I'm a filmmaker who uses practical effects puppets, miniatures, and animation to tell mature sci-fi, horror, and fantasy stories. Here, you will see my storyboards, builds, and uncensored material.
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A New Animated Sci-Fi Series From Christopher "Moonlight" Cooksey and Doug Mayfield
Producers Christopher "Moonlight" Cooksey (The Quantum Terror, Ray Bradbury LIVE Forever) and Doug Mayfield (The Quantum Terror/The Warning) are proud to announce the production of their new animated sci-fi series, ESCAPE FROM PLANET OMEGA-12. Inspired by vintage science fiction and adult-oriented animation such as Fire and Ice, Heavy Metal, and Love Death + Robots, OMEGA-12 is looking to bring back the raw and sexy energy that used to come with pulp science fiction in a style that Cooksey calls Sci-Exploitation. It tells the story of Tera, the beautiful lone survivor of a doomed space expedition, marooned on a savage alien planet, along with her little robot assistant and a strange alien blob that has absorbed the consciousness of her murdered husband. Hunted by an unseen enemy who means to kill her, she must learn to survive in her new environment while evading ravenous monsters and deadly robots, all while uncovering the deeper mysteries of the planet she seeks to escape.
"This is really exciting for us," says Cooksey. "Rather than just being drawn or computer generated, we're using all of this new open-source and AI technology that indie filmmakers just couldn't get their hands on without the backing of a major studio, just a few years ago. The playing field is now leveled and we wanted to really make something that Hollywood wouldn't take a chance on, blending miniature sets and puppets shot in-camera, traditional hand-drawn animation but also using the latest in AI-driven motion capture, like what the programmers at Rokoko are offering, along with VTube technology and open-source 3D, to create a wholly original look. We're taking cues from the best of both Western and Easter animation but no one has ever seen anything like what we're planning before." The two producers, who also used miniatures and animation combined with live actions to make their first movie The Quantum Terror, are now excited to bring this unique vision to life and offer audiences an engaging, visually stunning, and thought-provoking experience with ESCAPE FROM PLANET OMEGA-12. Stay tuned and be the first to get exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at the first season, upcoming stellar cast announcements, as well as info on possible NFTs, comic books, and future game dev by joining us at https://www.subscribestar.com/christophermoonlight.
*** Christopher Cooksey is available for interviews ***
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A New Animated Sci-Fi Series From Christopher "Moonlight" Cooksey and Doug Mayfield
Producers Christopher "Moonlight" Cooksey (The Quantum Terror, Ray Bradbury LIVE Forever) and Doug Mayfield (The Quantum Terror/The Warning) are proud to announce the production of their new animated sci-fi series, ESCAPE FROM PLANET OMEGA-12. Inspired by vintage science fiction and adult-oriented animation such as Fire and Ice, Heavy Metal, and Love Death + Robots, OMEGA-12 is looking to bring back the raw and sexy energy that used to come with pulp science fiction in a style that Cooksey calls Sci-Exploitation. It tells the story of Tera, the beautiful lone survivor of a doomed space expedition, marooned on a savage alien planet, along with her little robot assistant and a strange alien blob that has absorbed the consciousness of her murdered husband. Hunted by an unseen enemy who means to kill her, she must learn to survive in her new environment while evading ravenous monsters and deadly robots, all while uncovering the deeper mysteries of the planet she seeks to escape.
"This is really exciting for us," says Cooksey. "Rather than just being drawn or computer generated, we're using all of this new open-source and AI technology that indie filmmakers just couldn't get their hands on without the backing of a major studio, just a few years ago. The playing field is now leveled and we wanted to really make something that Hollywood wouldn't take a chance on, blending miniature sets and puppets shot in-camera, traditional hand-drawn animation but also using the latest in AI-driven motion capture, like what the programmers at Rokoko are offering, along with VTube technology and open-source 3D, to create a wholly original look. We're taking cues from the best of both Western and Easter animation but no one has ever seen anything like what we're planning before." The two producers, who also used miniatures and animation combined with live actions to make their first movie The Quantum Terror, are now excited to bring this unique vision to life and offer audiences an engaging, visually stunning, and thought-provoking experience with ESCAPE FROM PLANET OMEGA-12. Stay tuned and be the first to get exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at the first season, upcoming stellar cast announcements, as well as info on possible NFTs, comic books, and future game dev by joining us at https://www.subscribestar.com/christophermoonlight.
*** Christopher Cooksey is available for interviews ***
Challenging the Gatekeepers of Creative Expression
"You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Recently one of my favorite independent film review outlets, Film Threat had the pleasure of interviewing 80s TV actress and Hollywood veteran Justine Bateman on their YouTube channel. Hosts Chris Gore and Alan Ing spoke with her about her views regarding the climate of politics, business, and pop culture within Hollywood, and her ardent condemnation of AI as a tool in film making.
