Why Craft Still Matters in AI Filmmaking featuring Nik Kleverov

<p>Cameron sits down with <a href="https://www.kleverov.com/"><strong>Nik Kleverov</strong></a>, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of<a href="https://nativeforeign.co/"> <strong>Native Foreign</strong></a>, to explore what AI actually changes in filmmaking, and what it doesn&#39;t.</p><p>Before moving into AI-native production, Nik spent two decades in traditional filmmaking. He worked his way up from PA to editor and earned an Emmy nomination for designing the opening titles to<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2707408/"> <em>Narcos</em></a>. Today, Native Foreign produces commercial campaigns and original films with AI. Its work includes the Toys&quot;R&quot;Us spot Nik describes as the first true AI commercial, and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36042666/"><em>Critterz</em></a>, an AI animated feature Nik is directing.</p><p>Nik walks through how production has changed since that first commercial. Back then, getting one usable shot could take a thousand generations. He explains why AI-native projects still rely on teams of about a dozen specialists and timelines close to traditional work. The conversation covers where costs actually come down, from savings of around 20% on commercials to making an animated feature for roughly a tenth of a traditional studio budget. It also covers why world building, character design, storyboarding, and editorial review still depend on human creative judgment.</p><p>Nik also shares the story behind <em>Critterz</em>. It began as a short film that he believes was the first animated AI short to earn U.S. copyright. He describes building Native Foreign&#39;s proprietary workflow, Woven, and what happened when OpenAI discontinued Sora midway through production. Plus, he explains why Native Foreign is bringing artists in on profit share.</p><p>If you&#39;re interested in AI but want to hear from someone who came up through traditional craft, this one&#39;s for you.</p><p><em>The views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are solely their own and do not reflect the views of Wrapbook, its employees, or affiliates.</em></p><p><br></p><p><strong>ABOUT WRAPBOOK</strong></p><p><strong>Wrapbook is the AI platform for production finance.</strong></p><p>Built for today’s fast-moving production landscape, Wrapbook brings payroll, spend, and accounting into one AI-powered system, giving production teams the tools they need to do more, faster.</p><p>Built for features, TV, or commercials, Wrapbook helps the indu