My God, what have I done?

I think I helped start another AI trend, sorry!

On Saturday, I came across a fast-rising video on TikTok.

It reimagined Daniel, a character from the bible, as if he were a modern vlogger.

The problem was that it wasn’t clear how the creator made it, and so while it was funny, it wasn’t clear how others could do the same.

So, naturally, I reverse-engineered it and shared the prompt with the internet, posting it on X. Try the prompt for yourself 👇🏼

It garnered 500K views over the next few hours, and the original video on TikTok continued to gain momentum. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to put my years of trauma as a pastor's kid to use and make a far more irreverent version that church folk will completely love or try to crucify me for.

Turns out, they did a lot of both! Wohoo. Fortunately, I am a masochist and do all this so I can wake up to lovely DMs like this!

The Daniel in the Lion’s den video was good but I knew that I could improve the format by hooking people’s attention with Jesus on the cross holding a selfie camera, and then adding all the top Bible characters as the rest of the video.

(For what it’s worth, I love all these bible characters and don’t think Jesus would find this particularly offensive, but some evangelicals are QUITE SENSITIVE, so this was probably a bit too far for mainstream Christian taste.)

At the end of this email, I’ll share my conversation with ChatGPT and outline my entire process for creating the ad, so read to the end if you'd like to learn the whole workflow.

I tinkered with the script for a couple of hours and then spent a few more hours generating in Veo 3 on Sunday night. (and probably spent $100 in credits)

Sure enough, I woke up today to a viral hit. Previously, my TikTok videos were mostly getting 1,000 views, but this one has racked up 1.3 million views in a day.

Note to the reader: I don’t share numbers to brag. I’m pretty terrible at most social media (though I think I cracked the code on X recently). 

I share numbers because I’m guessing most of my newsletter followers are also creators and want to grow. To understand how you might grow, it’s helpful to give you a brief overview of my social media growth over the last 6 months since I started creating AI content (October) vs now. 

X - 1k -> 32k

IG - 7k -> 15k

YT - 200 -> 2k

TT - 50 -> 2.4k

I don’t understand how followers work in LinkedIn and Reddit but I post there too. 

This is a digression, but it’s relevant to understanding how to create AI content.

There are three types of social media formats:

Long form video (YT)

Text-based mixed media (X / LinkedIn / Threads)

Vertical Short form (IG/TT/YT/FB)

To grow as a creator, you should mostly pick one and learn to master it. The easiest by far is vertical video, and you can repost to four platforms. 

X / LinkedIn is medium difficulty. 

Long-form video is by far the hardest. 

Choosing which one is right for you is best determined by what you consume the most. 

You’re going to have the best taste for the things you watch the most. For me, that was X (because I’m a sucker for the Silicon Valley dream/dillusion), but for you, it may be another platform. 

Understand where your customer is and what kind of content attracts them best.

This actually should be its dedicated newsletter post. I’ll leave it at this for now and expand on it in the future. 

Last random bits before we get to the good stuff:

(I’ve been out of town all week visiting my nephew for his graduation, so it’s been a busy week juggling everything while supposedly on vacation?)

Also, in case you missed it, I did a FAR FUNNIER (but less viral 🥲) Puppramin sequel. 

Additionally, I found that if your post on X isn’t doing well, do a “Post As” share and try a different headline for it. My first version of the post got 25k views and then my second version got 100k views. Same post, just shared with a different headline. NEAT.

You should watch that. It’s completely unhinged and is so much darker than the first one.

Additionally, I did a 45-minute interview with Greg Isenberg, during which I explained my entire Veo 3 process. 

I keep trying to find time for a course, but then I get a bunch of new clients reaching out or have more viral ideas. You should watch that video, as it may be another month or so until I can create the course. Or I never do, and I keep giving all the goods away for free in these newsletters!

I shouldn’t tell you this, but that video with Greg is like 60% of what I’d teach in the course anyway, and it should hold you over for now. 

Furthermore, I will now provide you with specific prompts for ChatGPT to write the story and create a shot list for how I produce Veo 3 videos, so enjoy.

