Post-mortems, production decisions, and things learned the expensive way — from three finished AI films.
All posts draw from real production on Machine Dreams projects.
Every production failure I've experienced came from the same place: starting too early. Not too early in the day — too early in the process.
Could Be Better. Two words that kept the Arctic thriller moving when the alternative was holding production hostage for a 5% improvement that wasn't coming.
The place had to feel real before anyone appeared in it. A deliberate choice that shaped every subsequent decision in the production.
The difference between generating a type and generating a person comes down to one thing: what you ask the model not to do.
Before there was a script, I designed the Summit Rest System in full. Reference sheets, material close-ups, technical drawings. Here's why that mattered.
AI video generation is more reliable with a locked frame. That turned out to be a directorial posture, not a limitation.
In Between is a film about Tuesday. No journey, no transformation. The challenge was resisting the pressure to make it mean something it didn't.
Two bad generations in a row don't mean the third will be better. They mean the prompt is broken. I kept forgetting this — and it cost me more than I want to admit.
All posts on this page draw from a complete production workflow guide — eight chapters built from three finished films.
GUIDE COMING SOON