News | Entertainment
22 Jan 2026 2:45
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    The director of the Stranger Things documentary doesn't believe the Duffer Brothers wrote the final episode using AI

    Matt and Ross Duffer documented the making of the show's final season in One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 in which they revealed they started shooting the feature-length last episode before they'd written the script because they were so "low on time" - and eagle-eyed fans speculated the brothers had used ChatGPT to help them get it done after spotting the AI tool's logo on their laptops as they debated the potential ending with actress Millie Bobby Brown.


    However, the documentary's director Martina Radwan can't believe the writers would use AI to write the script. When asked about the theory, she told The Hollywood Reporter: "I mean, are we even sure they had ChatGPT open? ... Well, there's a lot of chatter where [social media users] are like: 'We don't really know, but we're assuming.'

    "But to me it's like, doesn't everybody have it open, to just do quick research? ... How can you possibly write a storyline with 19 characters and use ChatGPT, I don't even understand."

    She went on to add: "Again, first of all, nobody has actually proved that it [ChatGPT] was open. That's like having your iPhone next to your computer while you're writing a story.

    "We just use these tools ... while multitasking. So there's a lot going on all the time, every time. What I find heartbreaking is everybody loves the show, and suddenly we need to pick it apart."

    When asked if she witnessed any "unethical use of generative-AI in the writers room", she replied: "No, of course not. I witnessed creative exchanges.

    "I witnessed conversation. People think 'writers room' means people are sitting there writing. No, it's a creative exchange.

    "It's story development. And, of course, you go places in your creative mind and then you come back [to the script]. I think being in the writers room is such a privilege and such a gift to be able to witness that."

    The in the documentary, the siblings admitted they were under huge amounts of pressure to get the shoot finished so the story was "plotted out" but the script hadn't been finalised.

    Matt explained: "It's not like we don't know what the ending is. It's all plotted out. I have to write it, and we're just low on time."

    Production assistant Montana Maniscalco was later seen saying: "We are shooting episode eight, which isn't completely written yet - spoiler alert! So we don't even fully know what's going on."

    Matt then explained: "I've never read [episode] 8 through, and we're just shooting it. I've never done anything like this before. This is so weird jumping to eight ... Don't love it. Don't love it."

    He went on to add: "We were getting hammered by production and by Netflix for episode eight. We went into production without having a finished script for the finale. That was scary because we wanted to get it right. It was the most important script of the season ...

    "It was the most difficult writing circumstances we've ever found ourselves in, not just because there was the pressure of we had to make sure the script was good, but there's never been so much noise at the same time."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     21 Jan: Kourtney Kardashian is three years sober
     21 Jan: Wayne Rooney has claimed he's "deaf in my left ear"
     21 Jan: Ansel Elgort has quietly become a father
     21 Jan: Finn Wolfhard used his SNL hosting debut to poke fun at the fact that he and his co-stars are still often viewed as "the kids from Stranger Things"
     21 Jan: Sophie Turner admits that her acting career "stalled" because she had children at an early age
     21 Jan: Golda Rosheuvel based her Bridgerton character on her late mother
     21 Jan: Hayden Panettiere found writing her memoir to be a "therapeutic experience"
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    The Black Sticks women are vowing to capitalize on preparation time before August's hockey World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Pic's Peanut Butter is boasting huge financial success, with sales reaching 40-million dollars More...



     Today's News

    Hockey:
    The Black Sticks women are vowing to capitalize on preparation time before August's hockey World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands 21:57

    Entertainment:
    Kourtney Kardashian is three years sober 21:40

    Law and Order:
    A person's suffered serious injuries after an assault in Auckland's Mount Wellington 21:17

    Entertainment:
    Wayne Rooney has claimed he's "deaf in my left ear" 21:10

    International:
    Have you been gifted an ancestry DNA test? The results could be 'life-altering' 21:07

    Entertainment:
    Ansel Elgort has quietly become a father 20:40

    National:
    Rob Hirst was not the figurehead of Midnight Oil – but he was its backbone 20:17

    Entertainment:
    Finn Wolfhard used his SNL hosting debut to poke fun at the fact that he and his co-stars are still often viewed as "the kids from Stranger Things" 20:10

    National:
    As Trump’s threats over Greenland escalate, will Europe use its ‘trade bazooka’? 20:07

    Entertainment:
    Sophie Turner admits that her acting career "stalled" because she had children at an early age 19:40


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd