Latest news with #HOLYWATER
Entrepreneur
7 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How to Create Better Content With AI — Plus 11 Tools to Get You There
Here's how to use a smart mix of AI automation and creative minds to turn AI into a superpower. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. AI-generated videos are already here, and this machine is unstoppable. According to a Wistia report, 41% of videos will be created with AI in 2025 — double the share from last year. AI now plays a role in everything from pre-production planning to post-production tasks, such as dubbing, captions and visual generation. In such a fast-moving industry, manual resources alone aren't enough. That's why at HOLYWATER, which specializes in storytelling and distribution, we focus on balancing creative minds with AI automation to scale and reach new markets more efficiently. Whether you're creating marketing videos, educational content or entertainment series, my tips on how to effectively combine AI automation with human creativity will help you stay ahead of the competition and create engaging storytelling. Related: Why 2025 Will Be the Year AI Redefines Content Creation and Search Strategies Integrate multiple AI tools for maximum impact If you work with AI to create content, don't just rely on one particular tool. Instead, consider testing different technologies and choose the ones that really work for you. Here are some of our top AI tool combinations. For video creation, we turn to Runway and Marey. The first one removes backgrounds, customizes frames, adds effects and creates videos based on text prompts with support for different formats for different styles. Marey creates cinematic camera moves using just a single image. It transforms any 2D scene into a 3D environment so you can direct the camera as if you're on set. Working with audio and voice, we use ElevenLabs. It generates high-quality AI voices that bring characters to life for a more engaging narrative. For visuals, Flux is a must-have. We use it to create visual assets for AI-series and promotional materials. If you work with fiction texts a lot, try Sudowrite and its wide range of features, from outline creation to automatic writing and self-editing. This software can create a character outline, world, synopsis, plot and even write the first chapters based on user input. Meanwhile, GPT agents can help build personalized AI assistants that analyze context, learn style and deliver relevant results for tasks from analytics to content structuring. A mix of these tools delivers exponentially better results. In our experience, "using multiple AI tools ends up in better content." But the key is the human who works with these tools and creates the stories. Create interactive experiences, not just viewing When creating viral content, aim not just to make hits, but to build a long-term story. Think about how you can further develop your product and retain your audience. For example, we pioneered AI Companion, allowing viewers to directly interact with AI characters from their favorite shows. Users can text with characters, creating deeper emotional connections that extend beyond the viewing experience. This interactive approach is not limited to content creation. Fashion brands can develop AI-powered virtual stylists, and educational apps can integrate AI tutors that adapt to a student's pace and learning style, like Duolingo. The key is moving beyond one-way communication to create experiences where your audience becomes an active participant in your story. Optimize distribution and marketing with AI At my company, we also use AI in our marketing. Our AI-driven marketing machine generates over 200,000 creative concepts monthly across 12-15 languages. All of this is made possible with a team of marketers leveraging AI tools and robust user analytics to power their ideas. The foundation of this scale is our data-driven solution, which identifies viral elements from series, extracts them, combines strategically, and adds titles to produce finished marketing concepts at scale. In addition to our in-house tools, our marketing team uses a powerful stack of AI solutions: Stable Diffusion and Midjourney for helping create high-quality, eye-catching visuals and artwork. RunwayML for video editing, manipulation and creative video effects. Leonardo AI for adding artistic or cinematic flourishes to content. LAMA and Concepter for rapid ideation, concept development and content adaptation across different markets and formats. That's how we can quickly create tailored promotional content for different audience segments, A/B test creative approaches and optimize marketing based on real-time performance data. Related: How to Leverage AI for Content Creation While Avoiding Potential Risks and Penalties Engage a team to use AI The most successful AI implementations happen when every team member finds their own way to work smarter with these tools. We encourage our team to use AI, not as a shortcut, but as a skill. Everyone finds their own way to work smarter with it. Our content ops manager uses it for brainstorming and training models on specific tones. The brand designer refines visuals with focused prompts. Our developers code with pair programming tools like Cursor. The brand lead analyzes user interviews to spot patterns and spark stronger ideas. The approach is complex yet scalable: Let AI handle the repetitive stuff, so your team can focus on the work only humans can do — strategy, creativity and original thinking.
Forbes
18-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Lead A Lean, Ambitious Team With Empathy And High Standards
Bogdan Nesvit, Сo-Founder and CEO of HOLYWATER, a tech company that redefines entertainment by unlocking creators potential with AI. Over the past four years, my startup has grown 3.5x. We launched three products, navigated a major pivot and kept building—even while setting up operations at the start of full-scale war. What made it possible is a skilled team that's also deeply aligned with our mission. Together with my co-founder, Anatolii Kasianov, we set out to build HOLYWATER into a leading tech company reshaping entertainment through synergy with AI. Just a year ago, we launched My Drama, a vertical streaming app that's already reached 7 million monthly active users and over 20 million views on most-loved titles. This kind of growth only happens when a team is empowered. While many founders think they have to choose between pushing for performance and being empathetic, I've found the balance is where long-term results come from. People do their best work when expectations are clear and when trust and support are part of the culture. Here are the core principles I follow to build a culture where people stay motivated, accountable and inspired—even in the high-pressure world of tech startups. Don't treat your team like a family. I'm not a fan of calling a team a "family," even though that mindset is common among founders—especially in early-stage startups (we've been there). The difference comes down to boundaries. In a "family," roles often blur. People jump in wherever they're needed, which can be valuable early on. As a company grows, however, that lack of clarity can lead to confusion, burnout and unmet expectations. In a team, clear responsibilities and shared standards are essential. You accept your relatives for who they are, and you might excuse mistakes by saying it's "just their nature." In a team, however, shared outcomes depend on everyone showing up, improving and staying accountable. When someone consistently ignores feedback or struggles to contribute, it affects the whole team—and no amount of tolerance can sustain a high-performing company. At the start of HOLYWATER, we hit more than a few walls. After exiting a million-dollar app portfolio to focus on our content ecosystem, we had to rethink how we operate. That shift pushed us to sharpen our focus and build a culture grounded in clear values and long-term vision. That also means letting someone go can be part of building a healthy team. When it's clear that someone isn't aligned with your values, parting ways can be the most thoughtful and constructive path. Create a safe space for mistakes. True leaders don't always make the right decisions, but they always learn from their mistakes. I've made plenty of errors along my journey, and what's made the difference is my willingness to learn from them. My team doesn't just execute my vision—it actively shapes it by giving me honest feedback. It helps me see myself from the outside, and that's crucial for founders aiming to create something extraordinary. My approach to handling challenges transformed dramatically when I trained myself to stop automatically labelling experiences as "good" or "bad." When someone criticizes my idea or when we face a setback, my brain instinctively wants to label it negatively. Instead, I've learned to pause and ask, "Why am I labelling this as bad? What is this experience trying to teach me?" Now, I see that all experiences, especially difficult ones, direct us toward truth and growth. I transmit this awareness to my team. We have a culture of open feedback, considering mistakes as new learnings and opportunities for growth. The core of my leadership philosophy is built on feedback loops, team self-awareness and valuing truth and evolution over comfort. Support growth and well-being. Building a startup is not a 9-to-5 job. At the beginning, we had our intense periods, and team members worked overtime. At no point did I force them to. Anatolii and I were clear about our vision and also made sure the team had room to grow and accomplish meaningful tasks and challenges. For now, one thing is certain: If you overwork and live in a hurry, you'll end up burned out, not fulfilling those numbers and milestones. That's why, along with clear operations flow and balanced workflow, I promote well-being and self-awareness practices. I regularly share my mindfulness experience with the team, emphasizing what helps me to keep focus and deal with ADHD: meditation, cold water immersion, morning exercise, quality sleep and no alcohol. It's not just theoretical lectures ("You need to sleep well, eat healthy and meditate"). I can speak from experience about what works and what doesn't and offer useful feedback. My goal is to challenge the narrative that success has to come at the cost of self-destruction. As a result, we achieved higher collective productivity, and team meetings became more focused. Our eNPS survey showed 91% of team members said they see strong opportunities for growth. Optimize mundane tasks with AI. I avoid micromanagement. My strengths have always been creativity and generating ideas. This requires me to keep my resources and energy levels high. That's why I actively encourage my team to take ownership of how we implement our shared strategy. This builds their confidence and skills while giving me the space to think big and shape new product ideas. This approach only works because we've built a culture of autonomy supported by smart systems. As an example, My Drama has grown 3.5x in a year thanks to the efforts of a relatively small team. If we had relied solely on manual processes, we'd be lagging. We use AI tools to eliminate tedious, repetitive work that drains creative energy and leads to burnout. In scriptwriting, filming, ad creative development and content distribution, we've built a reliable AI toolkit. It includes both off-the-shelf tools and in-house solutions that help us produce more, spend less and scale faster. As a result, our team members aren't worried about AI replacing them. Instead, they automate what slows them down and focus on what humans do best: strategic thinking and creative problem-solving. Conclusion These principles have helped us get to where we are today, and I believe that founders who follow them can build their own solid team of top performers. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
