How a Hollywood Director Uses AI to Make Movies

TL;DR: Today we’re releasing a new episode of our podcast How Do You Use ChatGPT? I go in depth with Dave Clark, a film director and writer pioneering the use of AI tools to make movies. As we talk, we leverage these tools to make a short film in 60 minutes. Watch on X or YouTube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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You can break into Hollywood with a movie you made alone in your room without using a single camera. Dave Clark showed me how to do it live.

Dave is a film and commercial director with experience working with brands like HP and Intel who is now experimenting with cutting-edge AI technology. He recently produced a popular sci-fi short called Borrowing Time, which has over 110,000 views on X and was mentioned in Forbes. Dave made this film, complete with an intricate storyline and a rich set of characters, only using AI tools like Midjourney, text-to-video model Runway, and generative voice AI platform ElevenLabs. 

Dave told me that he couldn’t have made Borrowing Time without AI—it’s an expensive project that traditional Hollywood studios would never bankroll. But after Dave’s short went viral, major production houses approached him to make it a full-length movie. I think this is an excellent example of how AI is changing the art of filmmaking, and I came out of this interview convinced that we are on the brink of a new creative age.

We dive deep into the world of AI tools for image and video generation, discussing how aspiring filmmakers can use them to validate their ideas, and potentially even secure funding if they get traction. Dave walks me through how he has integrated AI into his movie-making process, and as we talk, we make a short film featuring Nicolas Cage using a haunted roulette ball to resurrect his dead movie career, live on the show.