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[00:01]
A
Welcome to another episode of Lead with AI Today we're exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming the film industry with someone who's not just talking about the future, he's creating it. Joining me today is Eric Hamilton, AKA E, a long term friend of mine who is the president and executive producer of EHAMX Studios who is using AI to produce award winning films. Let's get into it.
[00:32]
B
Welcome to lead with AI I'm Dr. Tamara Nall. In each episode we will take you behind the scenes with visionary leaders shaping the future of AI across public and private sectors. Join us as we explore groundbreaking projects and innovations that are transforming industries and making a real impact on people's lives. Let's dive in.
[01:03]
A
So hello and welcome back to another episode of lead with AI I'm your host, Dr. T. And we feature AI products that are changing the world and founders behind them. Today I am so excited to have my long term friend Eric Hamilton with me today. He, he is the president and executive producer of EHAMX Studios and they are killing it in the industry with so many awards, but we're going to get into it. But welcome, Eric. How are you?
[01:35]
C
I'm doing great and thank you. I feel honored to be a guest. Thank you.
[01:39]
A
Absolutely, absolutely. And before we begin with Eric, I just want to say thank you to all of our listeners. You subscribe, you forward, you follow, and, and you engage. And that is why we were last year number one in technology on Apple podcast as well as winning a Webby award and a W3 awards. And it's because of you, the listeners, and then you, Eric, for being a wonderful guest. So I am so looking forward to this discussion.
[02:11]
C
Absolutely.
[02:12]
A
Okay, so before we get into it, tell us who you are, Eric. Tell us about your core. I mean, I of course know you and know you're a fabulous person. But for all our listeners, tell us who you are at your core, what is your passion and how did you even know there was a need for ehamx studios and you know, using AI to make your award winning films.
[02:34]
C
Thank you. Yeah, thank you. And thank you for that. So, Eric Hamilton yet? So I'm born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. I studied computer science. So I started as an undergraduate studying computer Science, fall of 1987. I've worked for companies like Yahoo, if you remember Yahoo from back in the day, Google for some of the old school folks, they may remember Netscape. So I'm a technology person at heart. And about a year ago, a little over a year ago, I like afrobeats, music and I Decided to use AI to create a certain type of afrobeats that I like to hear. So I created a bunch of songs. Then I thought, like, you know what, these songs are great. You know what? Let me make a music video out of a few. And I made music videos and people liked it. And one of, one of my videos went viral. Some of your listeners may remember the 50 cent mini men song, that was a mini men song that actually someone made a soul version. But I got permission from the, the, the writer of that song or the person who made that song to create a video. Got like 1.3 million views on YouTube. And then that actually eventually led to me actually, you know, creating films and not to get to all the details, but that's the progression. So I'm a technology person at heart and one thing led to another and it was just an opportunity that I just kind of grabbed and ran with.
[04:00]
A
Yeah, and I remember those music videos and clubs, you know, that you post on social media. I think it was Facebook, but I think that's where I saw it. And so I have just really, really enjoyed following your journey now into being this wonderful producer. So. So let's go into the Holy Smokes moment. Tell. I mean, obviously your films are AI. You're very outward and open about that and direct and you let people know. Tell us about a Holy Smokes moment, a time where a viewer, a watcher, a customer saw one of your films and was blown away, like, oh my God, I did that. Talk to us about that moment.
[04:40]
C
There's a few. So I actually completed one of my films and I actually screened just a few scenes at. Some of your listeners may be familiar with MLK ski weekend and it's a big ski weekend in Collingwood, Ontario. It's a Canadian sort of thing, but it's an African American, a friend of mine who actually hosts this. So I had a film screening there and I showed one of the scenes, one of my sci fi films where it was a bunch of commandos that were going against a bunch of AI robots. And it was something that happened in the film and when one of the audience members kind of gasped when Special effect happened where not to get through all the details, but that was the moment. I'm like, wow, I really have something here. And then the other moment was. So how this whole thing started with the films, was there a. There was a tool a lot of your, your listeners probably are familiar with? OpenAI. OpenAI. Sam Altman and team came up with a text to video tool called Sora and eventually they had the second version called Sora 2, which launched in October of 2025 almost a year ago. And all these people were making these cat, these silly cat videos, right? And these, these cats were like real cats were driving cars and would get pulled over by the police and, and then the cat would go meow and then speed off, right? And they were getting like thousands, tens of thousands of views. I'm like, listen, if this nonsense, I can make something way sweeter. So what I did was I created a video of me getting pulled over by the police. Sora. Nailed it, right? Then I cuss out the police and drive off. And it nailed it. I'm like, oh my God. So then I kept on prompting, I said, okay, it was the high speed chase through the city in this drop top Corvette. Nailed it. So then I say, all right, I get out the car and I fight the police. Nailed it. I'm like, oh my God, it's so great. So now I went back to Suno, made some, some theme music, strung it all together and it's a sequence where I'm, I'm doing all this stuff. Then I put it out on YouTube, put it out on Facebook. Hundreds and not quite thousands of views. But people were asking me, okay, what's next? And I'm like, oh, well then I jump on a helicopter and. And then you find out I'm a secret agent. What's next? And then I, okay, then I'm, I'm making this up as I go along. Then I, I go to Jamaica and fight a snake man on the beach. And then what's next? And what's next? And then next thing you know, I've got like 20 episodes. And then I'm like, well. And then people are like, what's next? And then what, what happened after that is I started just out of, just out of, just out of a. Whatever. I submitted the contiguous of all these 20 episodes I tied, strung them together for a complete movie, submitted it to a film competition, thinking nothing was going to happen, end up winning best Sci Fi at the New York International Film Festival.
[07:28]
A
That's amazing. I'm like, damn.
[07:30]
C
Or dar should be cursing. I'm like, well, maybe I have something here. And now we're five films. I've completed my fifth full feature film and it was just me trying to upstage some cats is how the film.
[07:48]
A
Okay, Eric won cat zero.
[07:51]
C
Yeah, yeah.
[07:52]
A
Or five zero. So that's amazing. I mean, you know, a lot of people are talking, you know, a lot of people, we've heard the Word, vibe, coding, et cetera. You have really formalized something that was like, kind of like an internal competition, if you will, into something that is formidable and getting to be quite big. Now you kind of went into it. You kind of gave us, you know, some of the tools that you were using. But how does it work exactly? If we were to kind of open up the hood of E Ham X Studios and look at the brain of what you're doing and what you're creating with AI, talk to our listeners about how that works.
[08:30]
C
Absolutely. So my style of filmmaking is very different than your typical AI filmmaker. So I'm not traditionally trained in film. And a lot of folks who are in this industry are like, they went to, you know, NYU film school and they worked at bet, and they will tell you that you need to write a script first. And then after you write your script, you'll have a measured storyboards, and then after that, you basically, you know, will prompt. You know, prompt is just you describe to AI what you want and they'll build the scenes and then, you know, they'll have a movie like five, six months later. I'm like, that's not how I do it. No, no, no, no, no, no. So the way I do it is I. My techniques are called. It's something that I'm a term that I call. It's called machine perspective cinema. Basically, I create AI films that don't look like AI because my goal is, did you laugh? Did you cry? Did you. Were you feeling what. What I'm trying when I'm spitting at you? Right. If the answer is yes, then let's move forward. Where a lot of AI filmmakers want to use the more best techniques. And I'm like, who cares? Are they. Are. Do they like your stuff or not?
[09:45]
A
Right, right, right, right.
[09:47]
C
So. So my techniques is, I have an idea in my head in the direction I want to go with this film. And I'll start prompting just like similar, of how a writer starts writing out his script. I'll start with the prompts, I'm describing what I want. And generally AI does it hardly ever gives me exactly what I want. So I wanted to go exactly this direction. And it says, okay, I'm going to give you this. And what I do 100% of the time is I rock with what it gives me. Like, case in point was one of my films I had, you know, I was supposed to be the star and I was supposed to be the guy that throws this. This was called an EMP grenade to defeat the robots and for whatever reason, I wasn't. Wasn't doing it. But my brother was in the film. It nailed it. Well, guess what? He's the star on that scene is him. So I'll never force feed AI I take what it gives me, and literally the direction of the film will change based on what AI does. Well, if that makes sense. So to answer your question, it's prompting and then looking at a scene and. And then allowing the script to change based on what AI gives me. So my films never end exactly how I want them because. But from the perspective of my audience. Oh, they like, this is dope. And that's like. Right. So, yeah, hopefully that makes sense.
[11:15]
A
No, it makes a lot of sense. Now, you had mentioned, like, other producers that. That, you know, feature. Have feature films. Now, is this becoming kind of like another category in a lot of these award. I don't know what the award ceremonies, events, et cetera. Is it. Okay, so talk to us about the evolution of that. And are you kind of at the forefather of this? And when you submit, is it in the AI category or is it just a regular film and you just let them know it's AI or you don't let them know it's AI how does that work?
[11:47]
C
