The Machine Cinema Times - July 25th, 2025
... still wondering if robots have celluloid dreams.
Edited by Elizabeth Kealoha. Pod Digest by Ant Neely
In this issue:
Real Creative “Pick of the Week”
“Overheard in Basecamp” for the week July 17 - July 23, 2025
Peek into We Love Robots thread
Too busy to read? Link to the NotebookLM podcast below.
“GenTalk” July 24, 2025
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. This week one project stuck out:
About this project:
Pick of the week is Doopiidoo’s latest video, a trippy mix of AI-generated visuals and atmospheric music that takes you on a ride. There’s dancing Orcas, shopping wolves, women on motorcycles with lobsters, and it all works quite nicely together with a great beat behind it all. You can read more about Doopiidoo here.
Follow him on X, Instagram, and Youtube.
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.
Overheard in Basecamp – Week of July 17-23, 2025
Our Machine Cinema Basecamp is a firehose of activity and even the most diehard members of our community can feel overwhelmed sometimes. This weekly digest of hot topics discussed, links and articles shared and discussed is here to make sure you never miss a beat.
If you’d like to join the conversation, this link is your invitation.
Full disclosure, we had our robot friend help us pull all this together and sometimes they are prone to making harmless mistakes.
Too busy to read? Have a listen instead.
This week, discussions ranged from AI's role in Hollywood to practical tools for creatives. Members shared new projects, debated industry shifts, and explored the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
📱 The "Next Great Distribution Shift" and AI's Role
A discussion sparked by a blog post explored how Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT could become the next major content distributors. The key takeaway was the power of "moats" like context and memory, with questions raised about whether similar "sticky" platforms exist for AI image and video generation.
🎨 AI-Powered Apps for Creative Workflows
Members recommended several AI-powered tools to streamline administrative and creative tasks, including:
Presentations: Gamma.app, Beautiful.ai
Project Management & Automation: ChatGPT (with custom instructions), Manus.im, N8N, ComfyUI
🎥 The "Twilight Zone" Analogy for AI Acceptance
A parallel was drawn between the current fear of AI in film and the initial resistance to "The Twilight Zone" in the 1960s. The discussion suggested that imaginative storytelling addressing today's issues is the best way to overcome fear, especially among demographics that are slower to adopt new technology.
"The antidote to fears of automation is to knock people’s socks off with storytelling that’s not only imaginative but speaks to today’s issues."
🎙️ AI for Good: Micro-Dramas for Social Impact
The community explored using the popular micro-drama format for Public Service Announcements (PSAs). The primary challenge discussed was adapting the "hyper sticky," high-drama formula to convey meaningful social messages effectively.
🎭 "Greetings, Young Humans!" – An AI-Generated Kids' Channel
A member launched a new AI-generated kids' learning channel using a novel "vibe coding" approach. The project, built with Python, ComfyUI, Azure TTS, Udio, and FFmpeg, demonstrates how automated content can find and engage an audience.
🔍 Industry News & Tool Updates
Adobe's Strategic Move: Adobe announced it is integrating Luma and Moonvalley into its Premiere software. This signals a potential shift in strategy from relying solely on its internal Firefly model to collaborating with external innovators in generative video.
Netflix Embraces Hybrid Production: A Netflix production was reported to be using a hybrid model of actors, AI, and LED screens to cut costs. This points to a practical integration of AI in mainstream filmmaking, especially in regions with less union resistance.
Runway's Act Two Update: The new feature from Runway received mixed reviews. While some users achieved impressive results, others faced challenges with face detection and consistency, highlighting both its powerful controls and current limitations.
🎮 "Vibe Coding" – An Intuitive Approach to AI
"Vibe coding" was introduced as a method for generating applications through rapid, intuitive iteration. This approach allows creators to get "way closer, way faster" to their desired outcome without needing perfect initial prompts.
💡 AI Assist vs. PureGen AI
A distinction was made between "AI Assist" (using AI to enhance skills) and "PureGen AI" (generating content entirely with AI) in a recent podcast. It was noted that many in Hollywood are discreetly using AI Assist due to an "education gap" and fear of backlash, showing a need for greater transparency.
💥 Digital Hollywood Conference Highlights
The Digital Hollywood conference featured numerous sessions on AI, with several community members speaking. This highlights the growing importance of AI in broader industry discussions.
"You’re no longer allowed to sit in the passenger seat waiting to be chosen. AI gives you the freedom to greenlight yourself.”
In Other Threads… We Love Robots
Discussions also covered the AI creator economy, artistic integrity, and the future of storytelling.
💸 The Creator Economy: Virality and Talent
The Pursuit of Virality: Members argued that true virality comes from genuine creativity and audience connection, not from easily replicated formulas that some influencers claim to sell.
A Scarcity of AI Talent: A key discussion point was that the demand for skilled AI creators far outstrips the current supply. To address this, creators need better business acumen and the industry needs new, more equitable studio systems to support artists.
🎨 Artistic Integrity in the AI Era: Raising the Bar
There was a strong call for the community to "raise the bar" beyond creating technically proficient but soulless "slop." The goal is to make art that is:
Transcendent: Moves beyond technical skill to create resonant, enduring experiences.
"Dangerous": Pushes artistic and personal boundaries.
Substantive: Prioritizes narrative and emotional depth over visual polish.
