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Dave Clark

Writer-director · Co-founder and CCO of Promise

Dave Clark

The DGA commercial director who launched Google's Flow with a film, co-founded the AI studio Promise, and is now directing its first feature[6][9][29].

YouTubeXLinkedInPromise

Live stats

YouTube subscribers
23K[1]
views on his YouTube channel, Shorts included
2.45M[53]
on THE CLEANER, his most watched film
239K[16]
followers on X, @Diesol
32.3K[2]

As of 28 October 2026 · refreshed weekly from YouTube

01The short answer

Who is Dave Clark?

Dave Clark is a Los Angeles writer-director and DGA commercial director who co-founded Promise, a generative AI film and TV studio, and is its Chief Creative Officer[2][6]. Known online as Director Dave Clark (YouTube @Afraid2Sleep) and @Diesol on X, he made the AI films Battalion, THE CLEANER and Plume, launched Google's Flow with his short Freelancers at Google I/O 2025, and won second place and $500,000 in xAI's Grok Imagine Super Bowl ad contest[9][15][16][19][24]. In August 2026 Promise announced he would direct its first feature, Touch Grass[29].

Known as
Dave Clark, Director Dave Clark on YouTube, @Diesol on X[1][2]
Studio
Promise, co-founded with George Strompolos and Jamie Byrne in November 2024; Chief Creative Officer[6]
Known for
Battalion, THE CLEANER, NinjaPunk, Freelancers, My Friend, Zeph, Plume[1][9][12]
Based in
Los Angeles, after moving from New York[2][3]
Trained
Fine arts and filmmaking at Pratt Institute[4]
Before AI
Creative director in New York advertising, then a DGA commercial and brand-film director[3][4]

Page updated 29 October 2026 · 53 sources

02By the numbers

Dave in numbers

23K YouTube subscribers on Director Dave Clark (@Afraid2Sleep) YouTube, October 2026[1]
2.45M views on his YouTube channel, Shorts included YouTube, October 2026[53]
239K views on THE CLEANER, his most watched film, made with Veo 3 in Flow YouTube, October 2026[16]
$500K for second place in xAI's Grok Imagine Super Bowl ad contest His YouTube post, February 2026[24][25]
350K views on X for MIRA, every shot grown from one start image in Kling 3.0 X, October 2026[35]
21 minutes: Plume, his longest fully AI short, written, directed and edited by him YouTube, July 2026[19]
15 of 15 AI LIVE viewers who voted Overture a 1, a perfect score AI LIVE Ep 120[47]
13 of his pieces shown across 12 weekly AI LIVE shows, Ep 98 to Ep 135 AI LIVE episodes[39][50]

03Biography

The Dave Clark story

Pratt, advertising and the DGA

Dave Clark grew up in a military family. His father collected films and his grandfather was a painter and schoolteacher, and he went on to study fine arts and filmmaking at Pratt Institute[4]. He started as a creative director in New York advertising, then became a commercial and brand-film director and a member of the Directors Guild of America[3][4]. His clients have included Coca-Cola, HP, Intel and Snapchat[3][4].

Horror runs through his work. His YouTube channel is called Afraid2Sleep, and the oldest film still on it is WHITE VAN, a live-action horror short posted in April 2022, before any of his AI work[1]. In January 2024 Curious Refuge reported him represented by UTA for features and Secret Level for commercials[4].

The script nobody could picture

After the pandemic he moved from New York to Los Angeles to pitch Hollywood as a writer-director[3]. Executives told him they couldn't visualise his script, so he turned to text-to-image AI to show them[3]. By mid 2023 he was posting AI films: the horror short #URDEAD in June, a 90s sitcom pastiche in August that passed 90,000 views, and NinjaPunk on 31 August, a neon cyberpunk short whose end credits name Midjourney for the imagery, Runway Gen-2 for the motion and Adobe Premiere for the edit[1][17].

That October his zombie short Dead Invasion won the Pika Labs Halloween Film Competition[13]. In December he made a 30-second spec ad for Adidas during a coffee break; it went viral on Reddit and LinkedIn, and he says it is what led to Promise[3][23]. On Christmas Day 2023 the trailer for Another, a hybrid of live action and AI horror with Rob Nederhorst as VFX supervisor, took off as well[5][31].

I'm still a filmmaker first.

Dave Clark[4]

Family history, told as science fiction

Borrowing Time, released on 16 January 2024, turned his father's experience as a Black man in the 1960s into science fiction with a time-travel twist[14][5]. He made the images in Midjourney, animated them in Runway and voiced the characters himself through ElevenLabs speech to speech[5]. It passed 110,000 views on X, was mentioned in Forbes and drew studio interest in a feature version[5][14]. A month later he walked Dan Shipper through the whole workflow live on Every's How Do You Use ChatGPT? podcast[5].

