How to Turn AI Prompts into Movie Magic | Jason Zada | TED

Throughout my entire career, I've been telling innovative stories through technology. And one thing I realized is that there's a magic in personalization with the viewer when they see themselves in the story. For example. (Laughter) I was responsible for putting your face on a dancing elf during the holidays. (Applause) I am also very proud to have given you your own personal stalker with "Take This Lollipop. " No applause for that one? Come on. (Laughter) And I also transported people all over the world to Melbourne, Australia, where I let you control tourists. Then, during the pandemic, I put you into a Zoom-like interactive horror film showing you the dangers of deepfake technology. But I created something recently that wasn't interactive, it wasn't personalized. It was a short film. It was set in gritty 1970s New York City, and this blaxploitation film featured a kung fu warrior out for revenge. And it featured big set pieces, loads of special effects, and it also featured one of the most iconic hip hop bands of all time, the Wu-Tang Clan. Now traditionally, this would have cost millions of dollars to produce and taken months and months of time, but it was created by just a few people in under three weeks, all from the comforts of our home. Now I began as a traditional filmmaker, and I realized that everything that you saw on screen before is a string of text, which is otherwise known as a prompt. And when I was on set, I'm constantly prompting all my department heads. I'm taking what's in my brain, and it's a string of texts that ends up basically communicating my vision. With generative AI, I'm able to do the same thing. I take what’s in my head and I put it into a series of prompts. This is the lead character, this is Mandingo. This is his prompt. That's casting. Then it comes to virtual wardrobe styling. So black leather pants, gold shirt, fur coat, that created Claudine. Now I have to remind you, this is all text. Then, when it comes to location scouting, here is a massive restaurant in Chinatown. Then we have the Jade nightclub. Then we have a dojo on a rooftop. All of these create a 4. 5-minute music video that felt like a feature film. And one of the most amazing things is, with generative AI technology, we are able to build massive story worlds in days, not months, not years. So I had this idea. What if, in a few days from now, I could get everyone in this room to help me create a short film? Are you guys down? (Cheers and applause) First we have to choose our genre. Sci-fi, thrillers, what else? Who wants to go? (Audience shouting) I heard rom-com. Sci-fi, western, comedy, anime, horror. OK, a lot. What if we did rom-com? Anybody for that? OK, what about thriller? (Audience cheers) Sci-fi? (Audience cheers) OK, sci-fi is the winner. Now we get to choose our character. So choose your fighter. Who's it going to be? Could be anything. (Audience shouting) Animal, OK, what kind of animal? Beaver? Oh that's great. Beaver, OK, how many for beaver? (Cheers) OK, so we got sci-fi and a beaver. Got it. I have no idea where this is going to go. So next up is location. Now we don’t have to pay location fees, so dream big. (Audience shouting) OK, how many for the moon? It's sci-fi, let's get a little more unexpected. Where can we set sci-fi? (Shouting) Underwater. OK, how many for underwater? (Cheers) Sci-fi, underwater. OK, perfect. Last but not least, we have to choose our own objects. So this is really the thing that helps drive our story forward. Any ideas? Big red button, I like that. What else? A submarine? Magic what? Magic sock, OK. (Laughter) Alright, so my team and I, over the next couple days, are going to create a film that is born from this moment. All of you, with your creativity, your participation, helped create this.

Because AI doesn't replace storytellers. It gives us superpowers. And I would like everybody in this audience to please dream bigger with me together. Thank you. (Applause) [Three days later... ] Helen Walters: Alright, Jason. So how'd it go? Jason Zada: Well, I haven't slept in a few days. Also figured out, at 4am, woke up in a panic, going, "How do I tell a story about a beaver and a magic sock? " And, remember that everything goes back to story. And if we start with a great story, there's a good foundation for a story, everything kind of works its way out. So I think we figured out an interesting story about a beaver, his magic sock, underwater, and how to blend that with sci-fi. And I think one of the interesting things about it all is that, you know, this whole audience created something that I never would have created in my own head. HW: No, definitely not. JZ: I wouldn't have picked those things in a million years. But when you're dealt with those cards, you sort of improvise, and you go back to the foundation of what makes a great story. HW: I think one of the most important questions that I have to ask you is, does the beaver have a name? (Laughter) JZ: If I said no, would that be bad? HW: I mean, it's on your conscience. JZ: He did have a name, I forgot it by this point, because we just started calling him Beaver. HW: So when you talked about the Wu-Tang Clan piece that you made, that was like, three weeks that you said. And we gave you three days, essentially. So how high should our expectations be? (Laughter) JZ: Set them as low as possible because it will only get better from there. I mean, one of the great things is that when you're dealt with -- I actually really love time constraints because you're forced to make decisions, you're forced to live with those decisions. And you really just kind of have to live in that moment. And there's no second-guessing yourself. There's never like, well, you know -- I mean, we did change things, but at the end of the day, you know, when it's done, it's done. HW: Well, it is done. Does the piece have a name? JZ: It is called "Submerged. " We had another name that we were going to go with. "Damned. " (Laughter) HW: Right, cheery. JZ: But, yeah, we decided to go with "Submerged. " HW: Let's watch "Submerged. " Thank you, Jason. JZ: Thank you. (Applause) [Submerged]

[Do not press -- I mean it] [Story by TED 2025 Audience] (Applause) (Laughter)