Will Riley

Will Riley is a second-year PhD student in the Moving Image & Film Studies program. He received his Master's in Cinema and Media Studies program from the University of British Columbia, successfully defending his thesis: 'Auteur as Oracle: Synchronistic-Images and Digital Premonitions'. His doctoral research examines the integration of Generative AI into cinematic workflows, with a particular focus on aesthetics and art philosophy. His research interests include digital media studies, critical AI studies, aesthetic philosophy, and abject epistemologies. 

Will has presented his work at various conferences, including the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS), Film-philosophy, and the Music and Moving Images Conference (MaMi). His recent presentation, in collaboration with former UBC colleague Chuiwen Kong, combines video essays and written formats. 

Will is also an independent filmmaker. He has written, directed, and produced several short films that have been screened at various local Vancouver film festivals.  His latest short film, 'A Story of Snow,' which he co-directed with his brother Liam Riley, played at the 2024 Small File Film Festival in Vancouver, BC, and won the audience choice award. His forthcoming feature film 'On Running and Hiding / You Hide in Hope' was commissioned by the Small File Festival with funding support courtesy of Laura U Marks Guggenheim fellowship' Small Files for a Small World.' It is scheduled to screen on October 18th, 2025, at the Vancouver Cinematheque. The film addresses issues related to the gig economy, platformization, land and property rights, and alienation in the contemporary digital world. 

Supervisor: Dr. Martin Lefebvre

Thesis Title: Interpreting Generative AI-cinema: Art, Artefacts, and Non-art

Research Interests: film-philosophy; generative artificial intelligence; aesthetics; digital media studies; critical AI studies; abject epistemologies

Selected Publications: You Hide in Hope/Running and Hiding (2025); Riley, Will. Ed. “Emerging Voices”. Concordia Film Festival (CFF): Emerging Voices 52. Spring 2025.; A Story of Snow (2025); Riley, Liam, & Riley Will. Eds. “(Un)recovering Lost Futures”. UBC Cinephile 18.1. 2024.; Riley, Will. “Red Rooms”. Review of Red Rooms Film by Pascal Plante. UBC Cinephile 18.1. p 54. Summer 2024.; Riley, Will. “Falcon Lake”. Review of Falcon Lake by Charlotte Le Bon. UBC Cinephile 17.1. p 83-4. Summer 2023.; A Fridge Too Far (2021); Nightswimming (2021)

Favourite Film: Rise and Fall of a Small Film Company (1986)