Battalion followed on 26 September 2024: five minutes about a 1960s man revisiting his grandfather's D-Day, and the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only African American unit to come ashore at Omaha and Utah Beaches[15]. Motionographer handpicked it[32]. Two weeks earlier he had been the special guest on AI LIVE, show #45, then billed as the In A(I) Nutshell Live LinkedIn Podcast[38].

Promise

On 19 November 2024 Promise launched as a generative AI film and TV studio, co-founded by Clark as Chief Creative Officer with George Strompolos, the former Fullscreen chief executive, and Jamie Byrne, formerly of YouTube, and backed by Peter Chernin's North Road and Andreessen Horowitz[6][33]. In February 2025 Promise announced development deals and residencies for AI artists including Junie Lau, Guillaume Hurbault, Ryan James Phillips, The Reel Robot, Cyncratic and MetaPuppet[7], and two weeks later it bought the AI film school Curious Refuge, where Clark also teaches[8][34].

Google, Adobe and a film for every model

Google approached him to make a film with its research team for Google I/O[37]. The result, Freelancers, about two estranged adopted brothers on similar quests, was showcased on 20 May 2025 when Google launched Flow and Veo 3[9][52]. The same day Google's AI Futures Fund invested in Promise, TheWrap reported Michael Ovitz among its backers, and NinjaPunk was announced as a feature he is directing[10][11]. His run of Veo 3 shorts that month, SWAT, GLIDER MAN and THE CLEANER, are still his most watched films, and in June he joined Junie Lau and Henry Daubrez on Tribeca's Flow panel[1][30].

On 29 October 2025 My Friend, Zeph premiered at the Generative AI Film Festival at Adobe MAX in Los Angeles[12]. He cast real actresses, shot on a practical set and on blue screen with virtual production, and built the worlds with Adobe Firefly[12][3]. Dedicated to his daughter, it follows Maya, who is putting off a college application until Zeph, her imaginary friend from childhood, pulls her back into a world that is falling apart[39].

The process required human artistry, and we could now fuse human performance with AI world-building.

Dave Clark[12]

2026: prizes, a festival and a feature

In February 2026 he made MIRA with early access to Kling 3.0, every shot grown from one start image, and it passed 350,000 views on X[35]. Four days later his 30-second ad about a boy's dream of reaching space took second place and $500,000 in xAI's Grok Imagine Super Bowl ad contest[24][25]. His psychological thriller Tairell Isn't Real was named an Honoree at Runway's AI Festival 2026 at Lincoln Center on 11 June[26], and on 17 July he released Plume, a 21-minute film about an astronaut sent to Enceladus for fresh water while his son grows up without him[19].

On 31 July Promise was named in the 2026 Disney Accelerator[27][28]. In August, as AI Films summarised Deadline's report, Promise announced its first feature: Touch Grass, a hybrid psychological horror about the dead internet theory, directed by Clark and produced by Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting and Chris White, an executive producer of The Backrooms[29].

On AI LIVE

Since Ep 98 the weekly show has played 13 of his pieces across 12 episodes, from My Friend, Zeph to a Halloween short made by his kids[39][50]. Six went to the audience vote, and Overture took all fifteen votes as 1s[47]. Chris Branch calls him the GOAT, and the chat said the same during Plume[39][49].

04Career timeline

From spec ads to a studio and a feature

  1. 31 August 2023

    NinjaPunk

    NinjaPunk

    Neon cyberpunk and a kaiju: Midjourney stills, Runway Gen-2 motion. 116K views.[17][1]

  2. 30 October 2023

    Dead Invasion wins

    His zombie short wins the Pika Labs Halloween Film Competition.[13]

  3. 5 December 2023

    The coffee-break ad

    The coffee-break ad

    An AI spec ad for Adidas goes viral. He says it led to Promise.[3][23]

  4. 16 January 2024

    Borrowing Time

    Borrowing Time

    His father's 1960s, with a time machine. 110K views on X and studio interest.[14][5]

  5. 12 September 2024

    Guest on AI LIVE

    Special guest on show #45, then the In A(I) Nutshell Live LinkedIn Podcast.[38]

  6. 26 September 2024

    Battalion

    Battalion

    Five minutes on the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion at D-Day.[15]

  7. 19 November 2024

    Promise launches

    Co-founded with George Strompolos and Jamie Byrne. He is Chief Creative Officer.[6][33]

  8. 24 February 2025

    Curious Refuge

    Promise buys the AI film school, where he also teaches.[8][34]

  9. 20 May 2025

    Freelancers at Google I/O

    Freelancers at Google I/O

    His short launches Flow and Veo 3. Google's AI Futures Fund invests in Promise.[9][10]