I’m terrible at making money because I give away all this stuff for free.  But I don’t have time at the moment to structure this more formally into a course, so do your best to put the puzzle pieces together in the meantime 😅

I suppose I’ll finally commit to sending out these newsletters once a week, now that my life is interesting enough to warrant new teachings and videos every week. 

Crazy enough, I’ve grown this humble little newsletter from 5 followers (hi dad!) to 5,000 in two months and only 4 emails? NEAT!

Also, you could help me with future newsletters if you let me know what part of the AI filmmaking process you want me to share more about. 

I need sleep! Here’s a bootleg version of how I made the Bible influencer thing. 

My process for Veo 3 videos is VERY simple:

1. Basic Script with ChatGPT (or Gemini/Grok, etc.)

2. Expand to a Shot list using my prompt structure

3. Paste into Veo 3 and choose favorites.

4. Edit in Final Cut/Capcut, etc.

Here's my full starting point conversation with ChatGPT based on the prompt that I created over the weekend:

“Hey ChatGPT, I want you to give me Veo 3 prompts for a number of shots on my shot list.

Here's the Veo 3 prompt structure that I want you to reformat everything like:

A cinematic handheld selfie-style video shot, showing a young man in ancient Middle Eastern robes with shoulder-length dark hair and a short beard, holding the camera like a selfie cam. He’s inside a dimly lit stone den with rugged cave walls. Behind him, several large lions slowly pace or rest, casting shadows in the flickering torchlight. The man speaks directly into the camera he holds, slightly amused expression as he whispers.

He says: Alright, welcome to my crib. That one is asleep, he gets grouchy in the mornings.

He looks happy as he whispers, as if he knows a secret. He pans the camera to show the lions in the background behind him.

The light pours from the cave entrance above that illuminates the dark cave chamber with the lions below.

Time of Day: day

Lens: Wide selfie lens, shallow depth of field

POV: Selfie camera view, subject holds the camera in one hand and points it back to himself.

Audio: (implied) ambient lion growls

Background: Lions sleeping behind the young man.

--

Here's the shotlist:

Jesus on the cross smiling, holding a selfie camera. He is shirtless and has red paint splattered all over his body and wears a fake crown of thorns on his head, but he’s happy and laughing.

“Yo fam they don’t know that G-O-D is about to B-R-B.”

Shadrach and his friends pose for a selfie in the furnace with an angel in the back.

“Yo, it’s Shadrach! Furnace is lit!”

Moses in Red Sea, holding the staff above his head.

Okay so I told y’all to trust the process and but nooooo, ya'll wanted to stay in Egypt stacking bricks.

David whispers at the camera, holding a stone and a sling with one hand and the camera with the other, Goliath is in the background walking towards David. David laughs after he delivers his line.

What’s good, fam? Your boy David here, about to yeet this lil stone at Goliath and see what happens!

Noah stands in front of the ark while it rains and animals pour in two by two behind him.

I got the horses in the back, horse tack is attached

Hat is matte black, got the boots that's black to match

Mary standing in front of a massive angel, laughing, not taking it seriously.

“OMG dude said I’m gonna be God’s baby momma.”

Samson with a blindfold over his eyes, in a gladiator style indoor arena holding up two massive pillars between his arms, super muscular, shirtless.

“These Philistines thought they could flex on me, but I just did a big boof of some pre-workout and finna crash their party. “

Lazarus walking out of a tomb.

“Yo, Lazerus here. Jesus hit me with a Phoenix down. “

Mary glares at the angel in her bedroom, arms crossed.

“Okay dude, you’re gonna have to explain this to my parents because if I tell them God got me pregnant, it’s not gonna go well.”

----

Chatgpt, i want you to pitch me more ideas like this for major bible stories. make them talk kind of like influencers but not too much, take a note of all the humor that's in my story as a style to emulate. Needs to feel funny like it's a mockumentary--like scenes from the office or abbot elementary. emulate that style of humor

—

So then ChatGPT pitched me...like 99 terrible ideas and lines, but occasionally it would give me one banger line and I'd add that to my script.

I grew up in church, so these were super fun to make!

Once I had maybe 10 lines that I liked, I told Chatgpt to give me prompts for each line/scene, based on my prompt structure.

