triggers targeted refinement without retraining the base model. Experiments on TV-style segments show improved controllability and consistency over text-only and reference-only baselines.