Can you shoot a Cannes-level ad with no cameras, a fraction of the budget and a 99% lower carbon footprint? That’s exactly what Kent Boswell and Marcus Tesoriero are doing with aiCandy, one of the first AI film production studios built for brands and agencies.
In this episode of Digital Nexus, we unpack how they’re turning “impossible” ideas from old agency bottom drawers into fully realised films – including a United Nations climate piece set to Mad World by Gary Jules, crafted from real sea-level data across cities like Tokyo, Mumbai, New York and Amsterdam.
Kent and Marcus share the origin story of aiCandy (hatched over beers in Cannes as AI talks took over the festival), the moment Google’s Vo3 lip-sync breakthrough made it “officially ready”, and why they’ve gone all-in on AI film as Australia’s first dedicated AI production studio for the commercial and marketing space.
In this episode you’ll learn:
How aiCandy was born
From Cannes Lions chats about “Will Smith eating spaghetti” to spotting the moment AI film crossed from joke to production-ready – and why they decided it was “jump on the train or get left behind.”
What an AI film production actually looks like
Same brief, strategy and creative process as a top-tier production company – scripts, treatments, casting, locations, storyboards, sound mix and grade – just no physical cameras.
Turning shrinking budgets into “impossible” ideas
Why high quality expectations keep rising while TVC budgets drop from $200k+ down, and how AI lets them turn a “someone jogging in Sydney” script into a Super Bowl-level spot across the Himalayas with a full cast, zero rollover fees and no weather delays.
The UN ‘Mad World’ climate film – from bottom drawer to global story
How a shelved idea became a career highlight: using real climate data to show future sea-level rise in multiple cities, layering it with Mad World, and getting Gary Jules to gift them the track 36 hours after they reached out.
AI film vs traditional production: the carbon myth
The numbers behind the “AI is bad for the planet” headline: a traditional 30-second TVC can create ~40 tonnes of CO₂ (about 16 hot-air balloons), while an AI-produced spot of the same length comes in around 50 kilograms – roughly 2% of one balloon.
Why craft still matters more than prompts
How decades in film, VFX and award-winning creative direction let them spot the tiny details (like a frame-off lip-sync or a six-fingered hand) that separate “AI meme” from world-class work, and why the tool is nothing without expert taste.
What changes for juniors, crew and the next wave of talent
How roles are shifting rather than disappearing, and why juniors still need reps – just with new tools, new workflows and fewer red-eye shoots.
Where AI film is headed next
Why even the people building this stuff hesitate to predict five years out, and how aiCandy is planning to keep raising its own bar after a debut UN project and six more films already in production across comedy, drama and sci-fi.
Other Links
🎙️our podcast links here: https://digitalnexuspodcast.com/
👤Chris on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pcsinclair/
👤Mark on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmonfort/
👤 Mark on Twitter - https://twitter.com/captdefi
SHOWNOTE LINKS
🔗 SIKE - https://sike.ai/
🌐Digital Village - https://digitalvillage.network/
🌐NotCentralised - https://www.notcentralised.com/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalNexusPodcast
X (twitter): @DigitalNexus
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