Like many in the industry, freelance video editor and creator Justin B. Tolley is confronting the reality that AI could radically change his profession.

“There are many people who are afraid of AI tools. It is terrifying to think of AI taking your job and doing it better,” said Tolley, who has worked in post-production video for 15 years and is based in Richmond Virginia. But “I have tried to be more optimistic about it—if this is going to come for my job, can I learn things differently?”

His AI learning curve accelerated recently when a contest gave him the chance to create an ad using the technology for New York-based flavored whipped cream brand Whipnotic. The marketer participated in an ad creation contest overseen by Vica, an agency that uses AI to create campaigns for small and local businesses, and Curious Refuge, which teaches classes on AI filmmaking. Whipnotic was looking to create its first ad campaign and offered up its assets for use in the contest.

“We are constantly looking for cost-effective ways to break through and compete,” said Whipnotic Co-Founder Lori Gitomer. “I don’t think we ever said we have to use AI, but we agreed that the contest was a great opportunity to collaborate with AI filmmakers and have our visuals placed in that environment.”

Some 440 submissions were entered into the contest, which asked people to make an ad from brand assets provided by probiotic soda brand Culture Pop, Pure Water or Whipnotic. Simon Meyer, a German director and cinematographer who also teaches his own AI photography course according to his LinkedIn, won the $5,000 first-place prize for an ad for brand Culture Pop featuring an animated fox.

The contest was judged by filmmaker and technologist Dave Clark; Michael Shields, founder and CEO of Vica; Nik Kleverof, chief creative officer at Native Foreign; Annie Hanlon, co-founder of Playbook; and Ross Martin, president of Known. They voted on the top eight submissions as voted on by the Curious Refuge community. The three brands also got to choose their favorite ad. 

Tolley, who is self-employed, kept his expectations low. “I had no illusion I would get an award,” he said. “I used the Whipnotic ad as a deep dive for me on AI tools that I had learned to a degree, but had not yet been able to apply them to a client brief. It was a low-stakes project for me to test it out, and then register for the [Curious Refuge] class.”

But he ended up winning second place for his Whipnotic ad, a brightly colored spot that included an original song he created using AI music generator Udio and scenes of smiling people topping all sorts of things with the whipped cream. 

Whipnotic was so impressed by it that the brand used it in a paid campaign. It began running on Oct. 21 in parts of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut during programming on A&E, Comedy Central, MTV and ESPN. (Culture Pop did not respond to a question about its plans for Meyer’s ad.)

According to Gitomer, Tolley’s ad has helped put the brand on track to double sales year-over-year for the holiday season.

“The end result was so beautiful,” Gitomer said. “We wanted to represent the product in the truest way. We always say there is more usage than just on top of ice cream. We wanted to show it by the bowlful or on top of champagne.”

While the use of AI for ads by bigger brands has at times drawn criticism, including over quality issues, Whipnotic’s usage shows the potential the technology holds for smaller brands looking to make ad campaigns on a budget, without the need for an agency partner. That opportunity extends to freelancers like Tolley, who began experimenting with AI tools about a year and a half ago.

“I started to see AI tools bubble up in the video world and clients ask production teams if we can use them, so I thought I better familiarize myself with them,” Tolley said.

Meyer, while publicizing his contest-winning ad on LinkedIn, said, “We are now entering a time where everyone, every startup, every small business is able to create great advertising without spending a huge amount of money,” adding that “I’ve received so many requests from people who want to work with me on various A.I. projects.”

Tolley used Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Runway, Luma, Udio, Premiere Pro, After Effects and Photoshop for prompting and editing to create the Whipnotic ad. In addition to his $1,000 cash prize, he won free enrollment in Curious Refuge’s AI advertising course, “exclusive Vica creative opportunities,” a Curious Refuge T-shirt and a shoutout on Curious Refuge’s social media platforms. 

But like most AI projects, it came with some hurdles. Below, Tolley shares details on the process, including some lessons learned.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

How did you learn about the contest?

I started following Curious Refuge because they offer classes and free AI tools. I signed up for their email list and followed their YouTube channel. I knew they had hosted contests before, but I did not feel like I had the skills to create something yet. So when they announced this one in August, I thought, “Oh here is something in my world.”  

How did you take the assets and turn them into video?

They provided a lot of product photos and the font, but none of the imagery in the spot. I applied a traditional storyboarding and scriptwriting framework and started trying to make imagery in Midjourney. I knew the opening would be a guy driving into town in an old car painted with swirls and seeing the world change into a swirl world. I did that in Midjourney, then put it into Firefly for edits and adjustments, like changing the license plate. I used Midjourney to create clips but then used traditional video editing software to cut them together.

How long did the project take you? 

From seeing the brief to uploading something was two weeks, working on it about four to five hours a day. Other companies have asked me how long AI ads take, and they think it’s 20 minutes. There is still a lot that goes into AI video edits, there is no magic button, but it's still faster than if you shot it. That’s months of presentations, location scouting, casting and costumes, set painting. It was also two weeks with no client review, so if there had been more touchpoints it might have been protracted, say if they wanted mood boards or stills.

What challenges did you run into?

I learned you can have the best intention with your storyboarding and shot list, but you have to be willing to reorient your creative vision quickly. I found I would get frustrated by the video generating aspects sometimes because it would not do the thing I wanted it to do, even if I changed the prompt or image. I really wanted to have the guy in the car holding a can of Whipnotic, but could not get him to hold it believably. 

Working with AI video generation is like working with a creative collaborator that has an artistic mind of its own that also doesn’t mind bending physics and reality.

Another funny moment was the shot with the older man holding the milkshake at the end. I just wanted him to take a sip, but every time I ran that clip in Runway, it kept wanting to jam the drink and whipped cream into his face.

Were you compensated for your work? Has the contest led to new project leads?

I won second place so I was compensated for that and then Whipnotic worked with me to make small revisions before the ad aired and they did pay for those edits as well.

I have gotten leads from the Whipnotic work. Some that have led to paid work, some that may lead to more in the future.

What is your take on how AI will impact video work?

There is a sense of responsibility when using AI tools. I approach them being cognizant that they are powerful and that there are many people who are afraid of AI tools. But can these tools offer me a different path to solve a problem or achieve something I couldn’t do if I did not have these tools?

It wouldn’t make sense for me as a video editor to not use Premier, and similarly, it would not make sense to be at this point in my career and say, “I am not going to learn AI because that is not what I learned originally.” I have tried to open my mind to the possibility of how they can help, and laugh at them when they make mistakes.