OpenAI quietly shut down its flagship video tool this week. Within 48 hours, ByteDance had already filled the vacuum. Kling, Hailuo, Runway, Seedance—everyone got a seat at the table. The chair where OpenAI should be sitting? Empty. If you're building workflows around any single AI video tool right now, this is the story you need to understand. Not because Sora matters anymore, but because the pattern keeps repeating, and the people who see it coming are the ones who don't get caught standing still. This week I broke the whole thing down—who moved, who didn't, what it means for your workflow, and why "never marry one tool" isn't just advice, it's survival strategy. That breakdown lives in the Founding Members section. What you get at the Free tier: • Community discussions • Weekly news roundups • Surface-level tool tips • Access to the group chat What Founding Members get on top of that: • Deep editorial breakdowns like this one, with full visual analysis • Step-by-step workflow walkthroughs you can actually use • Tool comparisons with real limitations and gotchas • Weekend Workshop challenges with copy-paste prompts • Direct access to someone who's been in edit bays since before any of these AI companies existed, and whose consulting rate outside this community is $500/hour The Founding Members tier is $29/month right now. That price is locked for life if you join before we hit 50 members. After that it goes to $49. We're at 29. Do the math. I'm not going to pretend this is charity - but I am going to tell you it's underpriced on purpose while we're building something here. That window doesn't stay open. What tool are you most worried about losing right now? Drop it below.

OpenAI abruptly discontinued its Sora video generation app and API on March 24, citing unsustainable compute costs and a strategic pivot to robotics. The $1B Disney partnership collapsed — no money changed hands. Sam Altman told staff the company is winding down ALL video products. ChatGPT will no longer support video functions. This is the single biggest AI video story of 2026. It validates Chinese competitors (Kling, Seedance, Hailuo) as the new leaders. ByteDance rolled out Seedance 2.0 globally via CapCut the SAME WEEK. The power has permanently shifted.

For the past ten years I was an indie filmmaker based in SoCal. Moved to EU recently and have taken up AI as a fantastic tool for making films while I start developing my network here. I'll probably continue with "actual" filmmaking -- though at this point, it's hard to say what "actual" means anymore. Despite the hassles of crewing, casting, and keeping everyone happy from pre to post, I do love working with people in the kind of creative crucible of making a film together. By way of intro, here's something I'm currently working on -- very much a WIP. I look forward to connecting here and making friends. I've been super impressed with the quality of conversation already!

We saw from Chinese State Media yesterday. Here’s from Higgsfield today: https://www.instagram.com/p/DWHPG1BiF8L/?igsh=MXV1M3V0NHdtN24zYw==

State Media Just Deployed AI Animation as Geopolitical Messaging. Chinese state media CCTV released "The Eagle vs. The Persian Cat" this week — an AI-animated political allegory using animal characters to comment on Gulf tensions. Eagle = USA, Persian cat = Iran. Full AI animation pipeline. Set aside the politics for a second. Watch the craft: - Character design that carries emotional weight — anthropomorphized animals with clear personality - Narrative economy — tells a complex geopolitical story in under 3 minutes - Production polish — lighting, composition, camera movement that rival traditional animation - Emotional manipulation — you know exactly who you're supposed to root for (regardless of whether you agree) This is what happens when AI video generation stops being a creator toy and becomes a communication tool for institutions. Government propaganda offices are now using the same AI animation pipelines indie filmmakers are learning on YouTube tutorials. That's both impressive and unsettling — which is exactly why it's this week's Video of the Week in the newsletter. Questions for the community: 1. When state media can produce AI animation this polished, what does that mean for independent filmmakers competing for attention? 2. Does the source of an AI film (state media vs. indie creator) change how you evaluate the craft? 3. If you were teaching AI filmmaking ethics, would you show this as a case study? Why or why not? Watch it here: The Eagle vs. The Persian Cat on YouTube Founding Members: Head to the FM section for this week's deep-dive workshop on Adobe's new multi-model video editor — five AI video engines (Pika, Sora, Luma, Veo, Firefly) in one workspace. Link: skool.com/aiography/classroom