Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Brice Budke (linkedin.com/in/bricebudke/) (President) and Zeek Earl (linkedin.com/in/zeek-earl-46962a33/) (Executive Creative Director) run two Seattle studios: Shep (shepfilms.com/) , a video agency that works with tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft, and Packrat (https://www.packrat.studio/) , a creative studio that specializes in miniature worlds, handmade sets, and retro creative projects.
You might know Packrat's work from the epic and widely watched 2025 Seahawks schedule release video (youtube.com/watch?v=ifvSa50l1hQ) , which won a Gold Clio. They also made Prospect (imdb.com/title/tt7946422/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) , an indie sci-fi film (youtube.com/watch?v=UsrbNtUgEaY) that premiered at SXSW in 2018 with Pedro Pascal and Sophie Thatcher.
GeekWire met them last fall (geekwire.com/2025/amazons-surprise-indie-hit-kiro-launches-broadly-in-bid-to-reshape-ai-powered-software-development/) on the set of a stop-motion shoot for Kiro (https://kiro.dev/) , an AI-powered agentic software development tool from Amazon Web Services. Check out the video they made from that shoot here (youtube.com/shorts/pH6jRYwRfjI) .
On this episode, Brice and Zeek discuss how AI is transforming their work — from photorealistic storyboarding to stop-motion animation filled in by AI-generated frames — and what still requires human creativity, taste, and intuition. Plus: the psychology of working with "infinite tools," why AI doesn't always save money, and the GeekWire Trivia Challenge.
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.
See omnystudio.com/listener (omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Brice Budke (linkedin.com/in/bricebudke/) (President) and Zeek Earl (linkedin.com/in/zeek-earl-46962a33/) (Executive Creative Director) run two Seattle studios: Shep (shepfilms.com/) , a video agency that works with tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft, and Packrat (https://www.packrat.studio/) , a creative studio that specializes in miniature worlds, handmade sets, and retro creative projects.
You might know Packrat's work from the epic and widely watched 2025 Seahawks schedule release video (youtube.com/watch?v=ifvSa50l1hQ) , which won a Gold Clio. They also made Prospect (imdb.com/title/tt7946422/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) , an indie sci-fi film (youtube.com/watch?v=UsrbNtUgEaY) that premiered at SXSW in 2018 with Pedro Pascal and Sophie Thatcher.
GeekWire met them last fall (geekwire.com/2025/amazons-surprise-indie-hit-kiro-launches-broadly-in-bid-to-reshape-ai-powered-software-development/) on the set of a stop-motion shoot for Kiro (https://kiro.dev/) , an AI-powered agentic software development tool from Amazon Web Services. Check out the video they made from that shoot here (youtube.com/shorts/pH6jRYwRfjI) .
On this episode, Brice and Zeek discuss how AI is transforming their work — from photorealistic storyboarding to stop-motion animation filled in by AI-generated frames — and what still requires human creativity, taste, and intuition. Plus: the psychology of working with "infinite tools," why AI doesn't always save money, and the GeekWire Trivia Challenge.
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.
See omnystudio.com/listener (omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
