What Was Once Unthinkable: Mark Wachholz on Creating Copernicus with AI

What did AI enable you to do in your film that would have been impossible—or unimaginable—without it?

Mark Wachholz: As a sci-fi novel adaptation imagined as a big-budget TV series, the entire concept trailer for "Copernicus" would have been unthinkable without AI. From the sweeping global locations to the cinematic action and Hollywood-level polish, this kind of production would have required an enormous budget upfront. Something virtually impossible for an unfinanced project.

Before AI, I had worked as a writer on projects where directors or producers invested tens of thousands of euros just to shoot a vision piece to pitch their idea. The more accessible workaround was a "sizzle reel" made from existing Hollywood films, but that approach would never reflect your world, your characters, or your aesthetic.

With AI, I was able to bring the visual identity, tone, and scope of "Copernicus" to life in a way that was personal, specific, and immersive – all at the concept stage. What used to be unimaginable for creators is now not only possible, but increasingly accessible.

Did your vision for the film change once you started working with AI tools? If so, how?

Mark Wachholz: That's an interesting question because I'm not the original writer of the novel "Copernicus," nor the creator of the adaptation. That's Patrick Cheh, the producer who invited me to create this concept trailer. In a way, I'm just the trailer guy. :)

From the start, I shared with Patrick my approach to AI, which I call AI Co-Creation. It's the idea of allowing AI models to be more than tools, to actually become part of the creative process: brainstorming, shaping, and imagining the vision alongside us. The trailer format is especially fertile ground for that kind of collaboration.

Instead of tightly controlling every visual, I gave space for image models like Midjourney and video tools like Kling to visualize the world of the story. How would a disembodied, agential intelligence like Copernicus manifest visually? What does the world it’s trying to reboot look like? What could the new one become? These questions were answered not by rigid direction, but by a kind of aesthetic dialogue between human and machine.

In that sense, the final trailer became the result of a creative relay: from the author to the producer, from me to the AI tools. And ultimately back to the audience, who bring the final piece to life with their own resonance.

Copernicus by Mark Wachholz

How did AI shape the emotional tone or atmosphere of your film? Was that an intentional choice or a surprise outcome?

Mark Wachholz: In any creative process, there's always much more a dance between intention and surprise, agency and chance than we give it credit. AI supercharges both: it amplifies your ability to shape a specific emotional tone, while also introducing unexpected imagery, moods, or textures that can completely reframe a scene.

The mood of "Copernicus", dark yet strangely hopeful, with a slow build toward tension and awe, was intentional. That was the emotional architecture I aimed to construct. Some shots were very deliberately crafted, like Pedro running as a low-flying plane roars overhead, or a helicopter crashing into the ground in a war zone. Other moments were pure surprise, like the cityscape somehow arrested in a surreal, data-grid skyline. I hadn’t planned for that specific shot, but it instantly became a perfect metaphor for Copernicus' transformation of the world.

Even in the voiceover, we leaned into this duality. We created two versions of the trailer, one with a female and one with a male voice for Copernicus. Not just for variation, but to underscore its nonhuman identity. AI gave us the flexibility to explore these tonal shifts easily, and in doing so, it became an aesthetic and emotional collaborator as much as a technical one.

Were there any limitations with current AI tools that you had to creatively work around?

Mark Wachholz: The trailer was created in September/October 2024. At that time, generating consistent characters across multiple shots was still a real challenge. Much harder than it is now. So instead of fighting that limitation, I embraced it and built the trailer around a different kind of protagonist: Copernicus itself.

In the source novel and the show, human characters take center stage. But for the purpose of this trailer, we shifted the focus to the disembodied intelligence of Copernicus, allowing its voice and presence to guide the narrative. That turned out to be a powerful storytelling choice. It gave the trailer a unique tone and let the audience experience the world from Copernicus' perspective, which conveniently also sidestepped one of the biggest limitations of 2024-era AI tools.

If you could re-do one part of your film with next-gen AI capabilities, what would you revisit—and why?

Mark Wachholz: I think a lot of AI creators can relate to this: with how fast the tools are advancing, month by month, week by week, I feel this constant temptation to go back and "upgrade" older projects. To finally bring them in line with where the technology is now. Only to feel that same urge again just six months later, when what once felt groundbreaking starts to look outdated again. It's a moving target.

Personally, I try to resist that instinct and keep moving forward. But at the same time, many of these works aren’t traditional "final" projects. They’re experiments, explorations. So there's something natural, maybe even necessary, about revisiting past works and evolving them. Even if, as da Vinci's (possibly apocryphal) quote goes, creative work is never finished, only abandoned.

If I were to revisit "Copernicus" with the AI tools of June 2025, I'd definitely improve the shots involving human characters. Make them more consistent, more expressive, more real. But paradoxically, that would make them too good; they'd stand out from the rest of the trailer like a sore thumb. The tech has advanced so far, even in just eight months, that I'd probably want to redo the entire trailer for cohesion's sake. Which, of course, wouldn’t be a remake. It would be a whole new work, reimagined from scratch by a more capable AI. And maybe that’s the path we’re on: not polishing the past, but using it as scaffolding for the next creation.

What does winning the MetaMorph AI Film Award mean to you, especially at this moment in the evolution of storytelling technology?

Mark Wachholz: Winning with "Copernicus" at the MetaMorph AI Film Awards is incredibly exciting for me. It shows that the trailer can still spark imagination and resonate with audiences, even though the AI tools used to create it have already evolved so rapidly since its release. For that alone I'm very grateful.

But more importantly, it highlights something I find deeply meaningful: these technologies aren't just tools. They’re the foundation of a new creative ecosystem already taking shape. Tech companies build the tools. Creators push their boundaries. Communities form around the work. Platforms emerge to host and share it. And festivals like Meta Morph create a space to reflect, showcase, and celebrate what’s being made.

As a creator working independently with these tools, that’s the most astonishing and hopeful part: witnessing this ecosystem, this new cultural and participatory space, coming to life in real time. It's being built collectively by developers, creators, organizers, community leaders, audiences, and everyone in between. Together, they are shaping not just how stories are told, but what kinds of stories are possible.