  10. 1 June 2025

    THE CLEANER

    THE CLEANER

    A masked hitman, a glass house, Veo 3. His most watched film.[16][1]

  11. 29 October 2025

    My Friend, Zeph

    My Friend, Zeph

    Real actresses and Firefly worlds, premiered at Adobe MAX 2025.[12][21]

  12. 8 February 2026

    $500K from Grok

    $500K from Grok

    Second place in xAI's Grok Imagine Super Bowl ad contest.[24][25]

  13. 11 June 2026

    Runway AI Festival

    Runway AI Festival

    Tairell Isn't Real is named a 2026 Honoree at Lincoln Center.[26][51]

  14. 17 July 2026

    Plume

    Plume

    Twenty-one minutes, from Enceladus to a beach house. His longest film.[19]

  15. 31 July 2026

    Disney Accelerator

    Promise is selected for the 2026 programme.[27][28]

  16. 10 August 2026

    Touch Grass

    Promise's first feature, a dead internet horror, with Clark directing.[29]

05Body of work

Filmography

His films, spec ads and model tests, newest first, with live YouTube view counts. Dates are YouTube upload dates; some premiered on X first. Tap any card to watch.

Views, ranked

Every film on this page, by YouTube views

Midjourney 6.1 trailer239K
THE CLEANER239K
SWAT199K
First Sora 2 film179K
Battalion167K
GLIDER MAN148K
NinjaPunk116K
90s Sitcom91.1K
Luma Dream Machine test57.1K
Adidas spec42.4K
Veo 3 JSON film39.2K
Borrowing Time36.5K
Freelancers33.9K
Seedance 2.0 fight25.9K
WHITE VAN21.6K
MIND TUNNELS18.8K
Nike spec18.1K
First Sora film18K
Plume17K
Another16.7K
Haul Prologue13.7K
California Monsters13K
MIRA12.9K
#URDEAD10.8K
The Cleaner II7.55K
My Friend, Zeph6.19K
Grok ad4.79K
Enter The Closet4.58K
NinjaPunk First Look4.38K
Tairell Isn't Real3.73K
Overture2.7K
Cleaner 32.1K
PAPERCUT1.93K
MASK ON1.71K
The Boo Hag1.62K
Disastership1.35K

View counts from YouTube as of 28 October 2026.

06The vault

Six films, frame by frame

Pick a film from the vault and scroll through the moment it is known for, frame by frame from his own uploads. Then the making of My Friend, Zeph, a film for every new model, and how AI LIVE's audience voted.

The vault · 2023 to 2026

Six films, six moments

A D-Day landing, a man who doesn't know who is behind him, a fall from a tower, a kaiju, a portal and an icy moon[15][16][20][17][18][19]. Choose one, or keep scrolling and they play in order.

  1. Battalion IBattalionThe D-Day opening, 2024.Reveal it
  2. THE CLEANER IITHE CLEANERThe "behind you" reveal, 2025.Reveal it
  3. The Seedance fight IIIThe Seedance fightA freefall to a helicopter, 2026.Reveal it
  4. NinjaPunk IVNinjaPunkThe monster in the street, 2023.Reveal it
  5. Borrowing Time VBorrowing TimeThrough the portal, 2024.Reveal it
  6. Plume VIPlumeThe Enceladus title, 2026.Reveal it
D-Day, June 6, 1944 BATTALION0:07.50
  1. D-Day, June 6, 1944, frame 1 of 801
  2. D-Day, June 6, 1944, frame 3 of 803
  3. D-Day, June 6, 1944, frame 5 of 805
  4. D-Day, June 6, 1944, frame 6 of 806
  5. D-Day, June 6, 1944, frame 8 of 808

Film I · Battalion, from 0:00

The openingD-Day, June 6, 1944

Eighteen seconds from a burning sea to the landing craft

FromBattalion, 26 September 2024

Battalion opens on an aerial shot of a beach on fire, cuts to a soldier's helmet in the surf under the title D-Day: June 6, 1944, then to a face rising out of the water, a bloodied hand and the packed landing craft[15]. Around it sits a warm 1960s frame story, a man revisiting his grandfather's war, and the film ends on the unit it was made to remember[15].

End cardOn D-Day, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion was the only African American unit to come ashore at Omaha and Utah Beaches in Normandy.[15]

Runs
5 minutes 4 seconds, his first five-minute AI film[1]
Views
166K on YouTube[1]
Frames
Eight stills, 2.5 seconds apart, 0:00 to 0:17.5[15]
Behind you THE CLEANER1:21.50Shot 1 of 4Behind you
  1. Behind you, frame 1 of 801
  2. Behind you, frame 3 of 803
  3. Behind you, frame 5 of 805
  4. Behind you, frame 6 of 806
  5. Behind you, frame 8 of 808

Film II · THE CLEANER, from 1:21

The revealBehind you

A man drinks by the fire. Someone is already in the room.

