Workshop: Dadaist Filmmaking - Re-Editing the Readymade Film w/ Derrick Schultz
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Important: To fully benefit from the workshop, attendance at the previous day's lecture is essential.
This workshop explores filmmaking as algorithmic assembly, where hyperlogical and absurdist rules replace traditional narrative structure. You'll collaborate to build a shared corpus of video sourced from archives, screen recordings, AI-generated footage, and whatever else you find or make. These clips are then tagged using various AI tools and algorithms: content descriptions, color palettes, audio transcripts, visual embeddings. The metadata will be our editing vocabulary.
We will then resequence clips according to constraints that ignore traditional continuity. Match shots by dominant color. Sequence by audio similarity. Let visual embeddings determine what comes next. These non-narrative sequences reveal new structures and concepts.
You'll leave Dadaist Filmmaking with a number of short films and new approaches to apply to your own practice. No previous filmmaking experience is required.
Related Works by Derrick Schultz:
Unfinished film remaking David Lynch’s Blue Velvet from clips from AFI’s Top 100 Films
This workshop is part of the ongoing research AI Greenhouse by the Netherlands Film Academy and AIxDESIGN.
WHO IT IS FOR
Moving Image Artists and Filmmakers who want to explore their own footage or found footage using algorithms and computational techniques.
No filmmaking experience is required, but knowledge of the language of film is helpful.
Please bring a modern Mac computer (M1 chip or higher) if you have one. Tools are optimized for Apple devices but we will accommodate for Windows if needed. All other software will be provided, but access to Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Da Vinci Resolve, or other video editing software is helpful.
We ask all workshop participants to join Derrick's artist lecture the evening before. This way we all have a shared understanding before starting and can make the most of our time together. More info + RSVP here.
PRACTICALITIES
📍 Netherlands Film Academy, Amsterdam
🗓 21st March 2026
⏰ Full day workshop (6 hours)
💰 Free attendance*
🎫 RSVP required
💺 Limited seats available and allocated *by selection — RSVP here to sign up, selected participants will be notified by email 2 weeks before the workshop, remaining spots will be filled on a rolling basis)
🥯 Bring-your-own lunch or come grab a bagel with us. We will supply coffee & tea.
If you have any accessibility needs, please don't hesitate to reach out so we can discuss how to best accommodate them.
ABOUT DERRICK
Derrick Schultz is a post-AI artist and filmmaker. Utilizing machine learning and other computational techniques, his work explores generative abstraction and algorithmic filmmaking. He has produced work for The New York Times, The New Yorker, and more. Derrick was the Lead Creative Technologist on Ho Tzu Nyen’s Phantoms of Endless Day, a new work commissioned by the LUMA Foundation utilizing generative AI to re-envision the artist’s previously incomplete film. He is a product lead at Titles, helping artists train AI models on their work, maintaining attribution to their original works while allowing a community of creators to explore the artist’s unique style.
In addition to creating his own practice, Derrick also teaches machine learning to artists, designers, and image makers. He’s an adjunct professor at NYU’s ITP and has previously taught at CalArts, SVA, and The New School.
Learn more about Derrick and his work on his website, Youtube, Instagram, or Linkedin.
ABOUT AI GREENHOUSE
AI Greenhouse is a two-year collaboration between the Netherlands Film Academy and AIxDESIGN to research and cultivate (more) responsible approaches to AI in filmmaking and film education.
Led by artist-researchers Nadia Piet and Pablo Núñez Palma, AI Greenhouse organizes public event programmes, runs artistic experiments, and compiles towards a Creative’s AI Literacy Cookbook — a set of experimental pedagogy practices to contribute to the ethical, sustainable and community-driven integration of AI in filmmaking.
ABOUT NETHERLANDS FILM ACADEMY
The Netherlands Film Academy (NFA) is part of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, and the only film school in The Netherlands that trains emerging filmmakers in all subdisciplines: directing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, sound, production design, visual effects, and interactive media. Based in Amsterdam, it offers hands-on, collaborative education with state-of-the-art facilities and strong industry partnerships.
ABOUT AIxDESIGN
AIxDESIGN (AIxD) is an independent organization conducting critical and creative research on AI. We challenge mainstream tech narratives by making space for the rest of us — centering intersectional, inclusive, and ethical approaches through community-led projects. Learn more at aixdesign.co.