Fast Hours · the weekly generative AI podcast What’s up,
everybody?

The craft, the taste and the business

of making creative work with AI.

Rory Flynn and Drew Brucker came up in branding and advertising. Now they pressure-test every AI creative tool in public, from Midjourney to Seedance to Claude, and tell you what matters, what works and what’s overhyped. New episode every Sunday.

Now playing Apple Vision · 1 face
Episode 84 thumbnail
EP Episode 084

Opus 5.5 Is Cracked! AI Videos You Can Actually Edit

SEP 27 2026 · 88 MIN

“We created like this production debt, right? … 15 years ago, you might have had to do 20, 40 pieces of content a quarter.” Rory Flynn▶ 17:53

01Track · the archive

Tune the archive.

All episodes

Every episode since July 2024 on one dial. The taller the bar, the more people watched it. Drag the orange needle to browse, or pick one of the start-here episodes below.

Episode Episode 84

OPUS 5.5 MADE AI VIDEO EDITABLE

Opus 5.5 Is Cracked! AI Videos You Can Actually Edit

SEP 27 2026 · 88 MIN · 6.9K VIEWS

Tune in

Start here

02Transcribe · the receipts

Said on the record.

Real lines from the latest episodes. Every quote links to the second it was said.

“A lot of these organizations are really operating at a very I don't know what you want to call, like adolescent maturity level in terms of the AI adoption.”
Drew Brucker Ep. 84 Why companies lag on AI adoption Play from 10:21
“I'm speaking from a bad position over here because I don't have project managers anymore. Like Claude's my project manager.”
Rory Flynn Ep. 84 Running his business without human project managers Play from 8:27
“What I realized was that I'd spent my entire career thinking that brands were brands and agencies were out there looking for something cool. But but brands are looking for something that sells.”
Ingi Erlingsson Ep. 83 What he learned moving from studio side to brand side at Doodles Play from 11:14
“There's you know, 99% of people are just gonna like use it like a piece of paper. They're gonna write on it with like a pencil. And then there's someone that's gonna make origami.”
Rory Flynn Ep. 83 His analogy for how differently Ingi uses AI tools Play from 24:47
“This guy with minimal five hours, no previous account activity, goes to the Wall Street Journal, which publishes publishes an exclusive with quotes from him on the resignation 18 minutes before the post goes up.”
Drew Brucker Ep. 82 Timeline red flags behind a viral 'I resigned from Anthropic' post Play from 17:10
“Now I have a full view of the golf course that freaking built by itself. … it just worked straight for twenty four hours and I cut it off. I'm like, you guys are burning. You burned seventy percent of my of my weekly allotment.”
Rory Flynn Ep. 82 Two Astra sessions finishing an unsupervised golf-course build Play from 37:07

03Classify · the tools

The tool ledger.

Every tool

45 tools, counted across 84 episodes. When each one first showed up, when we last talked about it, and how often.

  1. Midjourney
    Midjourney
    Image model
    first seen in episode 1 JUL 2024 last seen in episode 83 SEP 2026 92 episodes On air
  2. Runway
    Runway
    Video model
    first seen in episode 1 JUL 2024 last seen in episode 77 AUG 2026 42 episodes Quiet
  3. ChatGPT
    OpenAI
    LLM
    first seen in episode 1 JUL 2024 last seen in episode 84 SEP 2026 42 episodes On air
  4. Claude
    Anthropic
    LLM
    first seen in episode 6 AUG 2024 last seen in episode 84 SEP 2026 31 episodes On air
  5. Nano Banana
    Google
    Image model
    first seen in episode 49 AUG 2025 last seen in episode 82 SEP 2026 30 episodes On air
  6. Kling
    Kuaishou
    Video model
    first seen in episode 11 SEP 2024 last seen in episode 76 AUG 2026 29 episodes Quiet
  7. Veo
    Google
    Video model
    first seen in episode 23 DEC 2024 last seen in episode 73 JUL 2026 28 episodes Quiet
  8. Photoshop
    Adobe
    Design software
    first seen in episode 2 JUL 2024 last seen in episode 80 AUG 2026 28 episodes Quiet
  9. Figma Weave (Weavy)
    Figma
    Node workflows
    first seen in episode 38 APR 2025 last seen in episode 79 AUG 2026 27 episodes Quiet
  10. Flux
    Black Forest Labs
    Image model
    first seen in episode 9 SEP 2024 last seen in episode 79 AUG 2026 23 episodes Quiet

05Identify · the guests

Who’s been in the chair.

All 15 guests

Studio founders, creative directors and builders who make the work, not just post about it.

  1. Ingi Erlingsson
    Founder of SYSTMS; built Golden Wolf and sold it to Doodles, became Doodles' Chief Content Officer EP Episode 83
  2. Jamey Gannon
    AI creative director; runs the AI Creative Director course EP Episode 80
  3. Rourke Sefton-Minns
    Social media creator and founder of Gen HQ EP Episode 78
  4. BLVCKL!GHT
    Founding member of West Coast AI Labs EP Episode 77
  5. Finn McKenty
    Fractional CMO and partner at URM Academy (Nail the Mix); former Abercrombie & Fitch designer and YouTube creator EP Episode 75
  6. Salma Aboukar
    Creative director and founder EP Episode 73
  7. Tyler Bernabe (jboogxcreative)
    Full-time generative AI creator and strategist EP Episode 70
  8. Allar Haltsonen
    Recurring guest and AI creative based in Estonia; posts on X and LinkedIn EP Episode 50

06Detect · the hosts

Two dudes actually using it.

The story

Rory and Drew started the show in July 2024 as Midjourney Fast Hours, named for the “fast hours” you burn generating in Midjourney’s Fast Mode. Eighty-some episodes later it covers every tool a working creative touches.

Rory Flynn, on camera during Episode 84

Co-host · Founder, Systematiq AI

Rory
Flynn

Rory Flynn is the founder of Systematiq AI, which helps creative and marketing teams put AI to work. Before AI he worked in brand licensing, brand IP and e-commerce marketing. Midjourney turned him into an educator, and today he builds AI workflows, speaks on AI and creative production, and lives in Brooklyn.

LinkedIn
149K LinkedIn followers K
X
28K X followers K

Followers · Sep 2026

Drew Brucker, on camera during Episode 84

Co-host · Creative strategist, AI art director

Drew
Brucker

Drew Brucker is a creative strategist and Midjourney educator focused on brand and art direction. An American Marketing Association 4 Under 40 honoree (2023), he has run Midjourney workshops for more than 250 people and teams, and helps brands build on-brand visual systems with AI.

LinkedIn
69K LinkedIn followers K
X
13K X followers K

Followers · Sep 2026

07Match · your tool

The people who sign off on the tools.

Creative directors, agency owners, art directors, marketing leads, founders, designers and brand teams. They watch every week.

YouTube subscribers
84.3K K
Source · YouTube · Sep 30, 2026
Episodes, weekly since July 2024
84
Source · The catalog
Views in 28 days
94.8K K
Source · YouTube Studio media kit · Sep 2026
Of viewers aged 25–44
76% %
Source · YouTube Studio media kit · Sep 2026
Host LinkedIn followers
218K K
Source · LinkedIn · Sep 2026

Scanning for a partner

The show creative teams trust to tell them which AI tools are worth the budget.