Uncanny Valley Fest Pittsburgh: AI Filmmaking Hackathon
Uncanny Valley Fest comes to Pittsburgh for CMU Startup Week.
WE’RE LIVE AT TEPPER QUAD The hackathon has started at Deloitte Innovation Hub 3808, Tepper Quad. Come through if you’re interested. Drop in and out between classes until 4:30 PM. Running late or need help? Email mehul@koyal.ai.
Join Koyal and Carnegie Mellon’s Swartz Center for an open, drop-in AI filmmaking hackathon. Filmmakers, developers, designers, artists, and storytellers can form teams, explore generative AI tools, and build something original across two tracks.
HACK TRACK: REALTIME, WORLD & VIDEO MODELS Create something compelling with realtime video, avatar, and world models. Build a technically ambitious prototype using realtime vision, world models, video generation or understanding, spatial intelligence, simulation, or multimodal agents. Show how it unlocks a new creative or real-world experience.
Recommended models:
World Labs Marble: https://marble.worldlabs.ai/
Tavus Phoenix 4.5: https://www.tavus.io/blog/phoenix-4-5
Decart Lucy 2.5: https://fal.ai/models/decart/lucy-2-5/realtime
H3 Max Director: https://fal.ai/models/minimax/h3-max/director
CREATE TRACK: AI FILMMAKING Create a short film, music video, or product ad under 3 minutes, and compete for a spot in the evening showcase.
Recommended tools:
https://beta.koyal.ai for agentic film production
https://filmarena.ai/arena for fine-grained generation
https://fal.ai for API-based generation
TOOL ACCESS & SUPPORT
Koyal: CMU300hackathon at https://beta.koyal.ai
FilmArena: CMU300hackathon at https://filmarena.ai/arena
Tavus: TAVUSHACK at https://www.tavus.io/cvi
fal.ai and World Labs API keys: check the guest blast titled “CODES FOR MODELS/HACKING.”
Need API access, running late, or have questions? Email mehul@koyal.ai.
PRIZES & GUARANTEED CAREER ACCESS
Every participant: guaranteed Koyal resume review
Winners: guaranteed Koyal interview
Hardware prizes: Meta smart glasses and AirPods Max
SCHEDULE | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 | ALL TIMES EDT
12:30 PM: Kickoff and team formation
1:00–4:30 PM: Open creation sprint. Drop in and out between classes.
5:00–6:00 PM: Final film showcase at McConomy Auditorium. Separate Luma registration required.
Bring your laptop, a research idea, or a project you want to prototype. Teams can work from the Swartz Center and additional campus spaces.
Part of CMU Startup Week.