#75 How AI Is Transforming Filmmaking & VFX with Nikola Todorovic
Nikola Todorovic is the Co-Founder of Wonder Dynamics, an Autodesk company, which is one of the most groundbreaking AI companies transforming the future of filmmaking.In this episode, Nikola opens up about building an AI startup from scratch, surviving the early chaos of generative AI, and why he believes the future belongs to creators. We go deep on AI, tech, creativity, entrepreneurship, mental resilience, and the future of storytelling; including how Nikola and Tye Sheridan built a product people thought was “impossible,” what really happened behind the scenes of their viral launch, and why democratizing filmmaking matters more today than ever.If you're a filmmaker, 3D artist, startup founder, or AI-curious entrepreneur, this is one of the most important conversations of 2025.Episode 75 Chapter:00:00:00 – Introduction00:03:50 – Early days of Wonder Dynamics & scaling challenges00:05:45 – The power of “Permissionless Storytelling”00:07:10 – Nikola’s childhood, war, and escaping through film00:11:45 – The origins of Wonder Studio 00:13:25 – Pivoting from VR to AI filmmaking00:15:10 – Funding, team size & early startup struggles00:20:20 – The emotional rollercoaster of building something new00:22:40 – Why creators forget their darkest moments00:24:45 – Fear, discomfort & pushing through self-doubt00:28:10 – Perspective: comparing yourself to your past, not others00:30:10 – What truly brings happiness (scarcity & meaning)00:32:30 – Why hiring curious people beats hiring experts00:35:15 – The “say yes and figure it out” philosophy00:37:00 – How uncertainty becomes a competitive advantage00:38:45 – Nature vs nurture00:41:20 – What top creatives really struggle with00:49:35 – The problem with modern AI launches00:51:10 – Generative AI editability00:53:00 – Multimodal future of filmmaking00:56:20 – AI’s irony: the first jobs it replaced were creative00:58:00 – Why AI won’t kill filmmaking01:02:40 – Democratization of filmmaking in 202501:05:50 – Why now is the best time ever to be a creator01:07:10 – Final thoughts on storytelling, creativity & the futureLearn Unreal Engine in 14 Days - $300 OFF https://join.baddecisions.studio/c/podcast?discounts=PODCASTIf this podcast is helping you, please take 2 minutes to rate our podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, It will help the Podcast reach and help more people! Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/12jUe4lIJgxE4yst7rrfmW?si=ab98994cf57541cfApple Podcasts (Scroll down to review)- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-decisions-podcast/id1677462934Find out more about Brandon:https://www.instagram.com/lunchbqxJoin our discord server where we connect and share assets:https://discord.gg/zwycgqezfD Bad Decisions Audio Podcast 🎙️:Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasthttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/badxstudioIf you wanna see us to do cool things follow us here too:Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/badxstudio/Twitter: https://twitter.com/badxstudioTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@badxstudio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/badxstudioOur personal handles: (if you wanna stalk us)https://www.instagram.com/farhad_baddecisions/https://www.instagram.com/faraz_baddecisions/https://www.instagram.com/farhad_sh/https://www.instagram.com/farazshababs/https://www.linkedin.com/in/farhadshababi/https://www.linkedin.com/in/farazshababi/#vfx #virtualproduction #unrealengine #3dartist #podcast #badxstudio #BadDecisionsStudio #BadDecisionsPodcast