"Mediocrity with GenAI doesn’t look like mediocrity. But it is."
🧠 Quick Hits: Strategy & Policy
Persuading LLMs: A study showed that applying human persuasion principles (like authority and flattery) significantly increases an LLM's compliance.
America's AI Action Plan: The White House released a comprehensive plan for AI innovation and regulation, sparking discussion on the growing focus on AI at a policy level.
Multi-LLM Strategy: Creators are increasingly using multiple LLMs (like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude) for different tasks, often testing them against each other to find the best tool for a specific goal, think Agents!
The Future of Content: The ultimate value of AI is not just making content "faster and cheaper," but inventing the "next big thing" in media by creating entirely new experiences.
💪 Job Ops
Staircase Studios: Visual Polish Associate & GenAI Story Layout Artist
Wheelhouse Entertainment AI Content Creator & Editor Role
🔗 LINK DROP
🧪 Tools & Industry
Cera.art private beta: Creative Mentorship
🎥 Film & Art and Everything In-Between
Winston Mayo's Who Took My Ride?
E Tal's I Thought You Loved Me
Aba’d Smill's Liberty
📚 Thought Pieces
GenTalks Community Call 7/24 - recap
Our GenDojo Community Call is a weekly digital get together to connect on how we are all making our way through this new era for creative industries and AI among other emergent technologies. Each week we invite artists, builders, thought leaders to share their knowledge, their works in progress and their ideas on this emergent space. If you’d like to be added to the recurring invite please DM.
View Recording – View 59 mins
Featured Guests: Dani Van de Sande (Artists & the Machine) | Hosted by Fred Grinstein & Minh Do
Meeting Synopsis
This edition of GenTalks featured a wide-ranging conversation between Machine Cinema co-founders Fred Grinstein and Minh Do—joined by special guest Dani Van de Sande, founder of Artists in the Machine. The session was a mix of philosophical reflection and tactical dispatch from the global frontlines of generative creativity. Minh recapped his whirlwind AI community-building tour across Europe, and Dani shared insights into cultivating creative and enterprise-forward AI conversations through her salon series and summits.
Key Discussion Highlights
AI as Verité Filmmaking
Fred & Eli Green drew analogies between prompting in AI and verité documentary storytelling—embracing randomness, sculpting meaning from unpredictability.
Fred: “Sometimes using AI feels more like verité than animation. You're gathering raw material from an unpredictable world and shaping it after.”
Minh Do’s European Tour Dispatch
Cities visited: Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, London, Warsaw, Milan, Istanbul.
Standouts:
Paris: Sophisticated, government-supported scene via Artifacts Lab and Prompt Club (a curated 30-director challenge format with public screenings).
Warsaw: “Punk rock energy,” youth-led, fueled by resistance from traditional film voices—embracing the tension.
Berlin: Feels like New York—a mix of DIY culture and Flux Labs' presence.
London: Corporate curiosity (BBC, DeepMind, ElevenLabs), but still early-stage adoption.
Minh emphasized the contrast between developed ecosystems (Paris) and scrappy, growing ones (Warsaw) and his mission to globalize AI filmmaking.
Artists in the Machine – Dani Van de Sande
Origin: Founded in LA during the fear-heavy rise of ChatGPT. Created to shift the narrative from job loss to human empowerment.
Model: Cross-disciplinary salons in LA/NY with a growing enterprise presence.
Lens: Artists as humans, machines as tools. The goal is not disruption but co-creation.
Next summit: November 19 in LA – collaborations with Machine Cinema anticipated.
Tool Culture, Hype Cycles, & Usefulness
Dani and Fred compared AI’s immediate utility (e.g., ChatGPT) to earlier “dream” technologies like VR and Web3.
Dani: “AI isn’t just creative—it’s economic. It’s an infrastructure shift, not just an interface shift.”
Minh: “If Will Smith eating spaghetti was iPhone 1, we’re now at iPhone 10 in under 2 years.”
Enterprise Uptake
Both Dani and Todd Terrazas observed growing curiosity and urgency in enterprise spaces, but uneven literacy.
Todd: “More people are realizing they don’t even know what they don’t know.”
Dani: Encouraging studios and brands to go beyond efficiency narratives and embrace creative visionaries inside their orgs.
Key Quotes
"Using AI is like shooting verité. You don’t control it, you shape what emerges." – Fred Grinstein
"We’re driving Camrys in a neighborhood of horse-drawn carriages. And tomorrow, it’s a Waymo." – Minh Do
"Creativity isn’t dying. It’s shifting. And our job is to move people from fear into play." – Dani Van de Sande
"AI is already useful. That’s the difference. That’s what makes this real." – Fred Grinstein
"From Paris to Warsaw, you see totally different approaches—but it’s all part of one global wave." – Minh Do
What’s Next?
Minh continues the global tour: Toronto → Mexico City → Europe (Sept–Oct) → Asia (Oct–Feb).
Countries on radar: Spain, Scandinavia, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and Latin America in 2026.Machine Cinema will experiment with more time-zone-friendly sessions for Asian creators.
A roadmap of future jams and potential collaborations with Prompt Club Paris in development.
Stay tuned for details on Dani’s LA Summit (Nov 19) at ArtistsAndTheMachine.com. Machine Cinema collaborations expected.