The Artist Reborn: Street Preacher to AI Filmmaker
I haven't been as active on here, mostly because I've been head-down working on something that's getting my creative rocks off like nothing has in years.
I discovered AI video a little over a year ago. It immediately revolutionized my whole approach to my art and even my hopes and dreams. I've been learning the tools and developing workflows that will be leveraged for years to come.
There's that old saw we've all heard about the need to focus on one thing. I've experienced a lot of twists and turns since my business hit the rocks during lockdowns when that was a thing. Now, thanks to the tools I've discovered and the connections I've made in the AI video community, I'm more clear on what that one thing is than at any other point in my career so far.
Many of you know my origin story - how I made my own comic books, photocopied them at Staples, and sold them in the street to make rent. They featured a cartoon version of me in fictionalized versions of the real life adventures that inspired the work.
In an era when I couldn't afford a computer or a smartphone, this was how I advanced technology while telling my story. Something bespoke and hand made. This was my poetry, my movies, my art. I fancied myself a street preacher, hiding the good word in plain sight.
From there I got discovered and worked on a late night TV show, almost got my own comedy series, and reached the top of the YouTube mountain with nearly 5 million subscribers. I was in the middle of parlaying that success into a movie when my collaborator tried to steal the project, thinking that since he owned the IP, he also owned the film.
As a business setback it was an expensive lesson but as a personal setback it was nearly debilitating. The guy used the birth of my daughter with a rare liver disease and my absence from the scene while I was spending weeks at a time in the hospital, as an opportunity to gossip and turn friends into enemies. It was as if he was staunchly determined to end things on bad terms with me. To this day I have no idea why.
Lockdowns were a process of trying to keep the momentum going on YouTube even though I couldn't make any of the types of videos I've been successful with, dropping everything to spend another few weeks in the hospital out of nowhere every few months, while trying to get another film project going.
I was inches away from launching a Kickstarter to fund a short film that takes place in the psychedelic sixties when I discovered the AI video community, and the tools that were developing. I wondered how long it was going to be before I started seeing people creating bona fide entertainment with it, beyond sci-fi test shots of futuristic war scenes and women walking on rainy Tokyo streets.
I started interacting with thinkers like @dustinhollywood, @diesol, and @BLVCKLIGHTai. I was inspired by brilliant storytellers like @tashacaufield, @trishacode, and @meanorangecat. Like comics in my street art era, and YouTube after that, AI video was an obsession that I knew would dominate my career and creative output for the next decade.
I've been learning what the tools can do, watching them evolve, and figuring out how to bring my creative vision to life with them. It's been many fits and starts in terms telling stories, doing experiments, and figuring out how best to express my passion.
I've played everything close to the chest up to now, like everyone will be blown away when I unleash my masterstroke. But like I've had to learn the hard way multiple times, success has never been about working in secret towards one big moment. Success is about being prolific, shipping frequently, experimenting and iterating.
And now, as much as I'm nervous to talk about it before I've built momentum, I'm too excited about what I'm doing to not share what I'm working on. On Friday September 26, my friend @zThrillington is releasing his next single, "You Up?" The music video is going to be a tribute to cinema of the 1960s like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Viva Las Vegas, and Danger: Diabolik.For all the ideas I have and the scripts I've written, at this stage all I want to do is bring my AI-generated rap star alter ego to life. @zThrillington's got songs in the can and ready to go all the way to next spring.
- I Got the Sauce
- The OG Villain
- Still Going From the Night Before
- Why Can't We Be In Love?
- On Another Call
And more. All of this to say that even though I haven't been as active on here, I've been working hard behind the scenes to create an entertainment experience like no other that will unfold over the coming months and beyond. Follow @zThrillington on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for the full experience.