FromTHE CLEANER, 1 June 2025

A masked hitman drives a silver sports car down a forest road to a modernist glass house, kills the target and cleans up after himself[16]. This is the turn: the target sips a drink by the fire while the cleaner stands behind him, the fire burns, and the gun comes up in a gloved hand[16]. He made it with Veo 3 in Google Flow, and it is his most watched film[16][1].

They don't look like they're warping. It's incredible. We are finally here.
Chris BranchAI LIVE Ep 117, on THE CLEAN3R[44]
Made with
Veo 3 in Google Flow[16]
Views
239K on YouTube, his most watched film[1]
The series
The Cleaner II: Swan Song (Dec 2025), THE CLEAN3R on Seedance 2.0 in Runway (Apr 2026), Cleaner 3 on Kling 4.0 and Seedance 2.5 (Oct 2026)[1][36]
Freefall to a helicopter SEEDANCE 2.00:43.500.00sGlass to chopper
  1. Freefall to a helicopter, frame 1 of 801
  2. Freefall to a helicopter, frame 3 of 803
  3. Freefall to a helicopter, frame 5 of 805
  4. Freefall to a helicopter, frame 6 of 806
  5. Freefall to a helicopter, frame 8 of 808

Film III · Seedance 2.0 fight, from 0:36

The stuntFreefall to a helicopter

Through the glass, down the tower, into the sky

FromSeedance 2.0 is Incredible for Fight Scenes, 28 February 2026

When a model launches he tests it with action. Here masked men brawl through a tilting skyscraper office, one crashes out through the glass, free-falls past the tower and reaches for a passing helicopter as the building comes down[20]. On AI LIVE the hosts compared it to a James Bond opening, and Andrew Davis had never seen a fight this intricate on a collapsing building[43].

You'd have to basically be in the top 1% of filmmakers to even pretend that a budget like this would be possible.
Chris BranchAI LIVE Ep 111[43]
Made with
Seedance 2.0[20]
Runs
53 seconds[1]
On screen
10.5 seconds from the window to the helicopter, 0:36 to 0:46.5[20]
The monster in the street
  1. The monster in the street, frame 1 of 701
  2. The monster in the street, frame 3 of 703
  3. The monster in the street, frame 4 of 704
  4. The monster in the street, frame 6 of 706
  5. The monster in the street, frame 7 of 707

Film IV · NinjaPunk, from 1:46

The kaijuThe monster in the street

A neon city, a katana, and something bigger than the buildings

FromNinjaPunk, 31 August 2023

His signature world from 2023: rain-slick neon streets, sword duels on rooftops, motorbikes and a kaiju over the city[17]. Here a lone figure looks out over the skyline, then the camera finds the creature between the towers, its red eyes, and the street it is about to take[17]. In May 2025 NinjaPunk was announced as a feature he is directing at Promise, and a hybrid live action first look followed[10][1].

End creditsImagery: Midjourney. Motion: Runway Gen-2. Edit: Adobe Premiere.[17]

Views
116K on YouTube[1]
Frames
Eight stills, 2.5 seconds apart, 1:46 to 2:03.5[17]
From a hospital bed to the stars BORROWING TIME2:02.00
  1. From a hospital bed to the stars, frame 1 of 801
  2. From a hospital bed to the stars, frame 3 of 803
  3. From a hospital bed to the stars, frame 5 of 805
  4. From a hospital bed to the stars, frame 6 of 806
  5. From a hospital bed to the stars, frame 8 of 808

Film V · Borrowing Time, from 1:52

The portalFrom a hospital bed to the stars

His father's 1960s, with a time machine

FromBorrowing Time, 16 January 2024

Borrowing Time tells his father's experience as a Black man in the 1960s with a time-travel twist[5][14]. In this stretch a torch-lit crowd gives way to a son at his father's hospital bed, a hand on a device, a man sealed in a pod, then a nebula, a ring of light and a burst of fire across space[18]. He made the images in Midjourney, animated them in Runway, performed the voices himself and turned them into each character with ElevenLabs speech to speech[5].

Dedicationfor my Pops[18]

Made with
Midjourney, Runway, ElevenLabs, Magnific and Topaz[5][14]
Reach
Over 110K views on X, a mention in Forbes, studio interest in a feature[5][14]
Frames
Eight stills, two seconds apart, 1:52 to 2:06[18]
PLUME
  1. PLUME, frame 1 of 801
  2. PLUME, frame 3 of 803
  3. PLUME, frame 5 of 805
  4. PLUME, frame 6 of 806
  5. PLUME, frame 8 of 808

Film VI · Plume, from 0:00

The titlePLUME

Twenty-one minutes, opening on the ice of Enceladus

FromPlume, 17 July 2026

An astronaut is sent to Saturn's moon Enceladus to find fresh water for a planet that is running out, while his son grows up without him[19]. The film opens on the curve of the moon under a rising sun, its ice plumes climb, Saturn's rings slide past, and the title breaks through the ice[19]. He wrote, directed and edited it; AI LIVE played the first five minutes in Ep 126, and Chris Branch was left wanting the rest[19][49].