Yeah, I'm always forthcoming. I let them know it's AI but what's interesting, though, Tamara is in a. I've submitted my films to AI film competitions, right? Oh, they give me zero love. I ain't want a damn thing. Right. In an AI film competition, right? There's film competitions that are specifically set up for AI films. No love. I win in traditional film film competition. And. And some of them have AI categories, but I win in regular categories, like winning Best Sci Fi. New York International Film Festival. I was going up against regular sci fi films. One. One of my films. I'm a member of RALPH for fraternity, and I made a film about a fictional fraternity kind of school days. Like one Best dramatic impact at the La Sun Film Festival. Going up against regular films because. And, you know, winning again win best dramatic impact because there's some drama going on in that damn film, right? So to answer your question, yes, there are AI film categories in traditional films or film traditional film festivals. And then totally separate, you've got AI film film festivals. And again, in AI film festivals, I don't want a damn thing. No nothing. Right? Not. They show me no love.
[13:07]
A
Right? Right.
[13:08]
C
When. Because. And it's mainly. And it took me a while to figure it out, like, why am I getting no awards over here? And I, and I've won like 14 film awards in traditional film festivals. And, and the reason why is I want to make something that's entertaining. The people go, how they, they button that seat and do like this at the end, right? Whereas the films that went in AI film competitions, the judges are like, well, what techniques is he using? That's revolutionary. And I'm like, well, is the sucker entertaining? Did you. Who gives a damn about, you know, whether or not you use the latest techniques? Are you going to tell your homies about the film, yes or no? If the answer is yes, then I got something. If it's not, then no, you keep it moving. So I'm not sure if I answered your question or not, but.
[13:54]
A
No, absolutely you did. And how do you think this is going to kind of like shake up or is shaking up the industry? And do you think that there are going to be some producers that are going to look at you and say, you know what? Yeah, he's taking a shortcut and I'm, you know, putting in this huge budget and hiring all these actors. And why is he and others like him winning? How do you think that's going to play out?
[14:19]
C
Oh, it's, it's, it's starting. I get so much hate. It's interesting. I get a lot of love from folks like you who are, who watch a movie purely from the perspective of, am I being entertained for this 90 minutes, right? Nothing but love from that perspective. But from the traditionalists, people who are traditional filmmakers and producers, oh, they hate it. They absolutely hate it. Right? And mainly because in a traditional film, the way it normally works is I'll write a script, right? I might take a few months to write a script. And then I get on my knees and beg Hollywood elites to say, please, please, please give me money, please, so I can make this into a film. And they give you the, whatever, five, $10 million, five million, do whatever it is, and then you make this film and you shop it around. It's all this, this, this crazy process. I basically skipped the line. I basically come to my film distributors and say, here, this is getting thousands of views. My little clips, you know, my, my short films are winning awards, which I talk about, right? So I've skipped the line. And a lot of the traditionalists don't like it because they say, well, I did this. And it took me six months to write this script and it took me a year to get funding. And, and I'm like, so. I mean, that sounds like a personal problem to me. I mean, don't hate the player, hate the game. And it's just that technology has allowed us to skip the line. And so. And that's what it is. But traditionally, I haven't been getting a lot of love from traditional filmmakers, but audiences love it.
[15:56]
A
Got it. And how are you monetizing this? And you mentioned. So you actually have film distributors that help kind of put your films out.
[16:05]
C
Yes. So the monetization is actually coming. So I've completed five films and I have four distribution deals. And generally it takes about, you know, six to eight months from the time that you sign the deal to the time that it's available on streaming. And I signed my first deal in March, so probably won't be on streaming until, like, November. Thank you very much. So. So you imagine probably like a. To be Amazon Prime. Netflix is kind of a high bar. Probably not going to make it there, but probably to be an Amazon Prime. So that's how we're going to monetize is it's going to be a situation where it's going to be on those streaming networks, and I make money from there. But to date, I have not, because I'm so early in the process.
[16:47]
A
Understood, Understood. And that's good because our listeners love to be there at the beginning so that we can just say, oh, we know you. We knew. You win. Although you've already arrived, but just in this genre. Now, you talked about earlier about how, you know, you had some screenings and you could. You heard a gasp and that's when you knew you were onto something. Talk to us about a time where you were floored by something that happened. You were like, oh, my God, did I actually do this? Did I create that scene? Take us to that moment where you, as the founder who had the vision to start this, was wowed by your. By what you've done.
[17:25]
C
Totally. So. So this one film, some of your listeners are, hopefully, most of your listeners are familiar with Spike Lee and School Days. Right. So, you know, our generation, we grew up. I saw School Days for the first time my freshman year of College, spring of 1988. And love, love, love the movie. One of the things that I thought could have been stronger. And again, Spike Lee is not in a fraternity, but I thought the pledge portion of Spike Lee was very watered down. And what I wanted to do was make a movie in the similar vein, you know, where it's about, you know, black man, black woman in college. But I want it to focus on the fraternity process. But I wanted the audience to be stressed out. Right. I Wanted the audience to be stressed. And so there was this one scene in the movie where I have a pledge who is, you know, he's just not used to. He's from the suburbs. Like, I kind of am. I'm originally from Detroit, but I went to high school in the suburbs. And then he's got this, this, this dean of pledges who's supposed to protect him, but he's kind of gangster. He's the hood dude, right? Kind of, you know, street dude, but that's book smart. And I created a scene where the pledge is stuttering. He's stressed. And once I put that scene together, I mean, I actually even shed tears actually making it because I had to relive this situation of being that stressed out pledge. And even, even years later, I was actually dean of pledges. So I understand both sides of it. So I understood the anger from a dean of pledges where you got a pledge who's not cutting it right. So I channeled that anger and hostility into the part of the dean because I lived that life too. And then also the part of the pledge of not understanding what's going on with all these gangster ghetto dudes that are like yelling at him. And you being from the suburbs and not understanding. And that scene landed so well. I'm sending to some of my, my fraternity brothers. And this is what I wanted them to. The answer they gave me was perfect. They told me afterwards they was like, yo, E, that scene was hard to watch.
[19:32]
A
Okay, that's what you want?
[19:33]
C
Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted. And mind you, these, these are my homies who are very, very, very honest with me. He said, man, that was hard to watch. I had to pause. It was hard to watch. And I'm like, cool. That's what I wanted to hear. Because if these folks who actually live that situation with me said it was hard to watch, that means I captured the stress of the situation. And hopefully other folks will feel the same when they watch the movie or even if they don't feel it's hard to watch, at least they'll understand the stress that's involved.
[20:04]
A
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. The intensity of those days, I tell you. So let's talk about ethics. You know, you're out here creating this award winning content. How have you thought about ethics and what kind of ethical dilemmas could there be in an AI driven film industry?
[20:24]
C
Yes. You know, the big one is, you know, likeness. Right. So meaning, you know, a lot of times, AI, you'll give it just a regular prompt and it may Come up with someone that looks like Jay Z. Right. And. Or you know, looks like Ben Affleck or whomever. And so I'm very careful to, you know, whatever I create that I do my due diligence to make sure that it doesn't violate someone else's intellectual property. So that's the biggest kind of ethics. Yeah. Dilemma that I contend with to make sure that I don't violate someone else's intellectual property. There are others, but that's the biggest one that I am aware of with every prompt that I initiate for, for my films.
[21:17]
A
Got it? Oh yeah, no, that is an interesting one because I'm thinking about myself. Somebody, I mean of course I would know Jay Z or Ben or you know, somebody like that. But I'm like, what if it was somebody, some actor or some actress I didn't know, you know. So I guess I could then ask a prompt, you know, who. Give me who this person looks most similar like. And then I could, you know, try to go from there and have some judgment there. So talk to us about the big future for EHAM Studios. Where do you see the company five years from now and what type of impact you'll be making in the world?
[21:51]
C
Totally. So I want to create a catalog of films. So I have something called the EHAM Cinematic Universe, the E Cinema. See you. And basically I want to have a catalog of films so you know, I, I can create a film from just thought in my head to finished product in about 10 weeks, two and a half months, the shortest time frame. I finished one film in 33 days. Right. So you know, technically I could, I could do, you know, six to ten films a year if I really kind of put my mind to it. So, so what I want to do is have a pipeline of films. Right. You know, I love to look up five years from now and have 40 films that are streaming on Amazon, Tubi, Netflix, where people are constantly consuming and you know, looking for my content. So again I'm looking for a catalog and then the ultimate goal is I would love, and I'm a one man operation too. So I do, you know, the writing, the, the directing, the editing, everything's done by, by me. And I would love to in 5 years have Ehamx studios be a billion dollar market cap to have to basically come out and say, well this based on all the intellectual Property, all the 40 films and all the deals that have been lined up that this company is worth a billion dollars. That is the goal. That would be something. So that, that's the vision. 40 films in the pipeline with 40 distribution deals, plus a $1 billion market cap.
[23:30]
A
Oh, my gosh. I love those lofty goals. Not surprising, E, but I love those lofty goals. Now, what is ECU again? I mean, I know you said, you know, just having your own collection, but I hear university and I immediately thought something else.
[23:42]
C
Yeah, kind of very similar to Marvel. The EHAM Cinematic Universe. The ecu.
[23:48]
A
Oh, universe, not universe.
[23:51]
C
