AI Commercials

Learn how to land commercial clients who pay, and start a career in advertising using AI. You finish a portfolio-ready vertical commercial, up to 60 seconds, made to a real brief.

Five live sessions on Zoom, Wednesdays 5:30–6:45pm PT from October 28. Selected spots premiere on Tuesday, December 8 at Braly Gallery in downtown Los Angeles, as part of LeyLine's “Human & Machine” holiday showcase.

Price: $199
Class size: 20 seats
Format: Live on Zoom
Showcase: Dec 8, Braly Gallery

$199 for five live sessions plus the showcase. Payment confirms your seat, and we email you the schedule straight away.

Meet the instructors

Alexander and Hafeez co-teach all five sessions. Hafeez leads agency strategy, briefs, pitching and production planning. Alexander leads AI production, visual storytelling, editing and finishing.

Alexander Vail

AI Creative Director · LeyLine Creator in Residence

Leads AI production, visual storytelling, editing and finishing

Alexander Vail is an AI Creative Director, video editor, and producer with more than 20 years of experience across television, advertising, and live entertainment. His credits include Paramount, Nickelodeon, and the United Nations, along with video projections for Broadway and a performance on the CBS Tony Awards broadcast. A LeyLine Creator in Residence, Alexander combines traditional filmmaking expertise with generative AI to create cinematic commercials and branded content.

Hafeez M. Saheed

Executive integrated producer · Saatchi & Saatchi, Nickelodeon, McCann

Leads agency strategy, briefs, pitching and production planning

Hafeez M. Saheed is an educator and executive integrated producer whose career spans from Saatchi & Saatchi to Head of Production at Nickelodeon Creative Advertising (now Paramount) and McCann Worldgroup. He has produced campaigns for major brands including General Mills, Procter & Gamble, General Motors, Samsung, Xbox and, most recently, Noom, the digital health company. Hafeez designed and incorporated the Advertising Content Production curriculum for Continuing Education and BFA students at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York.

Schedule

Wednesdays, 5:30–6:45pm PT, live on Zoom. Each session is 75 minutes with a 5-minute break around the 45-minute mark. No class on November 25 (Thanksgiving week).

Session 1
Wednesday, October 28
5:30–6:45pm PT
Find the Sizzle: From Brief to Big Idea
Agency strategy, how to read a brief, and the sizzle. You start on a practice brief.
Session 2
Wednesday, November 4
5:30–6:45pm PT
Start at the End: Pitching the Concept
How a pitch is built and a production is planned. You build your hero shot.
Session 3
Wednesday, November 11
5:30–6:45pm PT
Work Backward: Storyboards and Scripts
Sponsor briefs arrive and you pitch. Then you turn your concept into storyboards and a script.
Session 4
Wednesday, November 18
5:30–6:45pm PT
Direct the AI: From Images to Rough Cut
Consistency, camera and performance in AI production. You produce your spot and cut it to the brief.
Session 5
Wednesday, December 2
5:30–6:45pm PT
Make It an Ad: Sound, Finish and Delivery
Sound, finishing and final delivery. Selected sponsor spots are delivered by December 4.

Showcase

Tuesday, December 8 at Braly Gallery

Selected spots premiere at Braly Gallery in downtown Los Angeles, as part of LeyLine's “Human & Machine” holiday showcase.

What you make

A portfolio-ready vertical commercial, up to 60 seconds. The brief sets the length.

Real briefs from downtown Los Angeles businesses, nonprofits and showcase sponsors arrive around session 3. Several students pitch each brief and the client picks one. Everyone else finishes their spot on the same brief or on a practice brief, so every student ends the five sessions with a finished commercial.

Selected sponsor spots are delivered by December 4 and premiere at the December 8 showcase.

Who should take it

Filmmakers moving into brand work

You can already make things. In five sessions you learn how a brief, a pitch and a client shape a commercial.

Agency and production people

You know the business and want AI production inside it. Hafeez covers the agency side and Alexander covers AI production.

Creators who want paying brand clients

A finished vertical commercial, up to 60 seconds and made to a brief, is the portfolio piece a client can judge you on.

Register

$199 for five live sessions on Zoom and the December 8 showcase. The class is capped at 20 students. First session Wednesday, October 28, 5:30pm PT.