AI recut of Neighbours prompts consent concerns from former cast and crew

Fremantle is partnering with US company RoseBerry Media to turn footage from the former Australian soap opera *Neighbours* into short, vertical episodes, using artificial intelligence to help identify storylines and memorable scenes. Former cast members and crew say they are concerned about how their performances and work will be reused, and whether they agreed to it.

The project will initially focus on footage featuring Margot Robbie, who played Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011. The companies say the episodes will use material already broadcast and aim to bring the show to new audiences. Robbie has not commented publicly; the BBC says it has contacted her agency.

Fremantle says its AI tool will scan episodes to map characters and storylines and help editors find material. A company spokesman said it would not create new scenes or performances, change actors’ faces or likenesses, or use synthetic voices. A human editor would review and approve each stage of the editing, he said.

Matt Werkmeister, who played Zeke Kinski and shared scenes with Robbie, said he had not been approached about the project. He said performers’ images and voices, as well as writers’ work, should be used with consent. Werkmeister added that he was unsure what rights his contract, signed about two decades ago, gave him, noting that streaming did not exist as a platform when he signed.

Sam Clark, who played Ringo Brown, said he had only learned of the plans through a friend. He said he did not object to the old work getting a second life, provided it was not manipulated into new storylines, and said he was still trying to understand what his contract allowed.

Sound recordist Bruce Findlay, who worked on the programme from its first episode, compared the process to “cutting up a Picasso and rebuilding it”. He said breaking the material into very short pieces and reassembling it with AI belittled the work involved in making the original programme.

RoseBerry Media chief Guy Hameiri said the project would use the company’s AI tool to sift through more than 9,300 episodes and create “premium vertical television”. Fremantle executive Jens Richter has described it as a way to unlock new value from the company’s catalogue.

Fremantle is in talks with two unions, according to the BBC. Residual payments are expected for actors and writers when their work is reused, but not for crew. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance confirmed it was involved in the discussions. Its acting chief executive, Adam Portelli, said workers should be consulted before their likeness or expertise is used in ways they could not have anticipated when signing contracts decades ago.