Yeah, I'm sorry, Universe. Yeah, universe. Yeah, very similar to like you think about, you know, Marvel's got Iron Man, Black Panther, Thor, the Credible Hulk, Spider Man. All those films are either standalone films or they maybe come together as a group, but it's all a part of the Marvel universe. So mine is the E. HAM Cinematic Universe. Very similar, but stories that reside within my scope.
[24:18]
A
Okay, perfect. Thanks for clarifying that. Because also while you were talking, I was thinking, oh, well, then he could even build something where someone else has something and he buys the license for that and you know, and the rights and then you have, I guess, sign people, etc, kind of like they do in entertainment. But, you know, that's my thought too. But I love this and the reason why I love it there. There are a few things I want to point out to my listeners here. You took something that was kind of like a passion and you just wanted to have viewers to have a good experience. And now it's something that is formalized, like a formidable, as I mentioned before, company. And then notice that he has these goals, like aspirational companies that he's using to model and say, one day I will be like Marvel. And I just like to point those out sometimes when I have guests because it's very important for our listeners who. Who are thinking about and can learn whether they're in the film industry, entertainment or other industries, I mean, even in oil and gas, as they're trying to build out their companies. And so I just wanted to say kudos to you for that and wanted to point that out for them.
[25:24]
C
Thank you, I appreciate that.
[25:26]
A
Absolutely. So if our audience wants to get a touch and feel and see those who have not watched your films, what's the best way to get access to your content?
[25:40]
C
Definitely they can come to my website, which is ehamx.comeh a m the letter x.com and I've got a bunch of trailers there so they can check out the trailers and then hopefully soon thereafter, hopefully by this fall, the first film will be streaming probably hopefully on Tubi.
[26:04]
A
Okay, awesome. I love that. So make sure you go to his website and then that way you can follow and get all of his latest updates and when he has screenings etc at various festivals and events. So now I have a question which I call from one genius to another. So a previous guest has this question for you. And that question is what question would you ask an AI if you knew it could answer it honestly and completely?
[26:33]
C
I would ask it. I would ask it about something in the AI world called the Singularity. For those who may not be familiar with what the singularity is, that is a point in which AI reaches human level intelligence where it has consciousness if you will. And once that's reached, AI could self improve and then literally overnight we have something called super intelligence in which you think about humans and you think about a rabbit or a dog and in that scenario we're the rabbits and the humans or the AI are the humans as far as the differentiate the levels of intelligence. So the question I would ask is when do you think the singularity will arrive? When we will have, you know, what's called artificial general intelligence? The singularity. When do you think that would arrive? If it. And I would want to know that date because everything after that is going to be totally different for everybody. So that's what I would ask.
[27:48]
A
Okay, I love that. I love that. So now let's move into our bonus rapid fire. I'll ask you four questions and you let me know the first thing that comes to mind. Starting with what is the most overrated AI or tech trend?
[28:03]
C
You know what I think, and this is controversial.
[28:06]
A
Okay.
[28:07]
C
I would say, I don't, I don't want to say it's overrated, but it seems to be overhyped and underutilized. Our agents, AI agents. Because it, the long and short of it is I don't, I think AI agents are overrated in that there's still some, I think logic and thinking that these agents lack to be, to be used efficiently. Like for instance, I would not just unleash. And you said rapid fire and I'm giving the explanation, but I would just say agents with that. I'll leave it at that. How about that?
[28:49]
A
It's fine. No, sometimes we do go into further discussion. So if you want to add something around that, that's fine too. But yeah, I do get that quite often people like oh, agents, agents, agents. Okay, got it.
[29:02]
C
Yeah, mainly because the, the I don't think agents are ready for prime time is what I'm trying to say.
[29:08]
A
Got it. Okay, okay, that makes a lot of sense. What about an underrated AI or tech trend.
[29:15]
C
I think what's underrated is what I'm doing with image to video, text to video, the whole Hollywood scene. I sat on a panel in Hollywood, in la, last was it, February, March, and literally all these old school directors, producers, they're just, they're like deers, like deers in the headlights. They're so, they're so attached to how things were before I even asked a director, I said, if I gave you an unlimited budget, a billion dollars to make whatever film you wanted, what would you make? Oh, well, well, well. I'm like, do you realize that is what AI is? I have an unlimited budget if I want to go shoot a scene in Paris. And I'm like, that doesn't work. You know, let's go into Egypt. I want to shoot that same scene in front of the pyramids at Giza, or nah, you know what? I want to shoot that same scene in front of, in the hood, in Detroit. I can do that. I can put my, my crew on a plane to Paris, to Cairo, to Detroit.
[30:20]
A
Your agents. Right, right.
[30:25]
C
So, so what I'm saying though is the most underrated is actually, you know, the text to video, image to video, the film. It's because literally for about 800, I can make a $500 million movie for about $800.
[30:42]
A
That's amazing. That's absolutely amazing. Okay, what about a book, a podcast, some content that we should consume to be better people?
[30:52]
C
Yes, one of the ones, a book that I read about eight years ago. It's called life 3.0. Being human in the age of artificial intelligence. Life 3.0. Being human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. The author, Natural Max Tech Mark, I think is his first and last name. But if your listeners check that out, that is. I read that book back in 2018, I think, oh my God, that book is the bomb. It will have you thinking. Thank you.
[31:21]
A
Okay.
[31:22]
C
Yes.
[31:22]
A
Okay, we gotta check it out. We, we heard it here from you, so we gotta check it out. Now. Our last rapid fire question is, wow us, scare us. What is your biggest prediction that's going to happen in the future?
[31:38]
C
So this is going to be interesting. This life, the, the. The time period that we live in is the most interesting time period in, I believe, in human history. It's. Things are going to get really bad once artificial intelligence reaches this, what's called artificial general intelligence, the singularity, where it has human level intelligence, then super intelligence, because it's going to be really bad, because it's going to be massive, in my opinion. Massive amounts of layoffs, right? It's going to get really bad and then it's going to get really good because the price of everything is going to approach zero, right? Everything is going to approach zero. So you imagine that, that Lamborghini or that mansion, it's going to follow how bits, meaning binary digits, are basically zero. Back in the day, I. My freshman year of high school in 1983, it cost about a dollar to buy one of those five and a half inch floppy disks. About a dollar. And it would hold about one megabyte worth of data, right? So a megabyte would cost about a dollar to store. Now I've got these little bitty thumb drives, which is a terabyte. Terabyte might cost me $10, whatever I spent for. So a terabyte is a million times. You take a million of these floppy disks, okay? Back in the day would have cost me a million dollars to store a terabyte. Now I can do it for about $10, right? So what I'm saying is the price of bits is approaching zero. So the price of atoms, which are stuff, this shirt, you know, this, this room, that ceiling fan, all of that will approach zero. So then life will not be about getting rich. Life will be about bettering yourself. How can I be the best podcaster? How can I be without. Without having the need to monetize. You don't have to monetize our grandkids, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren. Was, you know what, my great grandmother, she did great with her podcast, and she did it to know she made a lot of money. It's like, why does she do it for money? What's this money thing? Well, she had to basically earn a living and she worked for money. And that'll be a weird concept to our great grandchildren. Just like our ancestors, they would think that this is magic. We're in two different states and we're talking on these magical screens, right? When I get hungry, I'll just go down to Whole Foods or Chick Fil A or what have you. Everything's ready to go. Where back in the day, you know, hunter gatherers had to go out and hunt those bison, hunt those buffaloes, right? And they're saying, wait a minute. So they talk on these magical screens and they basically. Then people give them food. That just doesn't make any sense, right? So, long story short is we're going to get to a place where atoms are going to be zero. And that's my prediction, you know, things, that things are going to approach zero.
[34:41]
A
Everything, okay? This is probably the best prediction I've heard. And, and this is the type of answer and response that I, that I want when I ask this. This type of prediction. That is amazing. At first I was thinking, what is he talking about? Everybody knows that once prices go up, it's very hard for them to come down gas, you know, or whatever. But in terms of your saying bits and you're explaining like, like the USB drive versus the floppy disk. It makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of sense. And you are right, we will eventually get very close to that, if not there. That was amazing. Thank you for that. So this has been a great conversation and I know people are going to want to engage with you. How do people connect with you? What are all your social media handles, your LinkedIn, your email, your website. Just I know you gave us a website earlier, let's say it again, and all the different ways that we can connect with you and as we go on this journey with you.
[35:37]
C
Absolutely. So my website is ehamx.com ehamx.com my email is my first name, Eric E R I c@ehamx.net so a little bit different. Erichamx.net net on social media. You can hit me up at. It's that LinkedIn in Eham06. So I'm Eham06 on LinkedIn and then on Instagram I am Eham1906. Eham1906 exactly on on Instagram.
[36:22]
A
Awesome. Well, this is great. E. Thank you so much for being here. I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I know that our listeners are gonna be so excited after listening to this episode and just continue success. I mean, you make me proud and I do follow you and I love seeing your clips and what you can do. It really, truly is amazing. So continue with your passion and continue making a difference for all of us who love film and entertainment and love to be wild.
[36:52]
C
Thank you and thank you for allowing me on. I really appreciate you and everything you do.
[36:58]
A
Thank you. Thanks so much. Okay everyone, until next time, remember to lead with AI.

