Particle Panic

That's a stunner. My AI video essay "The Cinema That Never Was" has been selected as one of the 10 finalists of the Reply AI Film Festival, held during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival this September – out of 2,500 submissions from 67 countries. 😲 Thank you, jury! aiff.reply.com

Happy that two of my films have made the finalist cut at the Neu Wave Films+AI Film Festival 2025: the psychological horror short "Unblind" (2024) and the video essay "The Cinema That Never Was" (2025) 🤩 Exciting to be among such a stacked line-up of amazingly talented AI filmmakers: neuwavefest.com

YouTube video by Particle Panic Copernicus (2024) (Trailer) | 4K AI Short Film

Watch the "Copernicus" trailer here in 4K: youtu.be/VZuMcqI9xoo

The MetaMorph AI Film Award team interviewed some of this year's finalists and winners. In my interview about my AI concept trailer "Copernicus", I talk about my approach to AI and filmmaking and the new ecosystem that emerges around AI filmmaking: metamorph-award.com/post/mark-wa...

Last month, my AI concept trailer "Copernicus" won second place in the "AI Trailer" category at the 2025 MetaMorph AI Film Award. Now I have received the actual award, my first-ever physical representation of an AI film award! It's so beautiful (and photogenic 😆)!

I can't even imagine how, but I'm happy it created something good in your life! 🤩

So honored that "The Cinema That Never Was" was recognized last weekend in the "Himalayas Edition" of the AI Film Awards at the Dhruma Film Festival 2025, a three-day festival at the UNESCO World Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Station — just a stone’s throw from Mount Everest!

Pure cinema. "The Cinema That Never Was" on the big screen at the Escape.ai screening at "AI on the Lot," the largest AI film conference! 🤩 Thanks, John Gaeta, for capturing this moment!

5/5: So if we like the idea these days of bringing things back to life—why not also resurrect a few of those films from that latent space? 😇

4/5: In AI terms, I think you would call it the "latent space of cinema"—that larger conceptual realm of films that could have been, or maybe still are, just not realized ... or not yet discovered.

3/5: The ones abandoned early. Or that didn't make it past a script, an idea, or just a vague impulse. Or maybe even films that were never thought of in the first place. How would the history of cinema look with those films in the mix?

2/5: Whenever I watch a film or dive into the history of cinema, I can't help but wonder what other movies we might love and celebrate ... if they had ever been made. Many films that once existed are now lost. But I'm thinking of films that were never made at all.

YouTube video by Particle Panic The Cinema That Never Was (2025) | 4K AI Video Essay

1/5: There's certainly a deeper connection between the power of cinema and the passion myth that Easter preserved—but the release of my video essay "The Cinema That Never Was" this weekend simply coincides with that.

Voting is open for all Escape members until Feb 26, 11:59 PM PST. Winners revealed March 1st. Let’s celebrate the future of film.

The [esc] Awards Nominations Voting Happening Now

Check out all nominees in all categories here: escape.ai/the-esc-awards

Cinema is my language, my mission, my craft. That's why these two nominations at the [ esc ] Awards 2025 mean so much to me. These categories beautifully capture what I strive for in my work. And standing among such visionary AI filmmakers and their mind-blowing films is truly inspiring.

Thank you!

YouTube video by Particle Panic Unblind (2024) | 4K AI Horror Short Film

"Unblind" was shot entirely in Kling V6.1 and is based on a feature film script I wrote with friends. Watch it in 4K here:

Amazing! My horror short "Unblind" (2024) made it into the Top 25 Finalists in the "Narrative" category of the second season of the Project Odyssey AI Film Competition, out of 833 submissions in the "Narrative" category and 4,593 (!) submissions overall.

YouTube video by Particle Panic Wings (2025) | 4K AI Short Film

Watch "Wings" in 4K here:

Super proud to see "Wings" (2025) placing as a Finalist in the second season of Project0dyssey AI Film Competition, catching an "Honorable Mention" in the "Narrative" category. "Wings" was entirely shot in Luma's new level-3 AI video model Ray2, using only text-to-video.

Thanks, I added the four parts of the series – it's surely the most ambitious of the projects! Good luck with the next chapters!

I'd like to add: As much as I can be amazed by spectacular and mindblowing things that advanced AI image or video models sometimes create, I'm always always more amazed and mindblown by what spectacular, inspiring, weird, and deep things people create with them.

Sundance Reflections: Craft, Technology, and the Courage to Create I’ve always loved the creative energy of the Sundance Film Festival. Returning from Park City, I’m reminded of how far I’ve come as a filmmaker—from walking those snowy streets years ago as a dreamer,...

This: "To my fellow artists: embrace the unknown. Experiment, explore, and be curious." 💯

Great piece by Dave Clark on the power of AI to supercharge our visions and creative processes.

Pick your best or the one you like the most and post a link to a high-res version, and I'll be happy to take a look!

I shot all the footage in "Wings" in the 48 hours of early access – and Luma's newly released Ray2 model was single-handedly responsible for creating all those cinematic shots. So I think this is for you, Ray2 and the Ray2 team! 🎉

Quote: "Created with Luma's Ray2, "Wings" pits angels against Lovecraftian beasts in an incredibly cinematic and epic battle that will leave you in awe!"

Wings — Curious Refuge Description: Paradise meets cosmic horror in this absolutely stunning AI short film by Mark Wachholz (@Particle Panic). Created with Luma's Ray2, "Wings" pits angels against Lovecraftian beasts in an ...

"Wings" (2025) is now not only featured in the CuriousRefuge AI Film Gallery, but also received their special "Chester's Choice" award, which they give to their most favorite AI films: curiousrefuge.com/ai-film-gall...

Mark Wachholz on LinkedIn: We're not stopping. 💫 After collecting AI movies with "beautiful"… | 24 comments We're not stopping. 💫 After collecting AI movies with "beautiful" storytelling in Part I (https://lnkd.in/gimH5CUt) and Part II (https://lnkd.in/g93nSp_2)… | 24 comments on LinkedIn

Part III of my curated list of AI movies with "beautiful" storytelling. "Beautiful" in the sense that the storytelling deserves recognition and applause because it is heartfelt, exciting, funny, dark, complex, or just plain beautiful.

Mark Wachholz on LinkedIn: There are already so many AI movies that focus on storytelling, emotions… | 39 comments There are already so many AI movies that focus on storytelling, emotions, and ideas that my first collection (https://lnkd.in/gnyWVpf6) reached the LinkedIn… | 39 comments on LinkedIn

Part II of my curated list of AI movies with "beautiful" storytelling. "Beautiful" in the sense that the storytelling deserves recognition and applause because it is heartfelt, exciting, funny, dark, complex, or just plain beautiful.