The barriers are getting smaller. The stories don't have to be.
Dave ClarkIntroducing Plume on YouTube[19]
Runs
21 minutes 3 seconds, his longest fully AI film[1]
AI LIVE score
82/100 from 14 votes, Ep 126[49]
Frames
Eight stills, 1.2 seconds apart, 0:00 to 0:08.4[19]

My Friend, Zeph · The making of

Where the set stops and the AI starts

He told Chris Branch he loved that people couldn't tell where the AI stopped[39]. Real actresses, a practical set, blue screen with virtual production, and worlds built with Adobe Firefly[12][3]. Every frame here is from his own making-of film[22]. Drag the line, or just scroll.

Crew filming the lead actress of My Friend, Zeph on a practical set
The lead actress of My Friend, Zeph in front of a generated purple alien landscape
On setThe shootCamera and boom around the actress on a practical bedroom set, at 0:37[22].
On screenThe worldThe same actress inside a generated world, at 0:44.5[22].

Two shots of the same actress from the making-of, seven and a half seconds apart, not one frame before and after[22].

A monitor on a blue-screen stage showing two actresses composited into an alien landscape
A girl and a small robot looking out over a world of floating rocks
Blue screenVirtual productionA monitor on the blue-screen stage already shows the AI world behind the actresses[22][3].
The worldAt the edgeA girl and her robot companion above a valley of floating rocks[22].

Both frames from The Making of MY FRIEND, ZEPH[22].

A small orange robot with a Z on its chest in a 3D texturing application
A young girl in a blue dress and the orange robot in a sunlit forest, inside Photoshop
3DThe robot, texturedThe robot with a Z on its chest, being painted in Substance Painter[22][3].
CompositeIn the forestA young girl and the same robot in a generated forest, with Photoshop's panels still at the edge of the frame[22].

From the making-of[22]. Adobe's own write-up covers the Firefly workflow[12].

The AI LIVE vote

Six films put to the audience, two perfect scores

AI LIVE viewers vote 1, 2 or 3 in the YouTube live chat. A 1 counts in full, a 2 counts half and a 3 counts nothing, out of 100.

OvertureEp 120 · 15 votes, every one a 1100
MASK ONEp 119 · 10 votes, every one a 1100
PAPERCUTEp 118 · nine 1s, one 295
DisastershipEp 120 · ten 1s, two 2s92
PlumeEp 126 · eleven 1s, one 2, two 3s82
Happy Halloween from the ClarksEp 135 · five 1s, four 2s; made by his kids78

Vote counts from the episode pages[45][46][47][49][50]. His other seven pieces on the show had no live poll, or no chat replay to count; LinkedIn votes are not included.

A film for every model

When a new model lands, he makes something with it

Fourteen of his model films, 2024 to 2026, with YouTube views. Asked on AI LIVE how he finds the time, Chris Branch's answer was whenever he can, including two films generated on one transatlantic flight[40][1].

07

11 Oct 2025179K views

Sora 2

100% text to video on Sora 2 Pro[1].

Two years apart

Borrowing Time in 2024 versus MIRA in 2026

Two of his shorts, made 25 months apart, with the workflow he described for each[5][35].

Borrowing TimeJanuary 2024MIRAFebruary 2026
Starting imagesMidjourney stills from prompts a custom GPT wrote, at 16:9[5]One single start image[35]
MotionRunway image to video and Motion Brush, five generations at a time[5]Kling 3.0's multi-shot feature, with early access[35][41]
VoicesHis own performance, turned into each character with ElevenLabs[5]Not described
Runs3 minutes 1 second[1]5 minutes 52 seconds[1]
Reach on XOver 110K views[14]350K views[35]

From the Every podcast, his X post for MIRA and AI LIVE Ep 107[5][35][41].

The method

How he makes a film, as he showed it on Every

He walked Dan Shipper through it live in February 2024. The models have changed since; the habits haven't[5].