Summary6 min read

Lead With AI — Episode Summary

Episode: How AI Is Revolutionizing Award-Winning Filmmaking (with Eric Hamilton)
Host: Dr. Tamara Nall
Guest: Eric Hamilton ("E"), President & Executive Producer, EHAMX Studios
Release Date: August 11, 2026

Episode Theme:

This episode explores the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence in the film industry through the story of Eric Hamilton, an award-winning AI filmmaker. Host Dr. Tamara Nall sits down with Eric to uncover how he leverages AI to produce feature films that are winning major awards and challenging the status quo of Hollywood filmmaking. Their lively, candid conversation reveals the behind-the-scenes mechanics, ethical dilemmas, industry backlash, and the visionary future of AI-driven cinema.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Eric Hamilton's Unconventional Journey into AI Filmmaking

Background & Motivation (02:34)
- Born in Detroit, studied computer science; tech veteran (Yahoo, Google, Netscape).
- Passion for Afrobeats led him to experiment with AI-generated music, then videos.
- Viral success with AI music videos (e.g., “Mini Men” reimagined)—1.3M YouTube views.
- Progressed from music videos to full-fledged films using AI, embracing opportunities along the way.

"I’m a technology person at heart and one thing led to another… It was just an opportunity that I just kind of grabbed and ran with." — Eric (03:38)

2. Breakout Moments: From Fun Experiment to Award-Winning Films

'Holy Smokes' Audience Reactions (04:39)
- Early public screenings at events like MLK Ski Weekend—audience gasps during intense AI-powered special effects.
- Inspiration from OpenAI’s Sora (text-to-video) tool—made viral, tongue-in-cheek police chase videos.
- Cascading audience engagement prompted an episodic storyline (“what’s next?”), ultimately collated into a feature.
- Submitted combined episodes to the New York International Film Festival—won Best Sci Fi.

"I'm making this up as I go along… Submitted (the movie) to a film competition thinking nothing was going to happen, end up winning Best Sci Fi at the New York International Film Festival." — Eric (07:09)

3. Inside EHAMX Studios: The Art of ‘Machine Perspective Cinema’

Workflow & Creative Philosophy (08:30)
- Contrasts traditional, script-driven filmmaking vs. his improvisational, prompt-led approach.
- Coins the approach as “machine perspective cinema”—embracing what AI delivers, even if unexpected.
- Allows AI generation to alter plot direction; adapts script to fit AI-produced content.

"I rock with what it gives me… The direction of the film will change based on what AI does. My films never end exactly how I want them. But from the perspective of my audience, they’re like ‘this is dope.’" — Eric (10:15)

4. Challenging and Changing Industry Norms

Recognition and Industry Resistance (11:15)
- Submits films to both traditional and AI-specific festivals.
- Ironically wins in mainstream categories but receives “zero love” from AI-focused competitions.
- Traditional industry judges critique for lack of ‘novel techniques’; Eric focuses on audience impact.

“I win in traditional film competitions… in AI film competitions, I don't win a damn thing. They show me no love.” — Eric (12:13)

Industry Pushback & "Skipping the Line" (14:18)
- Faces criticism from traditionalists for bypassing old funding and production gatekeepers.
- AI filmmaking enables direct audience engagement and disrupts established Hollywood hierarchies.

“I basically skipped the line... Technology has allowed us to skip the line. And a lot of traditionalists don’t like it… that sounds like a personal problem to me.” — Eric (15:08)

5. Monetization and Distribution

Deals and Streaming (16:05)
- Four distribution deals signed—pending release on platforms like Tubi and Amazon Prime (not Netflix yet).
- Monetization through streaming platforms; audience can access soon.

“I have four distribution deals… It’ll probably be on Tubi or Amazon Prime. That’s how we’ll monetize.” — Eric (16:32)

6. Creative Milestones & Emotional Storytelling

Most Impactful Scene (17:24)
- Describes a deeply personal AI film inspired by Spike Lee's “School Daze,” focusing on the stress of fraternity pledging.
- The emotional realism made even close friends say the scene was “hard to watch,” fulfilling Eric’s artistic intent.

