Verena Puhm

Mermaid Origins is out! 🧜🏾‍♀️⚡
Last year @virginvoyages brought its mermaids to life on screen for the first time. Then @kleverov from @nativeforeign.co called and asked if I wanted to tell one of their origin stories. Of course I said yes.

We premiered in Cannes, gave a sneak peek at @magnific_ai’s Upscale conference @upscaleconf , and now it’s finally out in the world 🌊
Four mermaids, four worlds, each with an artist free to imagine her.

Mine is Valiant: bold silhouettes, big emotion, a comic book heroine born to fight for something. Building a hero’s origin from scratch in a brand world this playful was a dream brief.

Creative direction came from @rebecca Hamm and @kleverov, and @magnific_ai’s tools let us explore more ideas, faster. But every call on what to chase, how it should feel, and what made the cut stayed with the artists.

🎬 Scarlet by Liliia Zababurina, inspired by French New Wave
🎬 Resilient by Gilberto Balderas and Paco Veyro, rooted in Latin American color and craft
🎬 Brilliant by @luca Ontino, channeling Milan (that octopus dress 🐙)
🎬 Valiant by me ⚡
🎵 Score by @kingwillonius
This is the AI filmmaking I believe in: the tools widen what you can try, and taste decides what belongs.
Huge thanks to Billy Bohan Chinique and the Virgin Voyages team for trusting artists with this much freedom 💛
Watch the documentary on how it all came together on the Virgin Voyages YouTube channel.

Link in bio 🔗
Which mermaid are you channeling?

#MermaidOrigins #Valiant #AIFilmmaking #AIFilm GenerativeAI