The Machine Cinema Times - June 13th, 2025
... still wondering if robots have celluloid dreams.
In this issue:
Real Creative “Pick of the Week”
Creator Survey - please participate!
“Overheard in Basecamp” for the week June 5 - 11
Community Call 6/11 Recording and Notes
Real Creative “Pick of the Week”
Each week the Real Creative team obsesses 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
The Prompt Floor is a clever mockumentary from DrMachakil that imagines what it’s like behind the scenes of an AI video generator. Made with Veo 3, it uses sitcom-style humor and detailed prompts to bring a fake team of AI workers to life, showing just how far you can push storytelling with the right direction.
The artist
DrMachakil is a mashup artist and Youtuber known for poetic, cinema-inspired videos like Emotion in Motion which earned a Webby nomination. He combines AI tools with sharp editing to create emotional, story-driven video remixes.
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.
Creator Survey - Please Participate!
We are doing a Machine Cinema survey on AI Creator rates to help creators with figuring out how to charge for their work. we’ll publish this result soon, but would love to have your feedback for the community.
Click Here for Survey, Thank You!
Overheard in Basecamp - Week of June 5 - 11, 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.
⚖️ Midjourney Sued: Disney & NBCU Fire the First Legal Salvo
The first major copyright lawsuit in the GenAI art world hit this week, with Disney and NBCUniversal suing Midjourney for enabling infringing content generation—think Darth Vader, Bart Simpson, and other recognizable IP.
The studios claim they attempted negotiations, but Midjourney didn’t implement IP filters.
Unlike Suno and Udio, which entered licensing talks, MJ’s stance is seen as defiant.
Community speculation: Disney may have tried to acquire Midjourney first.
Raises key tensions: tool provider vs. liability for output.
Could set a precedent affecting OpenAI, Google, Runway, and others.
Quote: “They sued Midjourney because they couldn’t take on Google yet.”
🦙 Sync Sound Comes to Kling
Midway through projects, several creators suddenly heard their characters start talking—Kling’s new version quietly dropped sync sound, opening the door to dialogue-native AI video.
Marked a new threshold in expressive video gen.
"I was mid-project and my gens… started speaking to me."
✍️ Writing with AI: Socratic, Not Synthetic
Highlights from a community call with Jay Dixit and Fred Graver reframed AI as a writing partner—not a ghostwriter.
Use AI to ask better questions, not give faster answers.
Prompt stack tip: “What do you need from me to do X?” > “Ask me questions before answering.”
Quote: “AI is not here to write the thing in your head—it’s here to help you get it out.”
🎥 Camera-to-AI Workflows: A New Hybrid Emerges
One member showcased a real-world > AI-edit > video-gen flow, all on a phone:
Merged camera footage with AI edits and transformations.
Reaffirmed the unique emotion of starting with lived visuals.
“When everything is synthetic, we lose something.”
🎨 Peter Gabriel Gets the AI Treatment
A community member’s music video for “And Still” (part of the 50:50 initiative) earned widespread praise:
Tools: Midjourney + Runway + Hailuo Minimax.
Blended artistic soul with AI precision—"a beautiful Days of Heaven vibe."
🌀 Microdramas: Monetizing the Gray Zone
Following coverage from The Ankler, "microdramas" (short serialized stories with addictive arcs) sparked big conversation:
Seen as a promising space for AI-native creators to go direct-to-audience.
Could borrow monetization structure from mobile games: freemium, emotional, repeatable.
Potential crossover with vertical video, AR filters, and niche fandoms.
Quote: “Why chase Cannes when you could chase Candy Crush?”
🎮 From Broadcast to TikTok: What Counts as "Original Work"?
A philosophical and practical thread unpacked the economics of originality:
Client and education gigs pay now, but for how long?
No easy path for creators to monetize truly original IP.
"No one owes us an audience, but the system isn’t set up to let us earn one either."
🤔 AI and Emotion: Performance, Microexpression, and Control
Several creators shared experiments in digital acting and microexpressive performance:
Kling 2.1 drew praise for facial nuance and timing.
Blends of Live Portrait, ControlNet, and manual edits surfaced.
The vibe: "You’re editing for emotion now—not footage."
🔗 Link Drop
🧪 Tools & Industry
🎥 Film & Art Projects
📚 Reading & Thought Pieces
GenDojo Community Call 6/11 - 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.
📺 Watch the Recording – GenDojo Call, June 11
This week’s Machine Cinema community call featured a standout tool demo from the team at Fuser, urgent industry conversations around creator pay, and a guest TEDx talk that ties synthetic users to emotional intelligence.
👥 Featured Guests
Delena Tran & Hirad Sab – Cofounders of Fuser, a multimodal node-based creative workspace now in alpha.
Ian Eck – Introducing Cantina, a pre-launch avatar improv tool with paid creator roles.
Michael Ronen – Shared his TEDx talk on the Play Economy, blending immersive theater and product design.
💡 Key Topics
Calls for soft-union ideas: certifications, ethical pledges, and fair minimum rates.
Fuser live demo: All-in-one creative pipeline with LLMs, image, video, and 3D integration.
Cantina preview: AI-driven avatar storytelling platform with upcoming IRL events.
Michael’s insight: “Build empathy into product design by role-playing your customer.”
🎤 TEDx Talk: “Play Economy” by Michael Ronen