“I wanted the audience to be stressed. Once I put that scene together, I even shed tears making it… They told me afterwards, ‘Yo, E, that scene was hard to watch.’ That’s exactly what I wanted.” — Eric (19:31)

7. Ethics of AI in Filmmaking

Ethical Concerns (20:24)
- Chief concern: accidental resemblance to real people/celebrities; vigilant about not violating likeness or intellectual property.
- Implements due diligence on every prompt to avoid potential abuse or infringement.

"I do my due diligence to make sure I don’t violate someone else’s intellectual property. That’s the biggest one that I contend with." — Eric (20:39)

8. The Vision: EHAM Cinematic Universe (ECU)

Ambitions for the Next Five Years (21:51)
- Aims to create a 40-film catalog, building the “EHAM Cinematic Universe” akin to Marvel’s MCU.
- Envisions a billion-dollar market cap for EHAMX Studios.
- Operates as a one-man studio but open to expansion and licensing.

"Five years from now… 40 films streaming… with a $1 billion market cap. That’s the goal." — Eric (22:37)

9. Audience Access & How to Watch

Visit ehamx.com for trailers and updates.
Streaming distribution expected by fall 2026 (Tubi, Amazon Prime) (25:40).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On AI Filmmaking Style:

“My goal is: did you laugh? Did you cry? Were you feeling what I’m spitting at you? If yes, let’s move forward.” — Eric (09:14)
On Disrupting Hollywood:

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Technology has allowed us to skip the line.” — Eric (15:55)
On Industry Reaction:

“From the traditionalists, people who are traditional filmmakers and producers, oh, they hate it. They absolutely hate it.” — Eric (14:18)
On Future of Content Creation:

“I could do six to ten films a year… I want people constantly consuming my content.” — Eric (22:07)

Bonus Segment Highlights & Timestamps

Rapid Fire Q&A (27:47–34:41)

Most Overrated AI Trend?
- AI agents—overhyped, underutilized, not ready for prime time. (28:02)
Most Underrated AI Trend?
- Text-to-video and image-to-video—Hollywood hasn’t realized its full potential:
  
  “I can make a $500 million movie for about $800.” — Eric (30:41)
Recommended Book:
- “Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” by Max Tegmark (31:21)
Biggest Prediction:
- The price of things (“atoms”) will approach zero post-singularity; society will shift from wealth-seeking to self-actualization.
  
  “Life will not be about getting rich. Life will be about bettering yourself… the price of everything is going to approach zero.” — Eric (32:35)

Contact & Socials

Website: ehamx.com
Email: eric@ehamx.net
LinkedIn: eham06
Instagram: eham1906

Timestamps for Key Segments

[02:34] – Eric’s Background and Entry into AI Filmmaking
[04:39] – Eric’s Breakout AI Film Moments
[08:30] – Behind the Scenes at EHAMX Studios
[11:15] – Industry Response and Festival Recognition
[14:18] – Backlash from Traditional Filmmakers
[16:05] – Monetization and Distribution Strategy
[17:24] – Emotional Impact of AI-Generated Drama
[20:24] – Ethics in AI Filmmaking
[21:51] – Vision for the EHAM Cinematic Universe
[25:40] – How Listeners Can Watch the Films
[27:47] – Bonus Rapid Fire Q&A

Closing

Dr. Nall applauds Eric’s vision, drive, and model for innovation:

“You took something that was a passion and now it’s a formidable company…you’re doing what Marvel did.” (24:17)

Takeaway:
Eric Hamilton’s journey epitomizes the transformative power of AI in creative industries: democratizing filmmaking, upending entrenched processes, and inspiring a new era where passion and technology combine to create impact at scale.

