As the short version of the Toyota ad just passed 19 million views, here is the longer “Director’s cut” I promised, of course it involved more than just simply a different edit, it is more like a director’s “generation”. As I mentioned in some talks, the biggest advantage of an AI-driven workflow is that it breaks away from the traditional linear model of the workflow - the holy trinity of: pre-production, production, post-production -,  it is possible to integrate a circular workflow. Ideas can be tried and shown very quickly, they can get quickly approved and then they can be fine-tuned.

One of the key theme that was in my mind during the ideation for this content was mobility, which immediately resonated with two great thresholds in history that precede the added mobility that cars enabled: one is the evolutionary leap between plants and animals the moment life gained the ability to move itself, that foreshadows the revolution of cars. This added mobility enabled life and nature to explore uncharted territories.

The second one is the usage of horses in ancient times: as soon horses became domesticated, distances collapsed. Isolated communities became connected through this bridge made of muscles and raw power. Just like with cars we can access remote places, explore something new, or simply visit families and friends. Reminds me of the touching story Jeremy Clarkson shared, that the test car they had for an episode enabled him to visit his father on his deathbed just before he passed away. This kind of added mobility is in our life and this film is my small reflection on that idea.

Thank you for Toyota for this opportunity, and for the Google team: Randy Han and Mitsuhito Hirose