Dustin Hollywood challenges Dreamina’s proposed pay for feature filmmakers

• Dreamina proposed credits and $10,000 in agency-controlled promotion rather than cash for a feature-film collaboration, according to dustinhollywood.
• A 90-minute Seedance 2.5 film would consume approximately 3.2 million credits, valued at $18,000, under his estimate of eight attempts per shot.
• Credits do enable other creators’ work: AIandDesign reports receiving 10,000 credits per qualifying video post, capped at 50,000 a month.

Dreamina’s Originals announcement promises resources from production through distribution. Selected features could receive up to 15 million production credits, according to Les Heures Claires’ October breakdown, substantially above Hollywood’s requested allocation.

Filmmaker Dustin Hollywood says Dreamina approached him about a 90-minute feature and requested a detailed credit breakdown in his account of the talks. He describes two components of the proposed support:

• Platform credits for generation.
• $10,000 in marketing support, managed by an agency Dreamina selected.

No cash payment was offered to him, he says. An agency’s marketing budget is a thin substitute for a filmmaker’s fee.

Hollywood says he was “effectively ghosted” after presenting his credit requirements. He plans to publish correspondence once his current client production wraps.

His post does not identify the proposed collaboration as part of Dreamina Originals.

Both of Hollywood’s production estimates assume an average of eight attempts per shot across a 90-minute film:

• Seedance 2: approximately 1.2 million credits, valued at $7,000.
• Seedance 2.5: approximately 3.2 million credits, valued at $18,000.

He prefers 2.5 because, in his assessment, Seedance 2 produces artifacts and inconsistencies that fall short of theatrical quality. These figures cover generation credits; his post treats labor, expertise and original IP as additional contributions from the filmmaker.

Hollywood called his estimate conservative in a follow-up.

Dreamina’s credit packages and purchase terms, shared by dustinhollywood.

Dreamina CPP member AIandDesign describes a publishing reward with two concrete terms:

• 10,000 credits for posting a longer-form video and tagging Dreamina.
• 50,000 credits per month as the cap on that reward.

They credit the program with making their work possible and say they have never paid for video generations.

Dreamina’s August CPP announcement advertises a broader program ceiling of up to 500,000 credits per month, rather than the particular posting reward AIandDesign describes.

Hollywood says he funded his early work through paying jobs, starting small and improving over time. Paying for generations himself made him deliberate about what he produced, he says.

He argues that dependence on free credits gives platforms control over what creators can and cannot make.

Hollywood also reports getting no paid client work directly from social media, despite having worked with major brands, agencies and studios.