Good Money
Directed by Laurie Peters with Crispian Mills - 2025
An ambitious, satirical AI-driven music video exploring the spectacle of wealth through a psychedelic lens.
Project Overview: Kula Shaker Good Money Video
In September 2025, Kula Shaker released Good Money, the first single from their forthcoming album — a bold, satirical track dissecting modern obsessions with wealth. The band’s frontman, Crispian Mills, approached Laurie Peters to craft the official video.
With just two to three weeks from the initial call to delivery, Laurie was tasked with conceiving and executing a complete visual world from scratch — balancing Kula Shaker’s trademark psychedelic aesthetic with the track’s sharp commentary on consumerism and greed.
AI video Concept Development
From the outset, Laurie envisioned Good Money as a piece that would ignite conversation — both about the subject of money and the rapidly evolving creative potential of AI itself. The video needed to be entertaining, provocative and visually captivating, while also feeling coherent alongside the music’s structure and mood.
Rather than storyboarding a traditional linear narrative, Laurie built the concept as a series of striking, interconnected vignettes. Each sequence would embody a different visual interpretation of wealth — from 1950s technicolour advertising to surreal luxury pools populated by sharks — designed to echo the shifting tone and energy of the track.
The intention was to keep viewers engaged all the way through, rewarding repeat viewing and encouraging sharing, while maintaining a hypnotic psychedelic undertone.
AI-Driven Production Workflow
Laurie drew on several years of experience working with cutting-edge AI tools to deliver the video at speed and scale. Because the technology evolves week by week, the production approach remained fluid and experimental throughout.
Visual generation and design were driven by Midjourney, which provided a foundation of cinematic image references across multiple time periods and styles. Laurie developed dozens of visual motifs — from 70s glam excess to 90s pop surrealism — and iterated rapidly to find the strongest imagery.
Animation and motion were executed using Runway ML and Veo 3 (Google Labs). These tools enabled character performance, movement tracking, and expressive lip-sync elements, allowing static images to be brought to life convincingly.
Compositing and integration involved traditional techniques in Adobe Photoshop, especially for inserting custom-designed posters and props into live-action-like environments where AI alone was insufficient.
Because no conventional storyboard existed, scenes were created, tested, and replaced dynamically as the track evolved. For every scene in the final cut, 15–20 variations were generated and discarded. The edit became a highly selective curation process, shaped by the rhythm and emotional flow of the music.
AI-driven Collaboration
Although Laurie led the creative direction and production, the project was deeply collaborative. Crispian Mills remained closely involved throughout, reviewing work-in-progress edits and co-directing creative decisions to ensure the tone aligned with the band’s identity.
Final sound design was delivered by BAFTA-winning Ian Wilson, who crafted a detailed mix to heighten the impact of the visuals. The colour grading and finishing were handled by Haridas Stewart, bringing consistency and richness to the eclectic visual palette.
AI video Release and Reception
The video premiered on 16 September 2025 alongside the single release. The band’s press campaign playfully credited two fictional monkeys — Lolly and Dodge — as the creators, further fuelling conversation about the role of AI in music and art.
Reaction was mixed but predominantly positive, with widespread discussion across social platforms about its distinctive style and the implications of AI in creative production. Laurie also analysed the environmental footprint of the workflow, estimating energy use equivalent to roughly three bathtubs of water in data centre cooling and carbon output similar to a car journey from Piccadilly Circus to Cambridge — sparking further debate about sustainability in AI-driven production.
Good Money Directed by Laurie Peters with Crispian Mills.
Contact Laurie Peters
Good Money showcases Laurie Peters’ ability to merge cinematic design, experimental storytelling and advanced AI workflows to deliver complex projects at speed.
Laurie is currently available for music videos, brand campaigns, and hybrid motion design commissions for agencies, labels and artists worldwide.
Contact Laurie Peters to discuss your next project.