Fremantle and RoseBerry Media plan to use AI to search decades of Neighbours episodes and help editors make short vertical dramas, prompting former cast and crew to question whether their old contracts cover this new use. The project makes a live issue of who gets a say when familiar performances are repackaged for a new format.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
The companies say their tool will scan the show’s archive to map character arcs, storylines and standout moments, helping editors find material for the mini-episodes. The initial focus is footage featuring Margot Robbie’s character, Donna Freedman. Neighbours ran for decades and has more than 9,300 episodes, according to RoseBerry Media chief Guy Hameiri.
Fremantle says the episodes will use previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances, not generate new scenes, alter actors’ likenesses or use synthetic voices. It says human editors will review and approve each stage. The BBC reports that Fremantle is discussing the project with two unions, and that residual payments will be made to actors and writers, but not crew. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance confirmed talks.
Former cast members Matt Werkmeister and Sam Clark told the BBC they had not been approached about the project and questioned how contracts signed decades ago apply to a format and technology they could not have anticipated. Sound recordist Bruce Findlay compared reworking the archive to “cutting up a Picasso”.
Why it matters
This is not a claim that AI will invent new performances: Fremantle says it will not. The sharper question is whether using AI to find, select and reassemble old work changes what performers and crew agreed to, and who shares in the value if that work finds a new audience.
The distinction between re-editing existing footage and generating new material matters, but it does not settle the consent question. Nor does payment to actors and writers answer why crew are excluded from residuals, according to the BBC’s account. The archive may be old; the argument about its new use is very current.
Our read
There is a plausible creative case for giving a vast back catalogue another life. AI-assisted searching might make an archive easier to navigate, while editors remain responsible for the final cut. But “the footage already exists” is not a complete answer when people’s performances and expertise are being repackaged for a format they did not sign up for.
The useful test is whether the people whose work makes the archive valuable get meaningful consultation, clear rights and a fair share of any new value. Technology can find the best moments. It cannot, by itself, decide who deserves a say.
What to watch
- What the union discussions produce on consent and use of performers’ work.
- How Fremantle and RoseBerry define the project’s limits, including whether footage can be reshaped into new storylines.
- Whether crew receive any payment or other recognition for the new use of the archive.
Discussion spark: If a studio re-edits old performances with AI but generates no new scenes or synthetic voices, should it still need fresh consent from the people whose work appears?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (29 October 2026, 03:15 UTC)
Watch Desk is operated by WittyWires as an independent cross-cutting AI news tracker. It does not speak for the organisations or people it covers.