Meet the AI Creative: Senior Product Designer Nicolas Neubert, creator of the sci-fi movie "Genesis" trailer
Access our on-demand library to view VB Transform 2023 sessions. Sign up here
Nicolas Neubert had no intention of making international news, but that's exactly what happened after he sat down at his home computer in Cologne, Germany, towards the end of the month June 2023, and started playing around with Gen2, a new generative AI video creation tool from RunwayML, a well-funded New York start-up.
The 29-year-old senior product designer at Elli, a subsidiary of automaker giant Volkswagen Group specializing in electrification and charging experiences, had previously used his free time to generate sci-fi-inspired imagery with Midjourney, a distinct app and popular text-to-image AI tool. When Neubert heard about Runway's Gen2, which allows users to upload a limited number of images and convert them freely, automatically, into short 4-second animations containing realistic depth and motion, he decided to turn some of his Midjourney images into a concept. movie trailer.
He released the result, "Genesis," a captivating, cinematic 45-second video that sketches a twist on the age-old sci-fi theme of man versus machine - this time, with humanoid robots conquering the world and a human rebellion retaliates against them, reminiscent of the Terminator franchise or the next big movie The Creator — on his account on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Neubert didn't expect much response, perhaps some attention from the very active community around AI art. Instead, the trailer quickly went viral, racking up 1.5 million views by the time this article was published a week and a half later, and earning it coverage on CNN and Forbes.
Neubert recently joined VentureBeat for an interview about his trailer creation process, his inspirations, his thoughts on the current debate in Hollywood and the arts about the use of AI, and what he planned next. The following transcript from our QA session has been edited for length and clarity.
EventVB Transform 2023 on demand
Did you miss a session of VB Transform 2023? Sign up to access the on-demand library for all of our featured sessions.
Register nowVentureBeat: Congratulations on your success and attention so far for the "Genesis" trailer. It sounds like you're enjoying it and it's opening people's eyes to some of the possibilities and potential of generative AI tools. Tell me how you feel about all of this.
Access our on-demand library to view VB Transform 2023 sessions. Sign up here
Nicolas Neubert had no intention of making international news, but that's exactly what happened after he sat down at his home computer in Cologne, Germany, towards the end of the month June 2023, and started playing around with Gen2, a new generative AI video creation tool from RunwayML, a well-funded New York start-up.
The 29-year-old senior product designer at Elli, a subsidiary of automaker giant Volkswagen Group specializing in electrification and charging experiences, had previously used his free time to generate sci-fi-inspired imagery with Midjourney, a distinct app and popular text-to-image AI tool. When Neubert heard about Runway's Gen2, which allows users to upload a limited number of images and convert them freely, automatically, into short 4-second animations containing realistic depth and motion, he decided to turn some of his Midjourney images into a concept. movie trailer.
He released the result, "Genesis," a captivating, cinematic 45-second video that sketches a twist on the age-old sci-fi theme of man versus machine - this time, with humanoid robots conquering the world and a human rebellion retaliates against them, reminiscent of the Terminator franchise or the next big movie The Creator — on his account on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Neubert didn't expect much response, perhaps some attention from the very active community around AI art. Instead, the trailer quickly went viral, racking up 1.5 million views by the time this article was published a week and a half later, and earning it coverage on CNN and Forbes.
Neubert recently joined VentureBeat for an interview about his trailer creation process, his inspirations, his thoughts on the current debate in Hollywood and the arts about the use of AI, and what he planned next. The following transcript from our QA session has been edited for length and clarity.
EventVB Transform 2023 on demand
Did you miss a session of VB Transform 2023? Sign up to access the on-demand library for all of our featured sessions.
Register nowVentureBeat: Congratulations on your success and attention so far for the "Genesis" trailer. It sounds like you're enjoying it and it's opening people's eyes to some of the possibilities and potential of generative AI tools. Tell me how you feel about all of this.
What's Your Reaction?