Here's are some of the final prompts:

A cinematic handheld selfie-style video shot, showing a soggy, exhausted Middle Eastern man in his 30s with shoulder-length wet hair, a tangled beard, and shredded linen robes clinging to his frame. He’s seated awkwardly on a slick, uneven surface deep inside the belly of a massive sea creature. The fleshy, ribbed walls pulse slightly around him, dimly lit by a faint blue-green glow coming from slits in the whale’s tissue above. Water drips steadily in the background. He holds the camera close, his face lit softly by the glow, his expression weary and mildly guilty. He talks with a country accent.

He says: "Update, still swallowed. I would like to formally apologize to God, the sailors, and this whale, sorry dude, I just took a poop over there."

He glances offscreen and winces slightly, then gives the camera a sheepish shrug before shifting uncomfortably.

Time of Day: indeterminate interior, faint bioluminescent glow from above

Lens: natural wide framing, dim exposure optimized for low light and moisture

POV: Selfie camera held close to face, angled upward slightly to capture Jonah and the ribbed organic chamber behind him

Audio: (implied) dripping water, faint groaning of the whale’s body, distant liquid movement

Background: wet, fleshy whale interior with ribbed walls and dim, humid atmosphere

---

A cinematic handheld selfie-style video shot, showing a teenage Middle Eastern shepherd boy with curly brown hair, tan skin, and a sling draped over his shoulder. He wears simple linen garments with a leather strap across his chest, and he holds a smooth stone in one hand while pointing the camera back at himself with the other. His expression is excited and slightly mischievous as whispers in a low voice on a dusty battlefield. He whispers to the camera.

He whispers: What’s good, fam? Your boy David here, about to yeet this lil stone at Goliath and see what happens!

He laughs and casually tosses the stone in the air, catching it mid-sentence. The camera shifts slightly to reveal Goliath—a massive, 15-foot-tall armored warrior—standing still in the distance, looming like a statue. His armor gleams in the sunlight, and a colossal spear is planted beside him. Despite Goliath’s imposing presence, David looks unfazed as he flashes a grin and raises his sling into position.

Time of Day: morning

Lens: ultra-wide selfie lens, shallow depth of field

POV: Selfie camera view, subject holds the camera at an angle to capture himself and Goliath in the background

Audio: (implied) soft wind over dry grass, faint battlefield murmurs

Background: Open battlefield with Goliath towering motionless in the distance, dry terrain, and a pale morning sky

--

A cinematic handheld selfie-style video shot, showing an older Middle Eastern man with a long gray beard and tied-back hair, wearing layered black linen robes and a hooded cloak soaked from heavy rain. He stands beside a massive wooden ark that looms behind him, its thick planks darkened by the storm. He holds the camera at arm’s length, smiling playfully through the downpour. He’s positioned just to the side of the loading ramp, allowing a clear view of animals walking up the ramp and into the ark in pairs. Elephants, giraffes, zebras, horses, and birds are all seen processing two-by-two into the large open doorway of the ark. Rain pours down around them, and thunder rolls softly in the distance.

He says: I got the horses in the back. Horse tack is attached. Hat is matte black. Got the boots that’s black to match.

He hops in place with excitement, unfazed by the storm. The camera briefly pans to the right, showing the clean symmetry of the animals boarding the ark.

Time of Day: late afternoon, dark overcast sky with diffused storm light

Lens: natural wide framing with light water droplets on lens

POV: Selfie camera held at arm’s length from the right side of the ark ramp, angled to include both Noah and the ascending animals

Audio: (implied) heavy rainfall, distant thunder, animal footsteps and calls

Background: enormous ark with wooden ramp leading up to its open doorway, animals walking in pairs up the ramp, muddy ground beneath Noah’s feet

Then copy + paste the prompts into Veo 3. If you're getting "Failed Generation", it means it doesn't like a keyword--so run it through Gemini and ask what might be flagging and make changes.

Then edit in your favorite editor of choice and have fun!

Okay, that’s it! I’m going to sleep now.

Let me know what other types of content you want me to cover in the next email!

For more insanity, follow me on the various platforms:

Youtube
X
Linkedin
Instagram
TikTok