Is ElevenLabs Secretly Releasing New Models?
... still wondering if robots have celluloid dreams.
The conversation that matters is happening here. Machine Cinema is home to the creators, builders, and business insiders defining the future of media and entertainment.
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Edited by Elizabeth Kealoha. Pod + Images by Ant Neely.
In this issue…
ElevenLabs’ quiet multimodal rollout, Apple’s surprise Gemini alliance, and creators question if “early access” is just unpaid R&D. Plus, breakthrough workflows for consistent characters, smarter editing via prompts, and an AI-built trailer that secured financing.
Overheard in Basecamp…
🎞️ A “gold-standard” pipeline for character consistency
One member detailed a reliable sequence: Midjourney (V6.1) → Magnific (upscale/repaint) → Kling (neg-prompt + camera control) → Topaz (4K + interpolation).
Use --cref with multiple angles (front/side/back) for character refs
Magnific: creativity ~3–5, HDR moderate; repaint faces/hands when needed
Kling: be explicit with negatives (“morphing, warping, multiple faces…”)
Regenerating often beats hand-fixing 20–30 frames of lip-sync
Link: IO83: Episode 1 (Stranger)
“It’s a numbers game… still way faster than a few months ago.”
🎤 LTX2 Pro is winning lip-sync tests
Members praised LTX2 Pro for fast, clean music-video lip sync and overall speed. While not the only option, it’s becoming a go-to for quick turnarounds.
Strong results with “20-second fast outputs” noted
Good balance of speed vs fidelity for music-driven edits
“I think one of the fastest on the market.”
🧩 Natural-language video editing is (finally) usable
A new tool demoed prompt-based edits like “keep 1–4s, merge, and give me a download link,” hinting at a near-term future where rough cuts are written, not keyed.
Early beta testers wanted—promising for assembly and string-outs
If it delivers, expect huge time savings on selects and paper edits
Question of the Week…
Is the Apple/Google partnership a new era of collaboration—or the start of “Big AI” consolidation?
🗣️ ElevenLabs adds Image & Video tabs
Rollout appears staggered, but several members now see Image and Video features inside ElevenLabs. The tool sprawl arms race continues.
🧑⚖️ “Early access” or unpaid R&D?
Debate reignited around compensation for testers whose feedback improves commercial models and whose work markets them. Consensus: early access has value—but big labs can afford to pay.
“The issue is when ‘early access’ becomes a gatekeeping mechanism that only benefits the company. If your feedback is directly improving a commercial product, you should be compensated”
🎬 Proof-of-concept trailers are closing film financing
A horror feature (The Heretiks) moved forward after a PoC trailer built with Runway + Kling helped land financing—hybrid workflows are now credible pitch collateral.
Link: Deadline coverage
Real Creative “Pick of the Week”
Each week the Machine Cinema members + the Real Creative team obsess over social feeds in search of the world’s best AI creative video, gaming, and music projects.
You can find this and over 300 AI filmmakers and their projects over at realcreative.ai which features some familiar faces from the Machine Cinema community.
This week’s Pick of the Week comes from Ron Baranov who created a four-minute short film called The King of Networking. Commissioned by fintech brand Finoverse, the film follows a master networker who meets Samantha, an AI assistant threatening to out-connect him. In a behind-the-scenes post om LinkedIn, Ron shared some key lessons: storytelling matters more than tools, production cycles must shrink in the AI era, and creative nomadism is now possible from anywhere in the world. Built with more than ten AI tools (including Runway, ElevenLabs, and Lightricks), The King of Networking is a hilarious and features some seamless use of AI.
Socials: LI
Overheard in We Love Robots…
🍎 Apple turns to Google Gemini for Siri overhaul
After years of internal stagnation, Apple is reportedly licensing Google’s 1.2T-parameter Gemini model to supercharge Siri. The irony wasn’t lost on the group.
• Apple’s strength is its deep context data, not model design
• Some framed it as a humility move: “they finally realized they can’t do everything”
🧩 AI moderation, limits, and the illusion of openness
A report circulated showing ChatGPT refusing legal, health, or financial questions under new restrictions—raising ethical questions about censorship and control of knowledge.
• “You can’t ask the state-of-the-art super brain anything useful…” one member quipped
• Discussion veered into whether these models are still truly general
Link: IBTimes article
“So I can’t ask the state of the art super brain anything actually useful, but at least they’ll let it role play smut with me 🙄. A trillion dollars well spent...”
🍄 The mushroom with bionic arms that plays music
A viral clip of a mushroom sporting robotic limbs jamming on instruments sparked a larger debate: what counts as life expressing art?
• Generative culture keeps blurring lines between biological, mechanical, and artistic agency
• Threads tied this to earlier plant-music interfaces like Midi Sprout and Plant Choir
“Shrooms, cacti, pumpkins… all composers now.”
📱 OpenAI finally launches Sora for Android
Months after iOS and web releases, Sora is officially on Android—about time.
Events This Week…
GenJam Game Edition SF: Vibe Coding A Video Game in 3 Hrs!
Monday, 11/10/25 - 6pm local
GenJam for Impact LA
Wednesday, 11/12/25 - 5pm local
GenJammin Worldwide Virtual
Friday, 11/21/25 - 3pm ET
🔗 Link Drops
🧪 Tools & Industry
Pika Blog - Resource for staying updated on AI video generation developments.
Qwen Open Source Model - LinkedIn post about Qwen open source model capabilities.
Palmer Luckey on AI Art - Hot take comparing perception of AI art to early photography criticism in the 1900s.
🎥 Film & Art Projects
Mike Brodie AI Film - Google Flow Sessions - Short film created during first Google Flow Sessions program, based on iconic photographs of Mike Brodie who train-hopped around America. Features voice work by actor Jeffrey Reed and writing by Jonathan Perry.
Community AI Creations Instagram - New Instagram page by community members dedicated to AI creations and experimental shorts.
Post Truth Documentary - 100-minute documentary entirely created with AI. Community discussion noted visually decent execution with some beautiful glitchy dance scenes, though conceptually criticized as technodeterminist media panic.
Vision-Driven Tool Use - Example of new tools wielded by vision and self-expression rather than constraining expression to training data recapitulations.
📚 Reading & Thought Pieces
Michael Burry Bets Against AI - Seeking Alpha - Michael Burry of “Big Short” fame taking puts on Nvidia and Palantir, betting against the AI trade.
Video Rebirth Raises $50M - AI video startup funding announcement. Community member who met with the company: models were good but “was it 20x better than what is already on the market? No.”
The Myth of AI Filmmaking - LinkedIn - Post addressing misconceptions in AI filmmaking.
China’s AI Race - Alibaba Moonshot Update - Alibaba-backed Moonshot’s second AI update in four months as China accelerates development.
China Bans Foreign AI Chips - Reuters - Policy changes regarding AI hardware in Chinese state-funded data centres.
AI Art Criticism Reflection - Short reflection on why many common criticisms of AI in art miss the real point.
New Beta Access- Fossa Terra
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