  1. 01 Script first AI started as a way to show executives a script they couldn't picture[3].
  2. 02 Ideate with a GPT A custom GPT trained on his past chats, used like a mentor[5]. ChatGPT
  3. 03 Make the stills Short shot prompts at 16:9, then upscale and vary[5]. Midjourney
  4. 04 Shoot takes Generate like takes on set: "Sometimes it takes 20"[5]. Runway, now Kling, Veo, Seedance
  5. 05 Upscale and composite Up to 16x, slow motion, layers and masks in the edit[4][5]. Magnific, Topaz, Premiere
  6. 06 Perform the voices He reads the lines himself, then converts each voice[5]. ElevenLabs

On craft

Filmmaker first

I still love shooting on set, and directing actors is my favorite thing to do.
Dave ClarkNo Film School, November 2025[3]
I'm not saying make AI movies, but make it part of your pipeline.
Dave ClarkNo Film School, November 2025[3]
AI isn't one size fits all.
Dave ClarkNo Film School roundtable at Adobe MAX 2025[3]
You do multiple takes and then you see what's the best.
Dave ClarkEvery podcast, February 2024[5]
tell your stories by any means necessary
Dave ClarkCurious Refuge, 2024[4]
There's going to be real filmmakers with real cameras and AI artists on set, actually generating things that go on to blue screens, green screens.
Chris BranchAI LIVE Ep 98, on My Friend, Zeph[39]

07Toolkit

What Dave makes it with

Core: in most recent films. Uses: regularly or for specific projects. Then: his 2023 and 2024 stack.

08In their own words

Dave, on the record

I think AI is the best opportunity for anyone if they want to become a creator or filmmaker or an artist
Dave ClarkEvery podcast, February 2024[5]
I honestly think the first feature-length film will be an animated film, a Pixar-type film, completely done in AI.
Dave ClarkEvery podcast, February 2024[5]
I don't have to work 18-hour days anymore.
Dave ClarkNo Film School, November 2025[3]
Google approached me and asked if I would be down to collab with their research team to create a film for Google I/O.
Dave ClarkOn X, May 2025[37]
This changes how films get made.
Dave ClarkLaunching MIRA on X, February 2026[35]
I Think We Can Stop Calling Them "AI Films" Now
Dave ClarkHis YouTube title for Overture, May 2026[47]
I'm still a filmmaker first.
Dave ClarkCurious Refuge, 2024[4]

09On AI LIVE

Dave on AI LIVE

Special guest on show #45 in September 2024[38], and his work reviewed live on the weekly show since Ep 98.

13pieces reviewed live
91average audience score out of 100, from 6 voted pieces
6 Nov 2025earliest in our archive, Ep. 98

Work reviewed on the weekly show 12 most recent of 13

All episodes (13)

10Press and awards

Dave in the press

11Collaborators

Who Dave works with

12Questions

Questions about Dave

Who is Dave Clark, the AI filmmaker?

Dave Clark is a Los Angeles writer-director and DGA commercial director who co-founded the generative AI studio Promise in November 2024 and is its Chief Creative Officer. He posts as Director Dave Clark on YouTube (@Afraid2Sleep) and @Diesol on X, and is known for Battalion, THE CLEANER, Freelancers, My Friend, Zeph and Plume[1][2][6].

Is this the Dave Clark from the Dave Clark Five, or the former Amazon executive?

No. This Dave Clark is the AI filmmaker behind Promise, @Diesol on X. He is not the English drummer who led the Dave Clark Five, and not the former Amazon Worldwide Consumer chief executive who later ran Flexport.

What is Promise, and what does Dave Clark do there?

Promise is a Los Angeles generative AI film and TV studio launched on 19 November 2024 by George Strompolos, Jamie Byrne and Dave Clark, backed by Peter Chernin's North Road and Andreessen Horowitz. Clark is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer. Promise has since bought Curious Refuge, taken investment from Google's AI Futures Fund and joined the 2026 Disney Accelerator[6][8][10][27].

What is Dave Clark's YouTube channel?

Director Dave Clark, at youtube.com/@Afraid2Sleep, with about 23,000 subscribers. His most watched film there is THE CLEANER, with about 239,000 views[1][16].

What are Dave Clark's best-known AI films?

THE CLEANER, SWAT and GLIDER MAN (Veo 3, 2025), Battalion (2024), NinjaPunk (2023), Borrowing Time (2024), Freelancers for Google I/O 2025, My Friend, Zeph for Adobe MAX 2025, MIRA (Kling 3.0, 2026), Tairell Isn't Real and Plume (2026)[1][9][12][26].

What is Battalion about?

A 1960s man revisits his grandfather's D-Day story. The film honours the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only African American unit to come ashore at Omaha and Utah Beaches in Normandy. It runs five minutes and was released on 26 September 2024[15].

What film did Dave Clark make for Google Flow?

Freelancers, about two estranged adopted brothers on similar quests, made with Veo in Flow and showcased when Google launched Flow at Google I/O on 20 May 2025. He says Google approached him to make it with its research team[9][37].

How was My Friend, Zeph made?

