Justice For Hire and HeyGen Launch Living Feature Film With Bi-Coastal Premiere in Los Angeles and New York
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, March 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Justice For Hire, a cinematic story world created within the participatory filmmaking platform ReelwUrld, will launch its feature film through a bi-coastal Living Film premiere beginning March 14, 2026 in Los Angeles and continuing March 21, 2026 in New York.
The Los Angeles premiere will take place on March 14, 2026 (5–8 PM PST) at Shaolin American Self Defense Academy in North Hollywood. One week later, the New York premiere will be held March 21, 2026 (7–10 PM EST) at New York Best Kickboxing. Both events will also be available globally online for one day only, after which the current version of the film will be taken offline as the next phase of production begins.
Justice For Hire is launching as a living feature film, rather than debuting as a finished and locked movie. JFH is a cinematic work designed to evolve over time through live production, guided audience participation, and AI-augmented characters that help advance the story between screenings.
The March premieres mark the first public presentation of this approach. Attendees will watch the film as it currently exists and then participate in creating new scenes that will be incorporated into future screenings as the feature continues to grow.
“Justice For Hire explores what happens when filmmaking becomes a participatory experience,” said Jan Lucanus, filmmaker, martial artist, and founder of ReelwUrld. “Instead of finishing the film and showing it, we are building it with audiences in real time.”
Set in a near-future world where people can hire a hero through an app, or choose to become one themselves, Justice For Hire follows heroes, clients, and community members navigating real-world missions, ethical decisions, and personal transformation. The narrative is built to expand across live events, integrating trained performers and real participants whose actions influence the direction of the story.
The project was developed inside ReelwUrld, a cinematic platform built for collaborative story worlds where community-created content becomes part of an evolving feature or series. Justice For Hire is ReelwUrld’s first feature-length story world, designed to support live participation while maintaining narrative cohesion as the film grows across screenings.
AI-driven characters play a central role in enabling this structure. As part of HeyGen’s Ambassador Program cohort, Justice For Hire uses AI-based avatars derived from real human performances to function as narrative catalysts. These characters can initiate missions, connect story arcs, and introduce new scenes without requiring performers to be physically present at every stage of production.
During each Living Film Night, audiences experience a curated screening of completed feature material followed by a live production sequence where new scenes are created to fill narrative gaps revealed during the screening. These newly produced scenes are incorporated into future events, allowing the feature film to become more complete over time.
The Los Angeles premiere takes place during Academy Awards weekend, positioning the event as an independent, creator-driven counterpoint to traditional film premieres while demonstrating a new participatory model for feature filmmaking.
The bi-coastal launch also marks the beginning of a series of martial-arts-school-based Living Film events, where dojos and training communities serve as production spaces for future scenes.
“Justice For Hire explores a simple but powerful idea — what happens if heroism becomes something people can practice together,” said Jan Lucanus, filmmaker, martial artist, and founder of ReelwUrld. “By combining martial arts communities, live filmmaking, and AI-augmented characters, we’re building a feature film that grows through participation while still honoring the craft of cinema.” Anne Pham, Advocacy Community Manager at HeyGen, added: “This is what the HeyGen Ambassador program is all about — creators like Jan are pushing boundaries and trying things that haven’t been done before. Justice for Hire is an amazing example of what’s possible when you combine AI avatars with live storytelling. If this gets you excited and you want to explore similar ideas, reach out to Jan or find me in the community. We’d love to have you.”
As the film evolves, future screenings will include scenes created during previous Living Film Nights, allowing audiences to witness the feature becoming more complete over time.
About Justice For Hire
Justice For Hire is a feature film and living story world founded by Jan Lucanus. The project blends martial arts, cinema, real-world action, and emerging technology to explore what it means to train, act, and take responsibility in the modern world.
About ReelwUrld
ReelwUrld is a participatory filmmaking platform where audiences, performers, and creators collaborate to build cinematic story worlds that evolve over time through community participation and live production.
About Shaolin American Self Defense Academy
Shaolin American Self Defense Academy is a premiere martial arts dojo in North Hollywood owned by Nickelodeon actor and Kenpo master Donnie Jeffcoat. The space is a hub for the Los Angeles martial arts and filmmaking community.
About New York Best Kickboxing
New York Best Kickboxing (also known as NY San Da) is a premiere martial arts dojo in New York owned by I Love Kickboxing founder and Lama Kung Fu master David Ross. The space is a hub for the New York martial arts community.
About HeyGen
HeyGen is an AI video platform supporting next-generation, human-centric storytelling through scalable performance-based AI tools.
Lisa Malcolm
Lynk PR
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