Three Filmmakers. One Goal: Expanding What’s Possible with AI

At Promise, we’re exploring how the next generation of filmmakers can use GenAI to expand what’s possible on screen, while keeping human creativity at the heart of every story. Recently, three of our filmmakers — Dave Clark, MetaPuppet, and Guillaume Hurbault — put that idea into practice by creating original short films using the latest generative tools from Adobe Firefly.

Each approached their film through a deeply personal lens, reimagining what filmmaking can become when human emotion and creative technology work in harmony. The result is a trio of distinct, emotionally resonant stories that show how innovation and imagination can come together to move storytelling forward.

Dave Clark’s MY FRIEND, ZEPH

MY FRIEND, ZEPH Short Film

In My Friend, Zeph, Dave Clark tells the story of a teenage girl standing on the brink of adulthood, confronting her fears about the future and finding comfort in memories of her childhood toy, Zeph. It’s a heartfelt tale of imagination, growing up, and holding on to the parts of childhood that shape who we become.

This short became a proving ground for hybrid production innovation, uniting time-honored filmmaking methods such as working with actors on location and in blue-screen environments with cutting-edge generative tools.

Clark used GenAI at every stage of production to accelerate creativity and expand what was possible within the project’s limited budget and condensed timeframe. From storyboarding and concept design to world-building and real-time lighting on virtual sets, AI streamlined the process and enabled constant iteration, unlocking new creative possibilities throughout production. Generative tools were also used to reimagine the lead actress as her younger self and to bring her childhood toy, Zeph, to life as a 3D character, seamlessly blending human performance with AI-crafted worlds.

Behind the Scenes: MY FRIEND, ZEPH

The result is a visually rich, emotionally-grounded film that feels larger than its scale, completed in a fraction of the usual timeline without sacrificing artistry or authorship.

“These tools let us dream bigger,” Dave says. “They helped us stay true to the emotion while reimagining how a story like this could look and feel.”

My Friend, Zeph demonstrates how traditional filmmaking and generative technology can now work hand in hand, advancing the possibilities of what artists can bring to the screen.

MetaPuppet’s KYRA

Kyra Short Film

Kyra is a tribute to the New York artists who inspired MetaPuppet early in his career—the graffiti writers who turned the 5 Pointz Building into a living canvas and the subway drummers who transformed the city’s underground into a stage. By combining his own archival photography and field recordings with generative imagery, he recreated a world that now exists only in memory, preserving the raw creativity and courage of the artists who shaped his vision.

Behind the Scenes: KYRA

“Generative AI became a kind of time machine,” he says. “It let me take my old photos and memories and make them live again through new stories.”

For MetaPuppet, Kyra isn’t about what creative technology can invent but what it can preserve—the enduring spirit of artists who found beauty in grit, rhythm, and fearless self-expression.

Guillaume Hurbault’s NAGORI

NAGORI Short Film

In Nagori — a Japanese word meaning “the traces that linger” — a fisherman turned war hero drifts across seas of ink and memory to find the daughter he lost to time and discovers that love’s shadow remains long after the tide has gone.

Guillaume used GenAI to evoke the quiet beauty of sumi-e ink painting, blending its minimalist style with cinematic movement to craft what he calls “animated poetry.”  The result is a quiet, haunting meditation on loss, love, and what stays with us after both have passed.

Behind the Scenes: NAGORI

“I wanted to create something emotional and simple, a story you feel as much as you see,” Guillaume says.

Nagori demonstrates the expanding range of storytelling techniques available to artists today, where new creative tools open frontiers of visual expression and transform emotion into image and motion that feel deeply human.