Common People is a production company that handles music videos, commercials, content, film and TV, and photography. So far, so typical. However, its newest roster is less conventional: AI artists.

The team at Common People started experimenting with generative AI when Midjourney first surfaced, and creatives on their roster began to incorporate it into their own projects. “As the ship has been sailing down the AI river, we’ve been on that boat trying to navigate it and the space and all the legalities around it and all that kind of stuff,” explains co-founder Ramy Dance, who has a background in directing and VFX. Meanwhile managing partner Melody Sylvester, who joined from the agency world earlier this year, knows all things production and post. “Inevitably, AI ticks a lot of boxes for us,” Dance says.

Many of the creatives on their new AI-focused roster, Future Creatives, have spent their careers working in 3D or VFX before moving towards AI-driven practices. One example is a creator known as Rit.ai, who Dance says spent years juggling motion graphics work. Now, her work is being celebrated in competitions and platforms focused on AI and digital art. “Instead of being the person behind the curtain, she’s now at the front, leading the charge from a director’s point of view.”