About
Hooroo Jackson
Hooroo Jackson is an American filmmaker whose groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence has set new benchmarks in the evolving landscape of AI-generated filmmaking.
Born on December 3rd, 1985, in Baltimore, MD to Iranian immigrant parents, his father was a math prodigy and his mother was a painter. Hooroo first gained attention as a wunderkind editor, winning a national C-SPAN competition in 2003. In 2014, he was featured in the Wall Street Journal as an early proponent of Bitcoin, having invested at an average of ten dollars per coin and using the proceeds to finance his first feature film.
Early Filmmaking Career
In 2015, Jackson released “Aimy in a Cage” starring Allisyn Snyder, Crispin Glover, Paz de la Heurta, and Academy Award Nominee Terry Moore. Jackson described the film as a millennial treatise: “Aimy is the deconstruction of a cartoon character in live action, revealing the real pain that would exist inside a persona like Bugs Bunny or Pee-Wee Herman.” The film was a fusion of styles, moods, and influences. “It is my postmodern Antoine Doinel via Philip K. Dick. Its themes of societal collapse, government overreach, and familial breakdown were seen as abstract during its release, but have come to represent the very story of the digital age.”
“Aimy in a Cage” won him the Director’s Prize at the 2015 Portland Film Festival, where its bold color palette and unique style drew comparisons to auteurs such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, and David Lynch.
Pioneering AI Filmmaking
Jackson became a leading figure in the field of AI filmmaking, integrating AI tools in cohesive ways never before realized. His expertise spanned a comprehensive array of AI technologies, including Runway ML, Pika Labs, Midjourney, Kaiber, Luma Dream Machine, ElevenLabs, Suno, Udio, Topaz Labs, and Adobe Firefly. By unifying these technologies, Jackson planted the flag of the AI revolution, creating several groundbreaking firsts in the history of cinema.
Window Seat
On July 21, 2023, Jackson released “Window Seat”, the first AI-generated feature film ever made. At 61 minutes and a budget of just $100, it represented a milestone in filmmaking with its video and performances entirely machine generated. “My influences ranged from Monty Python to Adult Swim, low-fi animation that embraced limitation,” Jackson explained. “When you are utilizing film craft, absolutely any idea you have will work.”
The film, meticulously crafted from over 4,000 videos with dialogue pieced together line by line, quickly faced backlash. “I immediately faced a harassment campaign. But you cannot separate ‘Window Seat’ from being the first AI movie; there’s subtext in every scene. This isn’t early Walt Disney experimentation with a hopeful message; it’s hard indie cinema reminiscent of the 90s, akin to the works of Aronofsky, Mamet, or LaBute. To have that today is only possible through AI—it’s the long-awaited solution to the tragedy of the commons.”
DreadClub: Vampire’s Verdict
On July 3, 2024, Jackson made history again premiering “DreadClub: Vampire’s Verdict”, the first AI-animated feature film ever made. A 2D animated film in the anime style, it was also the first full-length AI anime and the first feature film with 100% of its sound, music, video, and performances AI-generated. The film garnered some of the best reviews of Jackson’s career, fulfilling a longstanding dream of making animated films, while also sparking significant controversy.
“DreadClub” faced severe backlash from anti-AI groups, leading to daily hate messages and the film being blocked on multiple platforms. The situation escalated when a prominent critic, offended by an offer of a review screener, incited a large-scale social media campaign against Jackson, resulting in intense online harassment.
The Making of “DreadClub”
Anticipating these challenges, Jackson meticulously documented the entire process in his book, Artificial Imagination: The Making of “DreadClub.” This comprehensive account captures the making of the film and the chaotic aftermath, ensuring that future generations understand the challenges, adversity, and cruelty faced by early AI filmmakers.