Alone, the conversation around artificial intelligence in creative fields has become a minefield of half-truths and strategic misdirection which Ms. Bateman has somewhat placed herself at the the center of but in listening to her speak about it within the larger context of her opinions, my instincts tell me that her motivations do not entirely lay with a legitimate concern for art, politics, or the creative economy but rather her foresight regarding where market is shifting and how she might leverage it to her advantage. While she does present an articulate voice wielding arguments that sound reasonable on the surface, using talking points that are obvious to sensible people regarding the relationship between audiences and a mainstream entertainment industry on the decline, her overall stance on AI as part of the equation crumble under deeper examination, thus throwing her credibility as a good faith actor into question.
Bateman's resistance seems less about the technical capabilities of AI and more about the existential threat it poses to a system that has long centralized creative power. It’s been a while since she has been anywhere near the top of that hierarchy but in a time of shifting power structures, she may believe there are opportunities to use manufactured consensus to press her advantage and play both sides of the fence. One side being an audience whose preferences are shifting away from Hollywood dogma, the other being the various guilds who have become hyper focused on AI as a scapegoat for the bigger problems they are causing themselves.
In her own words, she has stated that she "doesn't give a f@%!K what people think" about her stance—a telling statement that suggests a defensive posture rather than an open dialogue. On the surface that could seem admirable or even edgy, more in line with the grassroots, anti-establishment counter culture that has arisen on YouTube and other video platforms. Speaking your mind is important and respectable but I’ve spent time with enough Hollywood players to be on alert for grifters, whether they are conscious of it or not, when the signs are there. However, statements like that can also serve as a kind of intellectual reverse Uno card that functions like a conversational shield preemptively dismisses potential criticism by positioning herself as unassailable.
No, I believe that she cares very much about what people think and she’s going out of her way to craft exactly what it is.
I don’t mean to disrespect or lob ad hominem attacks on Ms. Bateman. She seems intelligent and obviously has talent but her approach is itself a disingenuous and disrespectful one by way of a manufactured moral high ground tailored to appear principled and uncompromising. This is a method for when arguments might not withstand rigorous scrutiny and we’ve seen it from Hollywood players for years. It’s ingrained in the culture and they typically play this game no matter what side of the Overton window they claim to stand on.
Her upcoming film festival's trumpeted ban on AI-generated content isn't a technical decision; it's a line in the sand, drawn by someone who hopes to be a thought leader without really earning the position. It says, "I get to decide what art looks like. I decide what tools are acceptable." But art has always been about evolution, about challenging existing paradigms, and technology has always been a core part of it.
Another example of this is the term "ethical AI" which has become a convenient and nebulous concept designed to shut down conversations rather than advance them, or also a term people who aren’t entirely against Ai will use in the hopes that the pitchforks and torches won’t come out so hard against them. It's a rhetorical tactic that conveniently ignores a fundamental truth: learning through observation is how humans have always developed skills. You don’t steal anything when you are creating an interpretation of it, nor do you have to pay royalties to everyone who ever created an object that has been interpreted as a new, representative image. We don't criticize an aspiring painter for studying the techniques of masters, or a young filmmaker for analyzing classic cinema. Nor do we question when a machine is invented to make back braking and time consuming labor more efficient. So why is it suddenly problematic when an AI system does the same? It is hubris to assume that because an “artist” is doing it in service of some presumed sacred craft that our work should be somehow be elevated to a status that is above other forms of heavy lifting.
Bateman's arguments reveal a more insidious dynamic. She leverages her status as a respected Hollywood figure—someone who has spoken intelligently about industry issues—to create a narrative that ultimately protects existing power structures from meddling, other from her own. Her platform allows her to present arguments that sound measured and reasonable, knowing full well that her loyal audience will simp and rally behind her without critically examining the underlying assumptions. I’ve seen and spoken about this in it’s other forms at great length already, which you can read here.
The real innovation of AI isn't about replacing human creativity—it's about democratizing (for lack of a better word) the creative process. For disenfranchised individuals who have been systematically shut out of traditional creative industries, AI represents more than a tool. It's a pathway to realizing visions that were previously impossible.
Consider the filmmaker working from a small apartment, the writer with physical limitations, the storyteller in a region with next to no resources. AI doesn't threaten their creativity—it amplifies it. It provides a level of access and opportunity that was unimaginable just a few years ago.
I feel it takes a real sense of self-importance and extremely limited vision to think otherwise. Whether from dishonesty or ignorance, Bateman skirts around these instances and chose to frame her argument as purely corporate/studio systems using AI to screw over everyone else when it fact it will act as an equalizer between the two.
