2025 Recap
As the creative industry reckons with the latest AI technologies, many of our fellow creatives have swirled in a doomsday spiral. Setting our anxieties aside, we’ve thoughtfully explored the tech while betting on our human-first approach.
When I created this illustration (without AI) and slapped it on a t-shirt for our company retreat in March, I had no idea it would become a mascot of sorts for our experience this year. It captures more than just a Santa Cruz surf/skate attitude — it’s the violent clash of art and commerce, confronting the human role in the creative process. This year we discovered exactly why our creativity matters, and how to responsibly use AI tools in a world that desperately needs more real, more truth, and more employed artists :)
In the long arc of history, many paradigm shifts have disrupted commercial creativity (and AI is the paradigmest shift imaginable), but ultimately we trust that talented humans have always and will always be essential to making content that matters. Just as microwave ovens didn’t destroy chefs, 3D printers didn’t end toys, and synthesizers didn’t eliminate orchestras, AI tools will only prove the value of collaborating with experienced filmmakers. We’re not facing annihilation against AI, we’re facing a thrilling new competition against bland, against unoriginal, against fake, against cheap, and against a race to the bottom of mass-produced spam. We resist. We rebel. Humans crave original, meaningful, truthful art, advertising and entertainment… and they crave the process of creating it, too. So while impressive, easy tools keep popping up, the underlying creative process hasn’t changed — it’s only become more precious.
Many thanks to our clients and crews around the globe for partnering with us this year. We’re truly fortunate to see our business grow with exciting opportunities filming, animating and delivering a little bit more human art into the world. After all, isn’t that why we’re here?
Read our AI philosophy, and don’t miss our Instagram and newsletter for more human-first creativity to come.
💛 Phillip & everyone at Heck
Poster by Phillip Goodwin
Behind the scenes
This year’s travels and projects led to many adventures at home and abroad.