As a hybrid: real actresses on a practical set and on blue screen with virtual production, worlds generated with Adobe Firefly, a robot textured in 3D, and reference images made in Nano Banana. It premiered at the Generative AI Film Festival at Adobe MAX 2025[12][3][22].

Did Dave Clark win the Grok Super Bowl ad contest?

He came second, which paid $500,000, in xAI's Grok Imagine Game Day ad contest in February 2026, with a 30-second ad about a boy's dream of reaching space[24][25].

What is Touch Grass?

Promise's first feature film, announced in August 2026: a hybrid psychological horror about the dead internet theory, directed by Dave Clark and produced by Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting and Chris White. These details come from AI Films' summary of Deadline's report[29].

What AI tools does Dave Clark use?

Recently Seedance 2.0, Kling, Veo in Google Flow, Sora 2, Adobe Firefly, Nano Banana and Runway, with Magnific and Topaz for upscaling, ElevenLabs for voices, Suno for scores and Premiere for the edit. His 2023 and 2024 films used Midjourney, Runway and a custom GPT[1][3][5][36].

How did Dave Clark get into AI filmmaking?

After moving from New York to Los Angeles to pitch as a writer-director, he found executives couldn't picture his scripts, so he used text-to-image AI to show them. His 2023 shorts, and a viral spec ad for Adidas, led to Promise[3].

What is THE CLEANER?

His series about a masked hitman, which he remakes on each new model: THE CLEANER (Veo 3, June 2025), The Cleaner II: Swan Song (December 2025), THE CLEAN3R (Seedance 2.0 in Runway, April 2026) and Cleaner 3 (Kling 4.0 and Seedance 2.5, October 2026)[1][16][36].

Has Dave Clark been on AI LIVE?

Yes. He was the special guest on show #45 on 12 September 2024, and since Ep 98 the weekly show has played 13 of his pieces. Overture scored a perfect 100 from 15 votes on Ep 120[38][47].

Where did Dave Clark study?

Pratt Institute, where he studied fine arts and filmmaking[4].

13Sources

Sources

Every fact on this page links to one of these. View counts and subscribers are refreshed weekly from YouTube.

