Mario Xavier

@GamewithDave Command and Conquer.

For those who used a computer between 1995 and 2001, what's the computer game from that time that sticks with you the most, and why?

@BostonByBirth I’m so sorry my man. I wish you peace.

My son died. I know he didn't contribute anything to mankind — he was only two months old — but I like to believe he was destined to do something good for humanity. It's been a while since his death, and I hate to dwell on it so publicly, but I wanted you to know him.

BREAKING: TOP Democrats are planning "Project 2029," a plan to jail Trump, his family, and members of the current Trump administration.

@_microbudgetpod As the industry changes, the micro budget is the only path to survival it seems. It gives you total control and heck, it’s fun.

“Microbudget filmmaking isn’t real filmmaking” You’ve been trying to get that feature script sold for 7 years. I’ve made 4 internationally awarded films in that time. And I shoot my next one this summer. Have fun being a real filmmaker tho.

It's become easier and easier to make movies over the last 50 years. That "revolution" of quality content that we were promised never came. Why? Because the EASE of making movies is not the true bottleneck. People who think that AI will tear down the walls don't seem to understand that the walls were torn down a long time ago. It's survivorship bias. They only see the studio films that get distribution, so they think the only difference between those films and them is what those films have in common: budget. But Sundance receives more than 14,000 submissions each year now, in features and shorts. Most of them STILL are not good enough to get to an audience. People are making movies all the time. They are making movies right now. And 99% of those films still don't capture anyone's imagination. Yes, making the movie is hard. It's so hard. But it's not the hard part. It's not the thing that makes the movie great. It's not the rare thing that differentiates one story from another. It never will be. There is always that guy in the audience who asks what camera the filmmaker used. And it has always been the wrong question. I do believe there will be great artists out there who figure out ways to use AI to heighten their projects, and there will be great artists who forego it entirely. But none of those great artists will be those who don't understand the difference between "That's great for AI" and "That's a great story.

@stevenmartini @AlexGaggio @ScottJeschke I’m watching that one. Do people get residuals from that? Interesting questions to come.

@AlexGaggio @marioxavier @ScottJeschke Disney paid open Ai 1 billion $, equity in the company basically, for a 3 year liscence to use their characters. Crazy times.

If "Hollywood is cooked" then so is everyone peddling/making these kinds of AI videos. The natural sales funnel for something like this doesn't sustain itself with just "creators", especially when they are self cannibalizing their own skills. It's going to cut right to the end user. A monthly subscriber will type a prompt on their Disney Plus app "Action comedy, where Tom Cruise plays Iron Man and Sydney Sweeney is Black Widow"-- and they will get a full garbage movie on-demand that they can click play and watch after a five minute wait. And it's even more bleak than that. Because no one else will watch it. There will be no cultural conversation about it, no event, no interest, because everyone else who is lacking in taste will be making their own on demand nonsense. This is why it's very foolish for self-professed filmmakers to align themselves w this current marketing push from AI companies. They'll go down with the ship they are hitching a ride to, all while burning bridges with fellow creatives whose careers they ruined

@stevenmartini @AlexGaggio @ScottJeschke Fantastic! Worth it!

@AlexGaggio @marioxavier @ScottJeschke I hired an animator for my opening credits, paid around 2k to an artist in Brazil. Worth every penny.

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke Nice.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke It's already live! I have about 4 posts and 2 animation recommendations for indie animators on social media

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke Do it. The new challenges too are making things with smaller teams, cheaper, wearing many hats, etc.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke I made a Substack for this purpose for animation 😅 it's little but I'm hoping it can get the conversation started and maybe one day I can help build the community I want

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke This is a good way to see it.

@stevenmartini @marioxavier @ScottJeschke I've been trying to figure out ways to curate human made art. I should subscribe to MUBI for indie films but I'm an animator so I want something more animation focused. I think curation will become the new currency as the algorithm gets filled with AI slop

@stevenmartini @AlexGaggio @ScottJeschke I’ll check out Bittersweet. That’s awesome. I keep saying we’re John Henry VS the machine, I think that’s the analogy we’re living now.

@AlexGaggio @marioxavier @ScottJeschke I just released my 💯 human hand made indie film & watched as big festivals & all platform algos pushed Ai slop to millions while I'm paying out of pocket to boost ad promos to get any views. It sucks. Imho best use of Ai would be in distribution to help find audiences online.

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke As I live and breathe here, I have a resume with $300 million dollar movies and $30,000 movies. From AD to producer. I know the system and how it works. Decades in. But surviving it and making is sustainable for you and others…this is the challenge now.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke There's a lot of people who don't want AI art and will never want it. There's a lot of avenues to reach people you never could before. You don't need a studio to fund or distribute your film. Maybe you won't make as much money as a big Hollywood director but you can make a living

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke Perhaps. Serving a niche audience has its possibilities, but now the question is making a living out of it.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke The audiences will be smaller but more dedicated. I think the big studios will lose a lot of people as it will just become pure content. Again, don't fight the algorithm trying to feed into it. Just disengage from this model entirely

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke The other issue, and why I don’t fear AI is sooner or later legal, copyright and likeness issues are going to start crushing the all AI projects.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke I think you'll realize that the old model is also dying with AI. Companies will just use AI to make these films and cut out the middle man (you) so

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke I’d like to hope so. But realistically, I don’t know anymore. Even the most dedicated and well crafted movie only gets its 15 minutes in the spotlight. It lasts, but the age of short attention span theater is here.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke Yeah, I know. The point is AI is exposing the flaws in that system as it will outpace you and lap you. If you're just trying to do things faster, you'll fail. Quality over quantity will be the new metric because AI will out quantity you

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke Those fundraising sites are great but not a long term business model or reliable.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke Why not? Especially in the age of Kickstarter and patreon

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke The model exists before AI. Distributors need more, faster and cheaper. That’s how low and mid tier movies work. AI is going to push that more. We’re John Henry vs the machine.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke Yeah, that's the old model that's dying thanks to AI. You'll never beat it as it can output stuff faster than you ever could. So stop competing on it's terms

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke That’s fantastic but I don’t see putting something out once a year a sustainable model.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke In this day and age, you really don't have to. Especially when you have direct contact with your audience through online means. I know creators that disappear for over a year and then come back with amazing stuff

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke The reality is in my experience sadly is quantity over quality. Unless you’re part of something that can absorb the cost, you have to have a pipeline of material to output quickly.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke I'm also a creative, albeit in animation and video games. And I'm cultivating my own work and online presence to be prepared as well. I'm planning on stepping out of the big studio structure entirely and build a platform to cultivate human-made art for myself and others

@AlexGaggio @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke We’re saying the same thing here. Having a cult audience is great, but a harsh reality is you have to keep up with output too.

@marioxavier @stevenmartini @ScottJeschke You lose a whole lot of trust mate. Again what audience do you want to cultivate? The one that will leave you in a heartbeat once the shinier thing comes out? Or the one that wants to hear your voice and see your craft? You can do the former but I think that's a sinking ship