We left our first-ever user conference feeling inspired. From icons like Martha Stewart and Bozoma Saint John, to video pioneers like director Paul Trillo and Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela, the stage was packed with industry innovators.
Catch the recap above for highlights from some of our favorite sessions, keep reading to learn about our top takeaways, or watch the entire event on demand. We’ve also covered product highlights from the conference in another post.
6 insights on video innovation
1. The future is yours to build
Creative Technologist and host of the Ted AI Show, Bilawal Sidhu wants us to imagine a future where every video is tailored to every user, and video creation is fluid and dynamic — with output happening almost as quickly as we can think up content. Spoiler alert: it’s not science fiction, nor is it too far off. Since the dawn of animation, Bilawal tells us, we’ve seen a constant progression toward automation and ease of use. The future of creation is being placed in the hands of anyone with a computer and access to the internet, or as Bilawal puts it, “These developments are democratizing the esoteric.”
What once took hours, now takes minutes. What once took months of training, now takes a screen record fed to an AI agent that can provide an output. We’re no longer confined by text-to-content workflows either — those whose strong points are anything but writing, rejoice — we are now in a world where content-to-content workflows are becoming the standard.
We’re seeing a boom in AI tools for media creation, like AI avatars, 3D rendering, and localization tools, as well as media understanding. “In one go, you can analyze 22 hours of audio and 1.4 million words — that’s like 15 books,” Sidhu told us. All of this can help us label, deconstruct, and query complex human interactions like never before.
The end goal, according to Bilawal, is to free up time to take on more ambitious creative and strategic projects that really move the needle, and increase the value of whatever you’re putting out into the world. His secret, he reveals, is emphasizing big-picture workflows, flexible models, and solid data foundation — plus a childlike willingness to experiment.
2. Big impact requires big swings
As an artist, filmmaker, and founder of the successful Cash Studios, Ivan Cash knows a thing or two (or more) about how to make compelling creative. His studio has worked with Netflix to give away props from their most popular shows, honored the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn movement, convinced real New Yorkers to strip down to their birthday suits to try on Pair of Thieves underwear, and so much more. Through his experiences working with brands and as an independent filmmaker, Ivan brought a few clear solutions to issues facing the creative industry today.
Issue one: “Committees kill creativity.” It’s a refrain Ivan says multiple times and even has the audience join in repeating with him. “If you try to appease everyone, it’s going to result in bland work,” he says. His solution? A system he calls “The Trust Model” where, once a client agrees to the brief, there are no rounds of feedback. Zero! While this might feel risky for clients, it can cut production time and costs in half.
Plus, this model gives more room for creatives to take risks, a fear of which is what Ivan says is issue two. When organizations are afraid of taking risks, creative falls flat. “It might be fine, but it won’t … break through,” he says. Finally, Ivan addresses the third issue — that our worlds are filtered through an algorithm — with suggestions on how to think outside “the feed.” Ultimately, Ivan says that brand work is about finding the sweet spot in between art and commerce. “Take ridiculously big swings,” Ivan advises, “because you never know what might hit."
3. Prioritize intentionality
Within moments of Bozoma Saint John — previously the CMO of Netflix and Chief Brand Officer at Uber — taking the stage, she promises the audience that she’s “not going to behave” and she delivers. The new Beverly Hill housewife gives a perfect comeback to others questioning her bold career changes: “It is not about you at all. It’s about their own interpretation of what they feel success is. And if you are actually following your own path, then you will be successful… because you have made the decisions based on what makes you feel complete.”
For marketers, her advice is simple: “You have to be present.” While focusing on strategy plans, financial forecasting, and the next quarter is important, it can cause you to lose sight of what’s happening in the moment and forget to meet people where they are.
Speaking of living in the moment, Bozoma gives a quick Latin lesson (because, naturally, she studied Latin at Wesleyan College) on the true meaning of the “carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.” It’s more than just “seize the day”— it’s something like pluck the day, having as little trust as possible in the next one. She reminds the audience to live life with an intentional focus on today, not a theoretical 5- or 10-year plan. She paraphrases Diane Ackerman to close out: “I want to get to the end of my life and not just have lived the length of it, but lived the width of it.” Talk about intentionality.
4. Video begets authenticity, so think video first
Whatever she’s involved in, be it building a media empire or holding the title of oldest Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model, media mogul Martha Stewart stresses authenticity. With 19+ million followers across multiple social media channels and 70 million website impressions a month, Martha knows how to diversify her video storytelling while always staying true to herself and her vision. “I don’t believe in faking it. It’s just not the way to be. Authenticity all the way.”
And video, Martha notes, is the pinnacle of authentic expression. With a 91% greater retention rate over reading, the emotion of video helps us remember important moments better — be they funny, happy, or sad. Martha also emphasizes the power of using video to stay current, which sometimes means changing your opinion. “If you write a direction in a book, then you have to go back to the publisher, you have to go back to the printer. A video, today, you can just change… ‘Oh, I found a better way to plant a tree. I can just do that tomorrow. I can show how to plant the tree and say forget the old way, here’s the new way.’ You can’t do that in print.”
Remaining agile in her communication style also translates to how she runs her businesses. Martha is a self-proclaimed early adopter of trends, having purchased a computer in 1982 and bought stock in Twitter at its onset — she also drives a Tesla and has actively used Instagram and TikTok since their inception. As a leader, she stresses the importance of having a vision, “If you’re gonna be a leader, you have to have the vision. It’s your vision that you are trying to extend to everyone who’s working with you. If they don’t understand your vision, that creates many, many problems… you have to be very strict about it.”
5. The right video can change everything
You can trust what Elfried Samba has to say about social media — he has the second-most engaged account on LinkedIn and was ranked alongside Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerburg as one of the most influential people across all social platforms. He’s also the CEO and Co-founder of creative agency Butterfly 3ffect, with some huge names on its client roster.
So how do you go from being a kid from the Congo to an influential tastemaker? You understand how community works. Video as a medium can connect on a deeper level than nearly anything else, and all it takes is one video that can capture someone’s attention, inspire them, teach them something new, or convince them to take action. Video is the most powerful tool you have at your disposal to create community engagement on social.
Elfried walked us through his strategy to take your community from being passive to being active. First things first: Your entire brand has to be aligned on being community-first. Meaning everyone from your product managers to your marketing team has to prioritize community. Second, you need to create real-life experiences that let you actually interact with your people. Documenting your in-person efforts leads to authentic, real stories online. As Elfried says, “Use IRL to disrupt URL.”
6. Embrace discovery with AI
What do you get when you combine founder and CEO of AI darling Runway Cristóbal Valenzuela, and 20-time-Staff-Pick winner Paul Trillo? A whole lot of video innovation. Cristóbal walked the audience through the progression of generative video over the last four years, and the advances are incredible. As for Runway’s future, he says to expect major jumps in model capabilities over the next couple of months. “You have this new universe of possibilities. New control tools… how to best interact with the models in a way that allows you to speak the same language.”
As a filmmaker, Paul is bullish on the idea that AI can help students and those just starting out break into the industry with things like AI-generated B-roll, storyboards, and concepting. Paul shares a work-in-progress film featuring cloud people (yep), created using a combination of real dancers, animation, and AI, which he believes showcases two positives: “We can make things faster… but also we can make things look better because we’re saving time in some places. We allocate that time back into the project to get something higher quality.”
The two agree that the existence of a technology alone is not enough to propel anyone to greatness; you have to know how to use the tools and hone your skills.