Loading summary

Transcript65 lines

[00:01]
A
Welcome to another episode of Lead with AI Today we're exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming the film industry with someone who's not just talking about the future, he's creating it. Joining me today is Eric Hamilton, AKA E, a long term friend of mine who is the president and executive producer of EHAMX Studios who is using AI to produce award winning films. Let's get into it.
[00:32]
B
Welcome to lead with AI I'm Dr. Tamara Nall. In each episode we will take you behind the scenes with visionary leaders shaping the future of AI across public and private sectors. Join us as we explore groundbreaking projects and innovations that are transforming industries and making a real impact on people's lives. Let's dive in.
[01:03]
A
So hello and welcome back to another episode of lead with AI I'm your host, Dr. T. And we feature AI products that are changing the world and founders behind them. Today I am so excited to have my long term friend Eric Hamilton with me today. He, he is the president and executive producer of EHAMX Studios and they are killing it in the industry with so many awards, but we're going to get into it. But welcome, Eric. How are you?
[01:35]
C
I'm doing great and thank you. I feel honored to be a guest. Thank you.
[01:39]
A
Absolutely, absolutely. And before we begin with Eric, I just want to say thank you to all of our listeners. You subscribe, you forward, you follow, and, and you engage. And that is why we were last year number one in technology on Apple podcast as well as winning a Webby award and a W3 awards. And it's because of you, the listeners, and then you, Eric, for being a wonderful guest. So I am so looking forward to this discussion.
[02:11]
C
Absolutely.
[02:12]
A
Okay, so before we get into it, tell us who you are, Eric. Tell us about your core. I mean, I of course know you and know you're a fabulous person. But for all our listeners, tell us who you are at your core, what is your passion and how did you even know there was a need for ehamx studios and you know, using AI to make your award winning films.
[02:34]
C
Thank you. Yeah, thank you. And thank you for that. So, Eric Hamilton yet? So I'm born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. I studied computer science. So I started as an undergraduate studying computer Science, fall of 1987. I've worked for companies like Yahoo, if you remember Yahoo from back in the day, Google for some of the old school folks, they may remember Netscape. So I'm a technology person at heart. And about a year ago, a little over a year ago, I like afrobeats, music and I Decided to use AI to create a certain type of afrobeats that I like to hear. So I created a bunch of songs. Then I thought, like, you know what, these songs are great. You know what? Let me make a music video out of a few. And I made music videos and people liked it. And one of, one of my videos went viral. Some of your listeners may remember the 50 cent mini men song, that was a mini men song that actually someone made a soul version. But I got permission from the, the, the writer of that song or the person who made that song to create a video. Got like 1.3 million views on YouTube. And then that actually eventually led to me actually, you know, creating films and not to get to all the details, but that's the progression. So I'm a technology person at heart and one thing led to another and it was just an opportunity that I just kind of grabbed and ran with.
[04:00]
A
Yeah, and I remember those music videos and clubs, you know, that you post on social media. I think it was Facebook, but I think that's where I saw it. And so I have just really, really enjoyed following your journey now into being this wonderful producer. So. So let's go into the Holy Smokes moment. Tell. I mean, obviously your films are AI. You're very outward and open about that and direct and you let people know. Tell us about a Holy Smokes moment, a time where a viewer, a watcher, a customer saw one of your films and was blown away, like, oh my God, I did that. Talk to us about that moment.
[04:40]
C
There's a few. So I actually completed one of my films and I actually screened just a few scenes at. Some of your listeners may be familiar with MLK ski weekend and it's a big ski weekend in Collingwood, Ontario. It's a Canadian sort of thing, but it's an African American, a friend of mine who actually hosts this. So I had a film screening there and I showed one of the scenes, one of my sci fi films where it was a bunch of commandos that were going against a bunch of AI robots. And it was something that happened in the film and when one of the audience members kind of gasped when Special effect happened where not to get through all the details, but that was the moment. I'm like, wow, I really have something here. And then the other moment was. So how this whole thing started with the films, was there a. There was a tool a lot of your, your listeners probably are familiar with? OpenAI. OpenAI. Sam Altman and team came up with a text to video tool called Sora and eventually they had the second version called Sora 2, which launched in October of 2025 almost a year ago. And all these people were making these cat, these silly cat videos, right? And these, these cats were like real cats were driving cars and would get pulled over by the police and, and then the cat would go meow and then speed off, right? And they were getting like thousands, tens of thousands of views. I'm like, listen, if this nonsense, I can make something way sweeter. So what I did was I created a video of me getting pulled over by the police. Sora. Nailed it, right? Then I cuss out the police and drive off. And it nailed it. I'm like, oh my God. So then I kept on prompting, I said, okay, it was the high speed chase through the city in this drop top Corvette. Nailed it. So then I say, all right, I get out the car and I fight the police. Nailed it. I'm like, oh my God, it's so great. So now I went back to Suno, made some, some theme music, strung it all together and it's a sequence where I'm, I'm doing all this stuff. Then I put it out on YouTube, put it out on Facebook. Hundreds and not quite thousands of views. But people were asking me, okay, what's next? And I'm like, oh, well then I jump on a helicopter and. And then you find out I'm a secret agent. What's next? And then I, okay, then I'm, I'm making this up as I go along. Then I, I go to Jamaica and fight a snake man on the beach. And then what's next? And what's next? And then next thing you know, I've got like 20 episodes. And then I'm like, well. And then people are like, what's next? And then what, what happened after that is I started just out of, just out of, just out of a. Whatever. I submitted the contiguous of all these 20 episodes I tied, strung them together for a complete movie, submitted it to a film competition, thinking nothing was going to happen, end up winning best Sci Fi at the New York International Film Festival.
[07:28]
A
That's amazing. I'm like, damn.
[07:30]
C
Or dar should be cursing. I'm like, well, maybe I have something here. And now we're five films. I've completed my fifth full feature film and it was just me trying to upstage some cats is how the film.
[07:48]
A
Okay, Eric won cat zero.
[07:51]
C
Yeah, yeah.
[07:52]
A
Or five zero. So that's amazing. I mean, you know, a lot of people are talking, you know, a lot of people, we've heard the Word, vibe, coding, et cetera. You have really formalized something that was like, kind of like an internal competition, if you will, into something that is formidable and getting to be quite big. Now you kind of went into it. You kind of gave us, you know, some of the tools that you were using. But how does it work exactly? If we were to kind of open up the hood of E Ham X Studios and look at the brain of what you're doing and what you're creating with AI, talk to our listeners about how that works.
[08:30]
C
Absolutely. So my style of filmmaking is very different than your typical AI filmmaker. So I'm not traditionally trained in film. And a lot of folks who are in this industry are like, they went to, you know, NYU film school and they worked at bet, and they will tell you that you need to write a script first. And then after you write your script, you'll have a measured storyboards, and then after that, you basically, you know, will prompt. You know, prompt is just you describe to AI what you want and they'll build the scenes and then, you know, they'll have a movie like five, six months later. I'm like, that's not how I do it. No, no, no, no, no, no. So the way I do it is I. My techniques are called. It's something that I'm a term that I call. It's called machine perspective cinema. Basically, I create AI films that don't look like AI because my goal is, did you laugh? Did you cry? Did you. Were you feeling what. What I'm trying when I'm spitting at you? Right. If the answer is yes, then let's move forward. Where a lot of AI filmmakers want to use the more best techniques. And I'm like, who cares? Are they. Are. Do they like your stuff or not?
[09:45]
A
Right, right, right, right.
[09:47]
C
So. So my techniques is, I have an idea in my head in the direction I want to go with this film. And I'll start prompting just like similar, of how a writer starts writing out his script. I'll start with the prompts, I'm describing what I want. And generally AI does it hardly ever gives me exactly what I want. So I wanted to go exactly this direction. And it says, okay, I'm going to give you this. And what I do 100% of the time is I rock with what it gives me. Like, case in point was one of my films I had, you know, I was supposed to be the star and I was supposed to be the guy that throws this. This was called an EMP grenade to defeat the robots and for whatever reason, I wasn't. Wasn't doing it. But my brother was in the film. It nailed it. Well, guess what? He's the star on that scene is him. So I'll never force feed AI I take what it gives me, and literally the direction of the film will change based on what AI does. Well, if that makes sense. So to answer your question, it's prompting and then looking at a scene and. And then allowing the script to change based on what AI gives me. So my films never end exactly how I want them because. But from the perspective of my audience. Oh, they like, this is dope. And that's like. Right. So, yeah, hopefully that makes sense.
[11:15]
A
No, it makes a lot of sense. Now, you had mentioned, like, other producers that. That, you know, feature. Have feature films. Now, is this becoming kind of like another category in a lot of these award. I don't know what the award ceremonies, events, et cetera. Is it. Okay, so talk to us about the evolution of that. And are you kind of at the forefather of this? And when you submit, is it in the AI category or is it just a regular film and you just let them know it's AI or you don't let them know it's AI how does that work?
[11:47]
C