I’m not saying that everyone should use it or that it will be the right tool for every instance. If your vision for a movie is about an actress wanting to break out of being type-caste or a middle aged woman picking up a young boy, then I can see how AI would have no use for you. However, if your sites are set on something fantastical or extreme that previously only begging a big money executive who would insist that you compromise your vision could bring you closer to, then how is that a bad thing?
During the live-stream, when asked in ‘the chat’ if there were any instances where an aspiring filmmaker might benefit from using AI, her reaction was to show visible disdain and contempt by sticking her tongue out and shuddering. Whatever she had to say after that, this action told me that she has placed herself above anyone who would dare consider another avenue of creativity that might compete with what she is comfortable and familiar with. In this way she can dance around nuanced critique and selectively apply blanket dismissals, which is a trademark of control-oriented rhetoric, all while pretending the label of “based”.
Bateman's film festival ban on AI-generated content isn't a principled stand. It could have been because like my own advocacy for practical effects, it could have served to elevate a particular method of creating without attacking an adjacent contemporary one; CGI being the other case in point in my instance. No this seems to me to be a carefully constructed barrier, a velvet rope that keeps the established players in control. She positions herself as a protector of artistic integrity while simultaneously maintaining the very hierarchical system she claims to critique.
In other words, in true Hollywood fashion she saw a hot button issue that everyone is talking about, formed a half-baked opinion about it, and asked, “How can I make this about me?”
The most telling aspect of these arguments is what remains unspoken. It's not about protecting art—it's about protecting a specific vision of who gets to make art, who gets to profit from it, and who controls the narrative.
Innovation has always been met with resistance and yes, there are many much needed conversations about the negative aspects of how it will impact all of our lives from scams to authoritarian uses but to lump them all together and insist that we throw the baby out with the bath water is just another disingenuous goalpost move.
From the introduction of sound in cinema to digital effects, every technological leap was initially viewed with suspicion. Not everyone is willing to adjust for new shifts in the market when they’re comfortable with how things are. With AI it is no different. It represents an expansion of creative possibility, not a threat to human creativity.
Will all of it be good? No, but if none of it were good there wouldn’t be a use or a market for it. All of these predictions about how it will destroy entertainment and our economy are just that and they are mainly cast by people with very limited vision. We don’t know what is going to happen but as human beings we must keep some degree of faith that we can navigate things as they happen. If the more than likely assumption that AI can’t be creative is true then it stands that what is being produced by the people who use it now is still due to their creativity, which was always pulling from other places, always transformative of what came before, long before AI came along to speed the process along.
The future of storytelling isn't about maintaining existing power structures. It's about breaking them down, about creating space for individuals and ideas that have yet seen the opportunity to be considered. AI is the tool that makes this possible—a leveling force that challenges the very notion of who gets to be a creator. That’s not going to stop people creating in whatever other way they please.
If you’re mad that the wind might not blow in your favor, you’re not thinking about art, you’re thinking about yourself and your pocket book. Fair enough but to that I’d say, welcome to everyone else’s reality. Pick up your burden the same as the rest of us.
Creativity has never been about limitation. It's about possibility.
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.-C. S. Lewis
Hey there, friends and newcomers! I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my brand-new YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@SciExploitation), dedicated entirely to the world of Sci-Exploitation animation and filmmaking, including my passion project, Escape From Planet Omega-12.
For those who don’t know, Escape From Planet Omega-12 is a bold, gritty sci-fi adventure inspired by old-school epics like Forbidden Planet and Princess of Mars, with a dash of the edgy, adventurous spirit you’d find in Heavy Metal or Barbarella. It’s about Tara, a lone woman stranded on a hostile alien world, who must find her way with the help of a quirky robot and a strange alien entity.
This new channel is where I’ll showcase everything related to the Omega-12 universe and my broader Sci-Exploitation brand. Here’s what you can expect:
Behind-the-Scenes Content: Watch the creation process unfold as I blend AI animation, practical effects, and VFX.
Exclusive Clips: Be the first to see sneak peeks of the show itself.
Deep Dives into the Creative Process: Tutorials, workflows, and insights into the innovative methods I’m using.
Inspiration from Classics: Comparisons and breakdowns of the iconic sci-fi and fantasy works that influenced this project.
Right now, you can check out the animatics for the opening scene, which features Tara’s escape pod crash-landing into an alien swamp. This rough cut is the first glimpse into the world we’re building, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
https://youtu.be/wmEU7HnEluY?si=oRxxrGvQCaui-eTK
Why Subscribe?
If you love:
The classic sci-fi vibe of Star Wars and Star Trek,
The bold, adventurous edge of Heavy Metal and Fire and Ice,
The artistic innovation of indie animation,
...then this channel is for you.
By subscribing, liking, sharing, and leaving a comment, you’ll not only help this project grow, but you’ll also become part of a community of sci-fi fans who value creativity and storytelling.
