Google wants to heighten the profile of its Veo 3 video generator, and to help do so has named Henry Daubrez, the longtime creative chief at the multidisciplinary Dogstudio/DEPT, filmmaker in residence at Google Labs. In addition to working with the Google team to continue developing the Veo 3-powered Flow AI filmmaking tool, Daubrez will mentor artists in a new pilot program called Flow Sessions. Select filmmakers will get unlimited access to Flow, a subscription product starting at $20 per month, plus mentorship and AI education as part of Flow Sessions.

Daubrez will “create new video content showcasing Flow’s latest technology and features, like his starter project, ‘The Enchanted Door,’ which lets Flow users jump into a story and choose what happens next after a character stumbles upon a mysterious archway,” Google explains in a blog post.

“Generative AI video tools are proliferating, with some AI-focused filmmakers already using the tools on a daily basis,” writes The Hollywood Reporter, adding that “every Hollywood studio is AI-curious, hoping that the tools can help drive down costs and increase productivity, even as they remain wary of copyright concerns.”

Last month, Netflix became the first Hollywood major to issue production guidelines for generative AI.

Veo 3, in particular, is a standout among competing models like Midjourney and OpenAI’s Sora in that it has the ability to add dialogue and lip-syncing in addition to ambient audio and sound effects.

WebProNews speculates Flow “could democratize high-end production, allowing independent creators to compete with big studios by leveraging AI for storyboarding, scene generation, and even interactive elements.”

Internet discussions, including a thread on Reddit’s r/ArtificialIntelligence “suggest Flow is poised to transform filmmaking,” WebProNews writes, linking to an experimental Google Labs Flow page.

Academy Award nominee Darren Aronofsky is a high-profile Hollywood creative Google previously recruited to Flow, announcing his Primordial Soup is producing three shorts using the company’s AI tools, which in addition to Veo include the Imagen image generator and the music creator Lyria (currently waitlisted).

Daubrez — who in his role at Dogstudio/DEPT has created content for companies including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Adobe, Marvel and The New York Times — was a practitioner of Flow, which Google debuted in May, calling it an “AI storytelling tool.”

Among the shorts Daubrez previously created using Flow is “Electric Pink,” created for Google I/O.