Overview

• Xicoia founder Eline Van der Velden said multiple talent agencies are in talks to represent Tilly Norwood and that a decision will be announced within months, with no agency named yet.
• If signed, Norwood would be among the first AI-generated performers to secure agency representation, setting a potential precedent for how synthetic talent is commercialized.
• Actors including Melissa Barrera and Kiersey Clemons urged boycotts of any agency that signs AI talent, while Mara Wilson questioned the ethics of compositing faces, and others posted critical comments.
• Responding to the backlash, Van der Velden called Tilly a creative work and described AI as a tool, emphasizing a hybrid human-plus-AI production model rather than a replacement for human performers.
• At the Zurich Summit, Van der Velden and Luma AI’s Verena Puhm said studios are already testing AI under NDA with more announcements expected, as Norwood continues a soft launch on social media and appears in Particle6’s all-AI short “AI Commissioner.”