  1. 1Director Dave Clark (@Afraid2Sleep): channel page and view counts of every uploadYouTube, fetched 28 October 2026 · 28 October 2026 · youtube.com
  2. 2Dave Clark (@Diesol): profile, bio and follower countX, fetched 28 October 2026 · 28 October 2026 · x.com
  3. 3How Dave Clark of Promise Studios is Striving to Bring Balance to the World of AI FilmmakingNo Film School (Jourdan Aldredge) · 4 November 2025 · nofilmschool.com
  4. 4How AI Changed Advertising Forever | A Chat with Dave ClarkCurious Refuge · 24 January 2024 · curiousrefuge.com
  5. 5How a Hollywood Director Uses AI to Make Movies (transcript)Every, How Do You Use ChatGPT? (Dan Shipper) · 27 February 2024 · every.to
  6. 6Report on the launch of Promise, the generative AI studio from George Strompolos, Jamie Byrne and Dave ClarkTubefilter (Sam Gutelle) · 19 November 2024 · tubefilter.com
  7. 7Promise announces development deals for 'groundbreaking' AI artistsTubefilter (Sam Gutelle) · 11 February 2025 · tubefilter.com
  8. 8Promise Acquires Curious Refuge to Empower and Discover Generative AI Storytellers WorldwidePRNewswire, via Baker City Herald · 24 February 2025 · bakercityherald.com
  9. 9Meet Flow: AI-powered filmmaking with Veo 3Google Blog · 20 May 2025 · blog.google
  10. 10Artistic AI startup Promise goes full speed ahead, lands Google investment and partnershipTubefilter (Sam Gutelle) · 20 May 2025 · tubefilter.com
  11. 11Promise AI Studio Adds Google, Michael Ovitz as InvestorsTheWrap · May 2025 · thewrap.com
  12. 12Behind the shorts at the Generative AI Film Festival at MAX 2025Adobe Blog · 29 October 2025 · blog.adobe.com
  13. 13Dead Invasion: winner of the Pika Labs Halloween Film CompetitionCurious Refuge AI Film Gallery · 30 October 2023 · curiousrefuge.com
  14. 14Borrowing Time (short film)Curious Refuge AI Film Gallery · 16 January 2024 · curiousrefuge.com
  15. 15Battalion: My First Ever 5 Minute Gen AI Short FilmYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 26 September 2024 · youtube.com
  16. 16THE CLEANER | Flow By Google | Veo 3 | Gen AI Short FilmYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 1 June 2025 · youtube.com
  17. 17NinjaPunk | AI Sci-Fi Short FilmYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 31 August 2023 · youtube.com
  18. 18Borrowing Time: AI-Generated Narrative Sci-Fi ShortYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 16 January 2024 · youtube.com
  19. 19My Longest GenAI Short Film To Date | Watch PlumeYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 17 July 2026 · youtube.com
  20. 20Seedance 2.0 is Incredible for Fight ScenesYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 28 February 2026 · youtube.com
  21. 21MY FRIEND, ZEPH | A Short Film by Dave Clark | Adobe Max 2025YouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 29 October 2025 · youtube.com
  22. 22The Making of MY FRIEND, ZEPH | Hybrid AI + Live-ActionYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 29 October 2025 · youtube.com
  23. 23AI Spec Adidas Commercial Made During Coffee BreakYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 5 December 2023 · youtube.com
  24. 24Watch My Winning AI Super Bowl Ad for Grok Imagine ContestYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 8 February 2026 · youtube.com
  25. 25Report on xAI's Grok Imagine ad contest and its $1 million top prizeNo Film School · February 2026 · nofilmschool.com
  26. 26AI Festival 2026 winners, listing TAIRELL ISN'T REAL as an HonoreeRunway AI Festival · 11 June 2026 · aif.runway.com
  27. 27Report on the 2026 Disney Accelerator class, including PromiseLaughing Place · 31 July 2026 · laughingplace.com
  28. 28Report on the AI startups in the 2026 Disney AcceleratorBlooloop · 31 July 2026 · blooloop.com
  29. 29Summary of Deadline's report on Promise's horror feature Touch GrassAI Films Studio · August 2026 · studio.aifilms.ai
  30. 30Behind the Lens: AI Filmmaking with Flow from GoogleTribeca Festival · June 2025 · tribecafilm.com
  31. 31This AI Horror Movie Will Chill Your SpineAnalytics India Magazine (K L Krithika) · 3 December 2024 · analyticsindiamag.com
  32. 32Dave Clark | Battalion *Handpicked*Motionographer · 2024 · dev.motionographer.com
  33. 33A Film Studio Focused Entirely on Generative AI Gets Huge Backing from Peter Chernin and Andreessen HorowitzDigital Music News · 21 November 2024 · digitalmusicnews.com
  34. 34AI Filmmaking Workshop: mentor biography of Dave ClarkBIFAN (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival) · 2025 · plus.bifan.kr
  35. 35MIRA, made with Kling 3.0 from one start imageX (@Diesol) · 4 February 2026 · x.com
  36. 36THE CLEAN3R teaser: Seedance 2.0 in Runway, scored with SunoX (@Diesol) · 12 April 2026 · x.com
  37. 37Dave Clark's post on Google approaching him for Google I/O (archived)texxr, archive of @Diesol · 21 May 2025 · texxr.com
  38. 38In A(I) Nutshell Live LinkedIn Podcast With Special Guest Dave Clark (show #45)AI LIVE on LinkedIn Live · 12 September 2024 · linkedin.com
  39. 39Ep 98: Two Weeks to Make This MasterpieceAI LIVE · 6 November 2025 · theailiveshow.com
  40. 40Ep 106: The Shocking Truth About Runway Gen 4.5AI LIVE · 29 January 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  41. 41Ep 107: Hollywood's Secret AI Video ToolAI LIVE · 5 February 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  42. 42Ep 110: MetaPuppet Joins the Panel!AI LIVE · 26 February 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  43. 43Ep 111: It's Getting Harder to Tell What's RealAI LIVE · 3 March 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  44. 44Ep 117: Is This AI or Netflix?AI LIVE · 14 April 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  45. 45Ep 118: His Son Wanted a Zombie Film About Blasian Kids. His Dad Made It With AI.AI LIVE · 24 April 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  46. 46Ep 119: The Dor Brothers Watched This at Cannes and Hired the Director ImmediatelyAI LIVE · 5 May 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  47. 47Ep 120: This Unfinished AI Film Is The Most Realistic We've Ever SeenAI LIVE · 12 May 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  48. 48Ep 123: Some of the Best AI Animation We've SeenAI LIVE · 16 June 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  49. 49Ep 126: Is Hollywood Finally Embracing AI? The Director of District 9 Says Yes.AI LIVE · 21 July 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  50. 50Ep 135: AI Worth Watching: The Best AI Creative, Reviewed Live by YouAI LIVE · 20 October 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  51. 51Tairell Isn't Real | Psychological Thriller | Official Selection | Runway AI Film FestivalYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 24 April 2026 · youtube.com
  52. 52"Freelancers" by Dave Clark | Google I/O 2025 | Made with FlowYouTube (Director Dave Clark) · 20 May 2025 · youtube.com
  53. 53Director Dave Clark: every upload on YouTube, Shorts and live streams includedYouTube · 29 October 2026 · youtube.com