Yeah, I'm always forthcoming. I let them know it's AI but what's interesting, though, Tamara is in a. I've submitted my films to AI film competitions, right? Oh, they give me zero love. I ain't want a damn thing. Right. In an AI film competition, right? There's film competitions that are specifically set up for AI films. No love. I win in traditional film film competition. And. And some of them have AI categories, but I win in regular categories, like winning Best Sci Fi. New York International Film Festival. I was going up against regular sci fi films. One. One of my films. I'm a member of RALPH for fraternity, and I made a film about a fictional fraternity kind of school days. Like one Best dramatic impact at the La Sun Film Festival. Going up against regular films because. And, you know, winning again win best dramatic impact because there's some drama going on in that damn film, right? So to answer your question, yes, there are AI film categories in traditional films or film traditional film festivals. And then totally separate, you've got AI film film festivals. And again, in AI film festivals, I don't want a damn thing. No nothing. Right? Not. They show me no love.
[13:07]
A
Right? Right.
[13:08]
C
When. Because. And it's mainly. And it took me a while to figure it out, like, why am I getting no awards over here? And I, and I've won like 14 film awards in traditional film festivals. And, and the reason why is I want to make something that's entertaining. The people go, how they, they button that seat and do like this at the end, right? Whereas the films that went in AI film competitions, the judges are like, well, what techniques is he using? That's revolutionary. And I'm like, well, is the sucker entertaining? Did you. Who gives a damn about, you know, whether or not you use the latest techniques? Are you going to tell your homies about the film, yes or no? If the answer is yes, then I got something. If it's not, then no, you keep it moving. So I'm not sure if I answered your question or not, but.
[13:54]
A
No, absolutely you did. And how do you think this is going to kind of like shake up or is shaking up the industry? And do you think that there are going to be some producers that are going to look at you and say, you know what? Yeah, he's taking a shortcut and I'm, you know, putting in this huge budget and hiring all these actors. And why is he and others like him winning? How do you think that's going to play out?
[14:19]
C
Oh, it's, it's, it's starting. I get so much hate. It's interesting. I get a lot of love from folks like you who are, who watch a movie purely from the perspective of, am I being entertained for this 90 minutes, right? Nothing but love from that perspective. But from the traditionalists, people who are traditional filmmakers and producers, oh, they hate it. They absolutely hate it. Right? And mainly because in a traditional film, the way it normally works is I'll write a script, right? I might take a few months to write a script. And then I get on my knees and beg Hollywood elites to say, please, please, please give me money, please, so I can make this into a film. And they give you the, whatever, five, $10 million, five million, do whatever it is, and then you make this film and you shop it around. It's all this, this, this crazy process. I basically skipped the line. I basically come to my film distributors and say, here, this is getting thousands of views. My little clips, you know, my, my short films are winning awards, which I talk about, right? So I've skipped the line. And a lot of the traditionalists don't like it because they say, well, I did this. And it took me six months to write this script and it took me a year to get funding. And, and I'm like, so. I mean, that sounds like a personal problem to me. I mean, don't hate the player, hate the game. And it's just that technology has allowed us to skip the line. And so. And that's what it is. But traditionally, I haven't been getting a lot of love from traditional filmmakers, but audiences love it.
[15:56]
A
Got it. And how are you monetizing this? And you mentioned. So you actually have film distributors that help kind of put your films out.
[16:05]
C
Yes. So the monetization is actually coming. So I've completed five films and I have four distribution deals. And generally it takes about, you know, six to eight months from the time that you sign the deal to the time that it's available on streaming. And I signed my first deal in March, so probably won't be on streaming until, like, November. Thank you very much. So. So you imagine probably like a. To be Amazon Prime. Netflix is kind of a high bar. Probably not going to make it there, but probably to be an Amazon Prime. So that's how we're going to monetize is it's going to be a situation where it's going to be on those streaming networks, and I make money from there. But to date, I have not, because I'm so early in the process.
[16:47]
A
Understood, Understood. And that's good because our listeners love to be there at the beginning so that we can just say, oh, we know you. We knew. You win. Although you've already arrived, but just in this genre. Now, you talked about earlier about how, you know, you had some screenings and you could. You heard a gasp and that's when you knew you were onto something. Talk to us about a time where you were floored by something that happened. You were like, oh, my God, did I actually do this? Did I create that scene? Take us to that moment where you, as the founder who had the vision to start this, was wowed by your. By what you've done.
[17:25]
C
Totally. So. So this one film, some of your listeners are, hopefully, most of your listeners are familiar with Spike Lee and School Days. Right. So, you know, our generation, we grew up. I saw School Days for the first time my freshman year of College, spring of 1988. And love, love, love the movie. One of the things that I thought could have been stronger. And again, Spike Lee is not in a fraternity, but I thought the pledge portion of Spike Lee was very watered down. And what I wanted to do was make a movie in the similar vein, you know, where it's about, you know, black man, black woman in college. But I want it to focus on the fraternity process. But I wanted the audience to be stressed out. Right. I Wanted the audience to be stressed. And so there was this one scene in the movie where I have a pledge who is, you know, he's just not used to. He's from the suburbs. Like, I kind of am. I'm originally from Detroit, but I went to high school in the suburbs. And then he's got this, this, this dean of pledges who's supposed to protect him, but he's kind of gangster. He's the hood dude, right? Kind of, you know, street dude, but that's book smart. And I created a scene where the pledge is stuttering. He's stressed. And once I put that scene together, I mean, I actually even shed tears actually making it because I had to relive this situation of being that stressed out pledge. And even, even years later, I was actually dean of pledges. So I understand both sides of it. So I understood the anger from a dean of pledges where you got a pledge who's not cutting it right. So I channeled that anger and hostility into the part of the dean because I lived that life too. And then also the part of the pledge of not understanding what's going on with all these gangster ghetto dudes that are like yelling at him. And you being from the suburbs and not understanding. And that scene landed so well. I'm sending to some of my, my fraternity brothers. And this is what I wanted them to. The answer they gave me was perfect. They told me afterwards they was like, yo, E, that scene was hard to watch.
[19:32]
A
Okay, that's what you want?
[19:33]
C
Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted. And mind you, these, these are my homies who are very, very, very honest with me. He said, man, that was hard to watch. I had to pause. It was hard to watch. And I'm like, cool. That's what I wanted to hear. Because if these folks who actually live that situation with me said it was hard to watch, that means I captured the stress of the situation. And hopefully other folks will feel the same when they watch the movie or even if they don't feel it's hard to watch, at least they'll understand the stress that's involved.
[20:04]
A
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. The intensity of those days, I tell you. So let's talk about ethics. You know, you're out here creating this award winning content. How have you thought about ethics and what kind of ethical dilemmas could there be in an AI driven film industry?
[20:24]
C
Yes. You know, the big one is, you know, likeness. Right. So meaning, you know, a lot of times, AI, you'll give it just a regular prompt and it may Come up with someone that looks like Jay Z. Right. And. Or you know, looks like Ben Affleck or whomever. And so I'm very careful to, you know, whatever I create that I do my due diligence to make sure that it doesn't violate someone else's intellectual property. So that's the biggest kind of ethics. Yeah. Dilemma that I contend with to make sure that I don't violate someone else's intellectual property. There are others, but that's the biggest one that I am aware of with every prompt that I initiate for, for my films.
[21:17]
A
Got it? Oh yeah, no, that is an interesting one because I'm thinking about myself. Somebody, I mean of course I would know Jay Z or Ben or you know, somebody like that. But I'm like, what if it was somebody, some actor or some actress I didn't know, you know. So I guess I could then ask a prompt, you know, who. Give me who this person looks most similar like. And then I could, you know, try to go from there and have some judgment there. So talk to us about the big future for EHAM Studios. Where do you see the company five years from now and what type of impact you'll be making in the world?
[21:51]
C
Totally. So I want to create a catalog of films. So I have something called the EHAM Cinematic Universe, the E Cinema. See you. And basically I want to have a catalog of films so you know, I, I can create a film from just thought in my head to finished product in about 10 weeks, two and a half months, the shortest time frame. I finished one film in 33 days. Right. So you know, technically I could, I could do, you know, six to ten films a year if I really kind of put my mind to it. So, so what I want to do is have a pipeline of films. Right. You know, I love to look up five years from now and have 40 films that are streaming on Amazon, Tubi, Netflix, where people are constantly consuming and you know, looking for my content. So again I'm looking for a catalog and then the ultimate goal is I would love, and I'm a one man operation too. So I do, you know, the writing, the, the directing, the editing, everything's done by, by me. And I would love to in 5 years have Ehamx studios be a billion dollar market cap to have to basically come out and say, well this based on all the intellectual Property, all the 40 films and all the deals that have been lined up that this company is worth a billion dollars. That is the goal. That would be something. So that, that's the vision. 40 films in the pipeline with 40 distribution deals, plus a $1 billion market cap.
[23:30]
A
Oh, my gosh. I love those lofty goals. Not surprising, E, but I love those lofty goals. Now, what is ECU again? I mean, I know you said, you know, just having your own collection, but I hear university and I immediately thought something else.
[23:42]
C
Yeah, kind of very similar to Marvel. The EHAM Cinematic Universe. The ecu.
[23:48]
A
Oh, universe, not universe.
[23:51]
C
