Margot Robbie footage at centre of AI Neighbours micro-drama dispute

Former Neighbours actors and crew have voiced concern over plans to use artificial intelligence to re-edit old footage into mini episodes for mobile phone viewers. Fremantle, producer of the now-defunct Australian soap, has partnered with the US-based RoseBerry Media on a project that will deploy AI to "scan decades of episodes" and produce short vertical videos.

Footage of Margot Robbie, who played Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011, will be the initial focus of the micro-drama. Both companies say the move will bring the show, which aired its final episode last year, to new audiences. Some actors and crew, however, say they have not consented to their images, voices or work being re-purposed. Robbie has yet to respond publicly; the BBC has contacted her agency for comment.

In a statement, the companies said the AI-assisted technology would "scan decades of episodes to map character arcs, storylines and standout moments, helping editors quickly identify the strongest material". A Fremantle spokesman said the micro-drama episodes would use "original, previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances". He added: "It does not generate new scenes or performances, alter actors' faces or likenesses, or use synthetic voices," and that a human editor would be "reviewing and approving every stage of the editing process".

The mini episodes will likely feature Matt Werkmeister, 34, who joined the cast in 2005 aged 13 as Zeke Kinski and shared many scenes with Robbie's character. Now a Melbourne-based producer and director, Werkmeister says he has not been approached by the companies behind the project and is concerned about what the episodes will contain. "If they're creating a new micro-drama out of something that already exists, I feel there needs to be consent for using our image and voice as well as the writers," he said. Robbie is "obviously a big draw card" and "it's nice to watch old clips from shows you used to watch", Werkmeister said, but when he signed his contract two decades ago, "streaming didn't even exist as a platform", leaving him unsure of his rights.

That uncertainty also weighs on Sam Clark, who played Ringo Brown from 2006 to 2010, a character who later marries Robbie's fictional character. Speaking from Los Angeles, Clark, now a producer and voice actor, said he had not heard about the micro-drama until a friend sent him an article. "I don't have a negative view of the work that we did all those years ago getting a second life as long as it's not being manipulated into new storylines," said Clark, 39. "AI and social media obviously wasn't a thing when I signed my contract 20 years ago so I'm still trying to understand exactly what those parameters are."

Sound recordist Bruce Findlay, 68, has worked in television for close to five decades and holds Neighbours in a "special place", having worked on the show from its first episode. Using AI to make short episodes from old footage was, he said, "like cutting up a Picasso and rebuilding it". "We worked so hard to get this product out… and now they're chopping it up into little tiny pieces, throwing it up in the air and putting it back together again using AI — it belittles the process."

Guy Hameiri, head of RoseBerry Media, said the project marked the first time the company would use its in-house AI tool to sift through more than 9,300 episodes of Neighbours to make "premium vertical television". The project would "reimagine" the material, giving it "new audiences, new relevance and new value", he said. Jens Richter, who leads Fremantle's commercial and international arm, called it "an exciting example of how technology and creative thinking can unlock new value" from the catalogue.

It is understood that Fremantle is in discussions with two unions and that residuals — ongoing payments to actors and writers when their work is re-aired or syndicated — will be paid, though this does not apply to crew. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, one of the unions, confirmed the talks. "Workers should be consulted before their likeness or expertise is used in a way they could never have envisioned when they signed contracts decades ago," said the MEAA's acting chief executive, Adam Portelli.