What’s Coming in 2025?
The channel is just getting started, but 2025 will be packed with:
More Animatics and Previews: As we bring the story to life, you’ll get to see the journey.
Exclusive Clips: Early looks at finished scenes and key moments.
Interactive Content: Opportunities to weigh in on creative decisions and help shape the world of Omega-12.
How You Can Help:
Subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications so you don’t miss a thing.
Like the videos to show support and help them reach more people.
Comment to share your thoughts—what excites you? What do you want to see next?
Share the channel with friends and fellow sci-fi fans who might love this project as much as you do.
This is an indie journey fueled by creativity, innovation, and a love for storytelling. Every subscriber, like, and share helps bring Escape From Planet Omega-12 closer to completion. Thank you for being part of this adventure—I can’t wait to hear what you think of the opening animatics and everything else we have in store!
If you’re new here, welcome to my little corner of the internet where I’m chronicling the making of my indie sci-fi project, Escape From Planet Omega-12. For the uninitiated, it’s a film about a stranded woman named Tara, her robot sidekick, and the wild alien world they have to survive. I’m blending practical effects, traditional VFX, and cutting-edge AI to bring it all to life on a shoestring budget.
Now, I’ve talked before about how AI tools like Stable Diffusion, LivePortrait, and Roop have been instrumental in building this world. But today, I want to share something I’ve been experimenting with lately: Nim.Video, and how it’s solving a pretty big problem for me.
Animation is one of the hardest parts of this whole process. Services like Kling, Minimax, and Krea deliver stunning results. I can take a still image of Tara that I made using Stable Diffusion and Photoshop and they’ll animate her fantasically some of the time but they’re way out of my budget for the amount of shots I need. Plus, they can be a little… picky. Tara’s outfit, while true to her character and the film’s Sci-Exploitation tone, sometimes gets flagged, which leads to even more hurdles.
See the videos below for our animated version.
That’s where Nim.Video has really come through for me. It doesn’t deliver the same polished output as those high-end platforms, but it’s flexible and gives me the freedom to generate as many ideas as I need without worrying about restrictions. The quality isn’t perfect, but that’s fine—I’ve found ways to make it work by rolling up my sleeves and refining the results myself. Plus, it’s a startup and startups grow and improve with time, so I think it’s going to be worth sticking with them for the long haul.
See the videos below for our animated version.
Here’s how I’ve been doing it:
Once I get an animation from Nim.Video, the first thing I do is run it through FlowFrames to smooth out the motion and make it feel more natural. Then, I bring the video into After Effects to break it down into a PNG sequence, since my next tool, Upscayl, only works with individual images.
Upscayl lets me batch-upscale those frames, sharpening the details and bringing them closer to the polished look I want. Finally, I reassemble the upscaled frames back into a video. It’s a bit of a process, but the results are well worth the effort, especially for the kind of dynamic visuals I need in Omega-12. They’re both free to download so as my producing partner Doug says, “The price is right.”
From there, I bring in Roop for face-swapping and LivePortrait to map facial expressions and lip movements onto Tara. These tools are a lifesaver for keeping her look consistent across shots and for making her feel like a living, breathing character, at least so far as an animated movie will give you. I still want this movie to feel like animation, rather than going on the quest for realisum that so many othere AI projects seemed to be striving for.
I’m also doing something similar with Viggle, which will take a still image and animate it according to a video input you give it. I’ve either been using the performance of actress Isla Cervelli or for the more stunt heavy action, assets from Mixamo to get the action I want.
For now, this is “good enough” for putting my scenes together. I say good enough because at the end I’ll be feeding these animations back into another service called Krea, which I think I’ve talked about before to really bring the quality up. However, again, their monthly subscription is not cheap so I want to wait until I’ve got something close to final cut before I pay the monthly subscription to use their video refiners.
I’ll also not that it works with environmental elements, like this animation of water I made using Midjourney and Nim.
See the animate version below.
This workflow has definitely been a labor of love, and there are still kinks to work out, but it’s given me so much more control over the final product. Every frame gets refined by hand (or at least by tools I’ve chosen), and that means the final look feels less like “just AI” and more like something uniquely mine.
It’s still early days, but I’m excited about where this process is heading. If you’ve got questions about Nim.Video, Upscayl, or any of the other tools I’m using, drop me a comment! And if you’re here to keep up with Escape From Planet Omega-12, stay tuned—there’s plenty more on the way and plenty more info about it that you read by subscribing for free. Or, if you feel like supporting this project and getting access to my pay-walled content, it goes a long way in helping me with this and other projects to come.
Thanks for being here and for supporting this journey.
We have started a YouTube channel for all things Sci-Exploitation. Follow us for sci-fi/fantasy that blends classic, old-school esthetics with a grown-up twist.
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