Yeah, I'm sorry, Universe. Yeah, universe. Yeah, very similar to like you think about, you know, Marvel's got Iron Man, Black Panther, Thor, the Credible Hulk, Spider Man. All those films are either standalone films or they maybe come together as a group, but it's all a part of the Marvel universe. So mine is the E. HAM Cinematic Universe. Very similar, but stories that reside within my scope.
[24:18]
A
Okay, perfect. Thanks for clarifying that. Because also while you were talking, I was thinking, oh, well, then he could even build something where someone else has something and he buys the license for that and you know, and the rights and then you have, I guess, sign people, etc, kind of like they do in entertainment. But, you know, that's my thought too. But I love this and the reason why I love it there. There are a few things I want to point out to my listeners here. You took something that was kind of like a passion and you just wanted to have viewers to have a good experience. And now it's something that is formalized, like a formidable, as I mentioned before, company. And then notice that he has these goals, like aspirational companies that he's using to model and say, one day I will be like Marvel. And I just like to point those out sometimes when I have guests because it's very important for our listeners who. Who are thinking about and can learn whether they're in the film industry, entertainment or other industries, I mean, even in oil and gas, as they're trying to build out their companies. And so I just wanted to say kudos to you for that and wanted to point that out for them.
[25:24]
C
Thank you, I appreciate that.
[25:26]
A
Absolutely. So if our audience wants to get a touch and feel and see those who have not watched your films, what's the best way to get access to your content?
[25:40]
C
Definitely they can come to my website, which is ehamx.comeh a m the letter x.com and I've got a bunch of trailers there so they can check out the trailers and then hopefully soon thereafter, hopefully by this fall, the first film will be streaming probably hopefully on Tubi.
[26:04]
A
Okay, awesome. I love that. So make sure you go to his website and then that way you can follow and get all of his latest updates and when he has screenings etc at various festivals and events. So now I have a question which I call from one genius to another. So a previous guest has this question for you. And that question is what question would you ask an AI if you knew it could answer it honestly and completely?
[26:33]
C
I would ask it. I would ask it about something in the AI world called the Singularity. For those who may not be familiar with what the singularity is, that is a point in which AI reaches human level intelligence where it has consciousness if you will. And once that's reached, AI could self improve and then literally overnight we have something called super intelligence in which you think about humans and you think about a rabbit or a dog and in that scenario we're the rabbits and the humans or the AI are the humans as far as the differentiate the levels of intelligence. So the question I would ask is when do you think the singularity will arrive? When we will have, you know, what's called artificial general intelligence? The singularity. When do you think that would arrive? If it. And I would want to know that date because everything after that is going to be totally different for everybody. So that's what I would ask.
[27:48]
A
Okay, I love that. I love that. So now let's move into our bonus rapid fire. I'll ask you four questions and you let me know the first thing that comes to mind. Starting with what is the most overrated AI or tech trend?
[28:03]
C
You know what I think, and this is controversial.
[28:06]
A
Okay.
[28:07]
C
I would say, I don't, I don't want to say it's overrated, but it seems to be overhyped and underutilized. Our agents, AI agents. Because it, the long and short of it is I don't, I think AI agents are overrated in that there's still some, I think logic and thinking that these agents lack to be, to be used efficiently. Like for instance, I would not just unleash. And you said rapid fire and I'm giving the explanation, but I would just say agents with that. I'll leave it at that. How about that?
[28:49]
A
It's fine. No, sometimes we do go into further discussion. So if you want to add something around that, that's fine too. But yeah, I do get that quite often people like oh, agents, agents, agents. Okay, got it.
[29:02]
C
Yeah, mainly because the, the I don't think agents are ready for prime time is what I'm trying to say.
[29:08]
A
Got it. Okay, okay, that makes a lot of sense. What about an underrated AI or tech trend.
[29:15]
C
I think what's underrated is what I'm doing with image to video, text to video, the whole Hollywood scene. I sat on a panel in Hollywood, in la, last was it, February, March, and literally all these old school directors, producers, they're just, they're like deers, like deers in the headlights. They're so, they're so attached to how things were before I even asked a director, I said, if I gave you an unlimited budget, a billion dollars to make whatever film you wanted, what would you make? Oh, well, well, well. I'm like, do you realize that is what AI is? I have an unlimited budget if I want to go shoot a scene in Paris. And I'm like, that doesn't work. You know, let's go into Egypt. I want to shoot that same scene in front of the pyramids at Giza, or nah, you know what? I want to shoot that same scene in front of, in the hood, in Detroit. I can do that. I can put my, my crew on a plane to Paris, to Cairo, to Detroit.
[30:20]
A
Your agents. Right, right.
[30:25]
C
So, so what I'm saying though is the most underrated is actually, you know, the text to video, image to video, the film. It's because literally for about 800, I can make a $500 million movie for about $800.
[30:42]
A
That's amazing. That's absolutely amazing. Okay, what about a book, a podcast, some content that we should consume to be better people?
[30:52]
C
Yes, one of the ones, a book that I read about eight years ago. It's called life 3.0. Being human in the age of artificial intelligence. Life 3.0. Being human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. The author, Natural Max Tech Mark, I think is his first and last name. But if your listeners check that out, that is. I read that book back in 2018, I think, oh my God, that book is the bomb. It will have you thinking. Thank you.
[31:21]
A
Okay.
[31:22]
C
Yes.
[31:22]
A
Okay, we gotta check it out. We, we heard it here from you, so we gotta check it out. Now. Our last rapid fire question is, wow us, scare us. What is your biggest prediction that's going to happen in the future?
[31:38]
C
So this is going to be interesting. This life, the, the. The time period that we live in is the most interesting time period in, I believe, in human history. It's. Things are going to get really bad once artificial intelligence reaches this, what's called artificial general intelligence, the singularity, where it has human level intelligence, then super intelligence, because it's going to be really bad, because it's going to be massive, in my opinion. Massive amounts of layoffs, right? It's going to get really bad and then it's going to get really good because the price of everything is going to approach zero, right? Everything is going to approach zero. So you imagine that, that Lamborghini or that mansion, it's going to follow how bits, meaning binary digits, are basically zero. Back in the day, I. My freshman year of high school in 1983, it cost about a dollar to buy one of those five and a half inch floppy disks. About a dollar. And it would hold about one megabyte worth of data, right? So a megabyte would cost about a dollar to store. Now I've got these little bitty thumb drives, which is a terabyte. Terabyte might cost me $10, whatever I spent for. So a terabyte is a million times. You take a million of these floppy disks, okay? Back in the day would have cost me a million dollars to store a terabyte. Now I can do it for about $10, right? So what I'm saying is the price of bits is approaching zero. So the price of atoms, which are stuff, this shirt, you know, this, this room, that ceiling fan, all of that will approach zero. So then life will not be about getting rich. Life will be about bettering yourself. How can I be the best podcaster? How can I be without. Without having the need to monetize. You don't have to monetize our grandkids, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren. Was, you know what, my great grandmother, she did great with her podcast, and she did it to know she made a lot of money. It's like, why does she do it for money? What's this money thing? Well, she had to basically earn a living and she worked for money. And that'll be a weird concept to our great grandchildren. Just like our ancestors, they would think that this is magic. We're in two different states and we're talking on these magical screens, right? When I get hungry, I'll just go down to Whole Foods or Chick Fil A or what have you. Everything's ready to go. Where back in the day, you know, hunter gatherers had to go out and hunt those bison, hunt those buffaloes, right? And they're saying, wait a minute. So they talk on these magical screens and they basically. Then people give them food. That just doesn't make any sense, right? So, long story short is we're going to get to a place where atoms are going to be zero. And that's my prediction, you know, things, that things are going to approach zero.
[34:41]
A
Everything, okay? This is probably the best prediction I've heard. And, and this is the type of answer and response that I, that I want when I ask this. This type of prediction. That is amazing. At first I was thinking, what is he talking about? Everybody knows that once prices go up, it's very hard for them to come down gas, you know, or whatever. But in terms of your saying bits and you're explaining like, like the USB drive versus the floppy disk. It makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of sense. And you are right, we will eventually get very close to that, if not there. That was amazing. Thank you for that. So this has been a great conversation and I know people are going to want to engage with you. How do people connect with you? What are all your social media handles, your LinkedIn, your email, your website. Just I know you gave us a website earlier, let's say it again, and all the different ways that we can connect with you and as we go on this journey with you.
[35:37]
C
Absolutely. So my website is ehamx.com ehamx.com my email is my first name, Eric E R I c@ehamx.net so a little bit different. Erichamx.net net on social media. You can hit me up at. It's that LinkedIn in Eham06. So I'm Eham06 on LinkedIn and then on Instagram I am Eham1906. Eham1906 exactly on on Instagram.
[36:22]
A
Awesome. Well, this is great. E. Thank you so much for being here. I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I know that our listeners are gonna be so excited after listening to this episode and just continue success. I mean, you make me proud and I do follow you and I love seeing your clips and what you can do. It really, truly is amazing. So continue with your passion and continue making a difference for all of us who love film and entertainment and love to be wild.
[36:52]
C
Thank you and thank you for allowing me on. I really appreciate you and everything you do.
[36:58]
A
Thank you. Thanks so much. Okay everyone, until next time, remember to lead with AI.