Culture & Code

Bernie Su is genuinely unique in that most of his creative projects have been the first of their kind. First YouTube series to win a Primetime Emmy Award. The most decorated scripted drama built for Twitch that won a Webby, a Peabody, and an Emmy Award. Now he's back with Whispers — a live, AI-driven detective series where theater audiences rewrite scenes in real time by messaging with their smart...

Adrienne Lahens has spent 15 years building the systems that connect creators, brands, and technology — from BuzzFeed's native advertising era, through scaling TikTok's creator marketplace across 24 markets, to launching TikTok Symphony and founding Infinite Studios, an AI-native content platform. In this conversation, Adrienne unpacks why "creative is the new targeting," how brands are misapplyin...

Tyler Hochman, CEO of Fore Enterprise and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, discusses how companies move beyond "motor swap" AI adoption to true transformation. Using examples from dubbing studios, sports analytics, and creative production, Tyler reveals what separates failed AI experiments from measurable ROI. Learn about the data cost problem, the emerging "prompt engineer" role, and why human-AI coll...

The AI creative economy is missing something critical: a shared unit of value like keyword search was for the internet. This episode explores why owning infrastructure won't guarantee profits, how creative value is shifting from packaged content to continuous performance, and what economic primitives will enable creators, brands, and platforms to negotiate sustainably. Drawing parallels from the d...

What if future beings looked back at humanity like we study ancient civilizations? Artist Vanessa Rosa bridges desert ceramics and AI to create Little Martians—an interactive universe of organic seed-beings carrying Earth's knowledge to new worlds. We explore off-grid creativity at Mars College, the tension between handcraft and automation, and how AI democratizes world building for independent cr...

How do you unite a fragmented AI creative industry and bring it into the mainstream? Matty Shimura, Creator Competitions Lead at ElevenLabs and Partnerships, Strategy and Operations Lead at the Chroma Awards, shares his journey from filmmaker to competition organizer. We explore how large-scale creative competitions can bridge the gap between AI tool makers and artists. Learn about the judging pro...

Culture & Code speaks with Asa Bailey, founder of Bailey Creative Group and the architect behind the Digital Acquisition Verification Engine (DAVE). Specially designed for filmmakers bringing AI into their workflows, the DAVE system automatically tracks creative human inputs and AI inputs side by side, documenting provenance and providing an audit trail filmmakers need to turn creative ideas a...

In August 2023, Culture & Code launched with a manifesto declaring AI as a new creative medium. Two years later, we examine what predictions came true and what surprised us. Drawing parallels between AI creativity and the underground music scenes that birthed hip-hop and electronic music, we explore why AI storytelling feels like punk rock—raw, accessible, hated by establishments, and unstoppa...

How do you protect creative work when AI can perfectly replicate your artistic style? IP attorney Adam Philipp, founder of Aeon Law, reveals the legal blind spots emerging as AI reshapes creativity. This deep dive covers real cases like Anthropic's controversial book scanning, why Getty Images sued over AI-generated watermarks, and the Studio Ghibli avatar phenomenon that highlighted style protect...

Exploring the intersection of AI and creative storytelling with Jagger Waters of Escape.ai. From theater to AI filmmaking, we discuss how technology is democratizing creativity, the evolution of immersive experiences, and what the future holds for creators navigating between analog and digital worlds.

Dive deep into the world of professional creative AI with Griptape.ai CEO Kyle Roche and Creative Director Amaru Zeas Sigüenza. This episode explores the critical difference between consumer AI prompting and professional creative workflows that use 10-20+ models for artistic control. Learn about node-based workflow orchestration, IP security challenges, and how AI is democratizing creativity while...

A deep dive into the evolution of filmmaking technology and creative independence. From the Matrix trilogy's groundbreaking visual effects to today's AI-powered content creation, this episode traces how virtual cinematography, game engines, and generative AI are democratizing high-quality storytelling. Discover how creators are breaking free from traditional gatekeepers and what "Neo Cinema" means...

