AI AS A CREATIVE PARTNER
Benjamin Chimoy's journey as a filmmaker spans continents, disciplines, and now, technologies. Born in Mexico City and raised across the former Yugoslavia, Peru, Bolivia, and Germany, he built his foundation in philosophy before studying screenwriting and directing at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and later at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. After years of acclaimed work in traditional filmmaking, Benjamin has become one of the filmmakers exploring the creative potential of AI, not as a shortcut, but as a new artistic medium. In this conversation, he reflects on authorship, experimentation, and why storytelling remains fundamentally human, regardless of the tools used to tell it.
How do you define authorship in AI filmmaking today?
For me, an author in AI filmmaking is someone who knows how to enter into a real sparring exchange with AI models. Someone who knows how to explore ideas without getting lost, who can stay focused and flexible at the same time, and who listens to their inner voice while remaining open to input from AIs and humans alike.
What roles do experimentation and developing a distinct creative voice play in your process when working with AI?
Normally, I begin with a thematic frame, either one given by a client or one I deliberately set for myself before working with AI. Experimentation becomes important when I am looking for solutions to specific problems. I usually know what I want, but I need to experiment to discover how to get there. On the way to the goal, I make countless decisions. The shape created by the sum of those decisions is my creative voice.
Was there a specific moment when AI stopped feeling like a technical experiment and started feeling like a legitimate storytelling medium?
For me, that moment came very early. As soon as I combined two generated images (back then with MJ on discord) , there was already a story in the space between them. The images did not need to explain everything. Their relationship created meaning, emotion and questions. That was when AI stopped feeling like a purely technical experiment and became a legitimate storytelling medium for me.
What does your workflow look like when starting a new project? Could you walk us through the process of turning an initial idea into a finished piece?
I usually begin with worldbuilding, defining the visual style and developing the characters. Then I iterate a lot. A large part of the process is curating, selecting and editing. I create something, evaluate it, adjust the direction and repeat the process. It is not a straight line. The project slowly takes shape through repetition and through the decisions about what to keep, what to reject and what to develop further.
In your opinion, what qualities make a great storyteller and filmmaker? And do those qualities change when someone uses AI as their primary creative tool?
A great storyteller is someone who is not afraid to use any medium. Those qualities do not change with AI. Someone who truly wants to tell something can draw it badly on a napkin or use high-end technology to create incredible imagery. The core remains the same. It is never about the paper, and it is never about the technology. It is about feeling the need to create.
Traditional film productions bring together large teams with highly specialized skills, perspectives and creative expertise. As AI enables more people to create entire projects on their own, how do you think the filmmaking process will change? And how important will collaboration and creative exchange remain in that future?
Coming from traditional filmmaking, AI has allowed me to go much deeper into disciplines I would not have explored as intensely before. Sound design is one example. By doing more of it myself, I am starting to develop a stronger feeling for it. At the same time, I still collaborate with set designers, musicians and other specialists, especially on larger projects. I actively bring their perspectives into the process. AI may reduce team sizes and make it possible to create alone, but that does not make specialized knowledge or human exchange less important. Some things are not just knowledge, they are a way of seeing and listening to the world. AI collaboration and human collaboration are not in competition. They expand each other.
