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Danny Yourd

@dannyyourd

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A Real Human Being.
AI Tickler.
Creative Director & Partner at @ritualfilmco @ritual_labs

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A recent personal experiment. I’ve always been interested in Death as a character, so I put him somewhere unexpected: a coffee shop.

This short was about testing tone, continuity, and treating the moment as completely real, within AI. No winks. No spectacle. Just Death, in line, trying to blend in.

Created with @higgsfield.ai
Edited with @adobe by @dannyyourd

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8 months ago

I’ve spent my entire career in film and advertising. Making images. Obsessing over craft. Arguing about lenses. Pretending a 1% color shift matters (it does!).

AI is… a little intimidating.

Not in a doomsday way. (Yet. We’ve all seen Terminator.)
More in a “cool cool cool… I should probably understand this before my kids do” kind of way.

I don’t have answers. But after a career built on storytelling, I do feel a responsibility to lean in. So I decided to experiment using the one dataset I actually trust: memories with my kids. Moments I’d be genuinely upset to lose. If AI is shaped by what you feed it, that felt like a good place to start.

Did it create something new?
Did it just remix my feelings back at me?
Still unclear.

I brought my background in cameras, lensing, composition, and direction into the prompts—pushing for human emotion, imperfection, and restraint. What surprised me most was how familiar the process felt. It slowed me down. Made me notice motion, texture, and the messy parts of memory I usually rush past while chasing the next thing.

And I’ll admit it—I had fun.
Slightly confusing. Slightly uncomfortable.
But fun.

I’m not here with conclusions. I’m here learning in public, asking better questions, and trying to stay curious. After all these years of making images, that still feels like the job.

This piece was created using @GooglePhotos, @ChatGPT, @Higgsfield.ai (primarily Nano Banana Pro for imagery and @Klingai_Official for motion), @AdobeVideo for touch-ups, @SunoMusic for music, and @AdobeVideo for the edit. I also wanted to see how this footage responded to a traditional color grade, so my good friend @_jonesbrandon helped dial it in.

Hope you enjoy it.
Ask questions. Stay curious. by @dannyyourd

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9 months ago

This was a blast. Created in partnership with @invideo.io using the new Agent One workflow, we started with a single hero frame, consistent character and vehicle references, and the story we wanted to tell. From there, the focus shifted away from prompting isolated shots and toward building a cohesive cinematic sequence.

The result wasn’t just a faster process. It was a different one.

Less time was spent rewriting prompts. More time was spent making creative decisions: refining pacing, designing camera language, shaping believable physics, and crafting emotional moments that connected one shot naturally to the next.

The film may feature a toy car, but the goal was never simply to animate one. It was to recreate the feeling every kid remembers. When a bedroom became a movie set and a Hot Wheels jump felt larger than life.

As AI models continue to improve, the competitive advantage won’t come from access to the latest technology. It will come from the workflows built around it. Workflows that allow creative teams to spend less time wrestling with tools and more time directing ideas.

That’s the future @ritual_labs is building toward. by @dannyyourd

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2 months ago

The best pitch isn’t a PDF anymore. It’s a prototype.

This started as an experiment to see if I could create an interview that felt human. The awkward pauses, nervous glances, subtle imperfections and all.

Whether this project ever becomes anything isn’t really the point. The point is that we’re no longer limited to talking about ideas. We can build them, pressure test them, improve them, and walk into the room with something people can actually experience.

What do you think @linkedin?

Made by @ritual_labs
Made with Seedance 2.0 | @sunomusic | @elevenlabsio | @adobe by @dannyyourd

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4 months ago

The world watches ONE thing tomorrow.
Proud to share what we built at @ritual_labs for @lenovo's World Cup campaign. Directed by @billy.boman, edited by @stevedavis.creative.

Anyone can use AI to move faster. We're after something harder: proving you can build it the right way.
The performers in this spot aren't from a library. They're built on real talent, with real consent, treated as the foundation of the work. That's a system we've been building quietly at Ritual... and you'll be hearing more about it. 👀
AI doesn't have to dilute creativity. It can deepen it.
This is just the beginning. 🎬
#WorldCup #Lenovo #AI #CreativeTechnology #RitualLabs by @dannyyourd

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4 months ago

@sportiqe = comfiest hoodie.

So comfortable three guys wore the same one for days instead of just buying their own. Turning into a very serious test of friendship.

Made with @higgsfield.ai, but built like a real commercial. Grounded performances, locked characters, subtle physical comedy, and an absurd premise treated completely seriously.

The goal wasn’t “AI visuals.”

The goal was cinematic language and believable human behavior inside something ridiculous.

@ritual_labs @summithousefamily by @dannyyourd

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4 months ago

We made a short film called CHANGES about an advertising call. Using AI. Which means this post will probably get notes.

The entire piece was built with emerging AI tools and then directed like a traditional scene.

But the real idea behind it is simple:
What if production could keep up with the way ideas actually evolve?

Anyone who’s been on a creative call knows the moment.

Someone says, “Just one more thing…”

And the room shifts.

In the old model, that moment meant friction.

New timelines.
New costs.
New limitations.

With new tools, that moment can become momentum.

Because the instinct to refine, tweak, and explore is part of the process.

Technology evolves.
The meeting still does too.

Enjoy the call.

Welcome to @ritual_labs by @dannyyourd

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We made a short film about brushing your teeth for our friends at @getmouthology.

If you have kids, you know is less of a routine and more of a nightly variety show.

There’s singing.
There’s negotiating.
There’s toothpaste where toothpaste should never be.

The idea behind this piece was simple: brushing your teeth isn’t a sterile, perfect commercial moment. It’s chaos. It’s music. It’s kids pretending their toothbrush is a microphone. It’s parents wondering how a two-minute task somehow takes twelve.

So we made the toothpaste the narrator.
A tiny pop-punk witness to the beautiful mess of family life.

This was also an experiment in building a film with emerging AI production tools while still directing it like a real scene. Chasing human moments, imperfections, and the stuff that makes family life feel real.

Because honestly…the mess is kind of the point. by @dannyyourd

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7 months ago

We’re proud to introduce Ritual Labs, a new creative technology venture from our award-winning production company, @ritualfilmco. Built to give brands more creative leverage across every phase of production, Ritual Labs develops story systems that combine world-class storytelling with AI to scale imagination and keep brands in continuous production.

Welcome to a new production state. by @dannyyourd

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7 months ago

We’ve all been there.
The noisy neighbor.
The thin walls.
That one sound that somehow only starts when you’re finally ready to sleep.

How would Death deal with it?

Episode 2 of DAVE puts him in a very human situation: frustration, restraint, and the quiet moment where you decide whether to let something go. Or not.

This one was built using @higgsfield.ai, @elevenlabs.ai , @google Nano Banana Pro, and @klingai_official. All in service of something small, grounded, and character-driven. No spectacle. No winks. Just Death, in bed, trying to get some rest.

People seemed to like Episode 1, so I’m going to play in this world a little longer and see where it goes.

So now the real question is:
What’s next for Dave? by @dannyyourd

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