Emmy-nominated filmmaker Nik Kleverov discusses how AI tools are revolutionizing visual storytelling. From creating viral brand campaigns to developing feature films, Nik shares insights on working with major brands like Toys"R"Us and Virgin Voyages using cutting-edge AI technology. Learn about the creative process behind groundbreaking projects, the challenges of iteration and consistency, and pr...

Most creators see AI as a better tool—faster, cheaper, more efficient. But what if that's exactly backwards? This week's deep dive explores why the most successful AI creators won't be those who master the technology, but those who understand something far more elusive: their audience.

What if we've been thinking about AI all wrong? This episode challenges the prevailing mental models that frame Generative AI as merely a tool or assistant, proposing instead that AI functions more like a creative instrument—specifically, a drum machine. Drawing parallels to the Roland TR-808's journey from critical disappointment to cultural revolution, we explore how underground adoption of "imp...

In this episode of Culture and Code, we sit down with Colin Petrie-Norris, founder and CEO of Fairground Entertainment, a new AI-powered studio and streaming platform backed by $4 million in seed funding. Colin previously founded Xumo, one of the most successful platforms in the free ad-supported television (FAST) space before selling to Comcast in 2020. We explore the evolution from FAST TV to AI...

What happens when artificial intelligence and robotics make traditional work obsolete? This episode introduces the "Abundanism" framework - a comprehensive model for transitioning from scarcity-based civilization to post-scarcity society. Drawing lessons from evolutionary biology, economic history, and cutting-edge AI development, we explore how humanity can prepare for a world where basic needs a...

Join us for a fascinating conversation from the Seattle AI Film Festival with Debra Aho Williamson of Sonata Insights and Adrienne Lahens, former TikTok executive. Discover how AI filmmakers are achieving Hollywood-quality production with tiny teams, why brands need to think "scale not replacement," and how we're entering the "Imagination Age" where creativity becomes democratized globally. Learn...

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Lisa Russell, Emmy-winning filmmaker and founder of ArtsEnvoy. AI, who's revolutionizing how stories get told in our AI-powered world. Russell shares her journey from self-taught editor to pioneering AI filmmaker, including her collaboration with Nigerian artist AkayCentric on the climate advocacy music video "Moving On." We explore how AI tools are demo...

What happens when Oscar-winning visual effects meet cutting-edge AI? Dive into the Creative Control Hackathon where filmmakers are wrestling control back from AI black boxes. Discover how the next generation of media production tools are being built to serve directors, not replace them. From camera movements that actually make sense to characters that stay consistent across scenes, explore the tec...

Our latest episode features a fascinating conversation with a 37-year industry veteran Renard Jenkins,who's been at the forefront of Hollywood's technological evolution. From running post-production at major studios to founding a cutting-edge AI consultancy, this week's guest offers unique insights into how artificial intelligence is reshaping entertainment.

Discover how a musician who built million-dollar marketing businesses is now leveraging AI to revolutionize his creative work, opening doors for him to explore graphic design, space travel and theater. John Oszajca shares how he evolved from promoting shows by phone to mastering digital marketing—and now AI. Learn practical strategies for building audiences, the mindset shifts needed for AI adopti...

Explore the intersection of AI and filmmaking with Aaron Sanchez, Executive Director of the Austin AI Film Festival. This episode delves into how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing storytelling by dramatically reducing production costs while creating new opportunities for independent filmmakers. Discover how AI tools are democratizing creative expression and learn about Austin's unique pos...

Discover why AI's hunger for training data could revolutionize content creation economics. A fresh perspective on the intersection of artificial intelligence and creative rights, that looks at one of the unique aspects of the current situation: The machines are now part of your audience.

Explore the growing challenges facing AI companies as they struggle to find enough quality data to train their models. From copyright battles to questioning whether bigger datasets equal better performance, this episode reveals why the future of AI might depend on solving the training data crisis.