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Hal Watmough

Editor and director · Head of Post at Wonder Studios · Edit9

Hal Watmough

The television editor who won the first Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition with LATE, directed Wonder Studios' The Trials and took fifth place in the Future Vision XPRIZE with Slingshot[1][3][4].

Also on AI LIVEHenry DaubrezGoogle Labs, behind the Flow Sessions Hal was part ofAlso on AI LIVEDave ClarkJudged the competition LATE wonAlso on AI LIVEAlbert BozesanJudged the competition LATE won

Edit9YouTube (Edit9)LinkedInInstagram (Edit9)X (Edit9)Vimeo (Edit9)Wonder TV

Live stats

views on The Trials, its trailer and clips, counting reposts by others
1.7M+[3][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]
on PEAK's repost of The Trials on X
549K[28]
on a Korean channel's retelling of The Trials
405K[29]
views on The Trials, which he directed for Wonder Studios
175K[3]

As of 31 October 2026 · YouTube figures refreshed weekly; X and Instagram figures as of this date

01The short answer

Who is Hal Watmough?

Hal Watmough is a UK filmmaker and editor, Head of Post at Wonder Studios in London and founder of the creative studio Edit9[6][2]. After more than 20 years and 300-plus hours of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky television, including five years as lead editor on The Repair Shop, he won the first Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition with his short LATE in April 2025[5][1]. He directed The Trials, Wonder Studios' 33-minute Beyond the Loop film, watched more than 175,000 times on YouTube, and his film Slingshot placed fifth of more than 2,500 entries in the $3.5 million Future Vision XPRIZE[3][4].

Known for
LATE, The Trials, Slingshot, Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before[1][3][4][9]
Day job
Head of Post at Wonder Studios, London[6][7]
Studio
Edit9, his own creative studio[2]
Before AI
20+ years as a TV editor; five years as lead editor on BBC's The Repair Shop[5]
Wins
1st, Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition 2025; 5th, Future Vision XPRIZE 2026[1][4]
Based in
South East England, working in London and Brighton[5]

Page updated 31 October 2026 · 35 sources

02On AI LIVE

Hal on AI LIVE

His films on the weekly show, from The Trials opening Ep. 123 to Slingshot in the XPRIZE takeover, plus the nights he was in the chat or mentioned on air.

2weekly episodes
2pieces reviewed live

Weekly episodes

Work reviewed on the weekly show

03Career timeline

From the edit suite to the XPRIZE

  1. 20+ years

    Into the edit suite

    300+ hours of TV across 20+ series, for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky[5].[5]

  2. Five years

    Lead editor, The Repair Shop

    He cuts the BBC show as it moves to prime time and wins a BAFTA[5].[5]

  3. 14 March 2024

    First AI experiments

    Breakable opens the Edit9 channel, then Spinning, Why and The Crossing[19].[19]

  4. 24 March 2025

    LATE

    LATE

    His first AI-driven short: neon present, black-and-white memory[8][2].[8][2]

  5. 16 April 2025

    First place

    First place

    LATE wins Curious Refuge's AI Animation Competition from 700+ entries[1].[1][13]

  6. 11 October 2025

    REPAIR

    REPAIR

    Six minutes about a man, a broken button and the night outside[24].[24]

  7. Late 2025

    The Flow Sessions

    One of ten filmmakers worldwide given Flow and Google Labs support[6].[6]

  8. 14 January 2026

    Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before

    Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before

    A single shot that falls through a portal into a cartoon[9].[9][6]

  9. 27 January 2026

    Altruism

    Curious Refuge adds the Flow Sessions film to its AI film gallery[14].[14]

  10. 11 June 2026

    The Trials

    The Trials

    He directs Beyond the Loop S2E1 for Wonder Studios, premiered in a converted church[3][20].[3][20]

  11. 17 June 2026

    Behind the scenes

    Behind the scenes

    Wonder releases the making-of, from day one on set to the final cut[11].[11]

  12. 2026

    Wonder Sessions

    A livestream workshop, How to Make AI Cinema Feel Real, with Marcus Grip[15].[15]

  13. 18 August 2026

    Slingshot

    Slingshot

    Wonder Studios' Future Vision XPRIZE entry is published[10].[10]

  14. 25 August 2026

    On AI LIVE Ep. 129

    Slingshot plays in the XPRIZE takeover: 12 of 16 votes are 1s[21].[21]

  15. 25 September 2026

    Fifth in the XPRIZE

    Slingshot places fifth of 2,500+ entries at Moonshots Live, Los Angeles[4][16].[4][16]

04Body of work

Filmography

His AI films, newest first, with live YouTube view counts. His television editing is in the biography above. Tap any card to watch.

Views, ranked

His films, by YouTube views

The Trials175K
Slingshot5.57K
LATE1.27K
Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before724
Why142
PHILIA103
REPAIR87
Spinning82
The Conversation #156
Breakable51

View counts from YouTube as of 31 October 2026.

05The films

Three films, three looks, one editor

Photoreal fire in The Trials, a neon present and a black-and-white past in LATE, and a single shot that falls into a cartoon in Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before[3][1][9]. Scroll through each one, frame by frame.

The cheetah walks into the fire

Frames from The Trials on Wonder Studios' YouTube channel, between 19:18 and 19:40[3].

  1. The cheetah walks into the fire, frame 1 of 901
  2. The cheetah walks into the fire, frame 3 of 903
  3. The cheetah walks into the fire, frame 5 of 905
  4. The cheetah walks into the fire, frame 7 of 907
  5. The cheetah walks into the fire, frame 9 of 909

The Trials · 19:18 to 19:40

The TrialsThe cheetah walks into the fire

Into the arena

Directed byHal Watmough, for Wonder Studios

The injured cheetah the girl helped save walks into a burning arena, the creatures of the trial rise out of the smoke ahead of it, and she can only watch[3]. Twenty-two seconds from the middle of a 33-minute film that Wonder Studios made with a human crew of about 20[3][20].

Premieredlive, at Wonder's new London office in a converted church[20]

From
The Trials, Beyond the Loop Season 2 Episode 1, 11 June 2026[3]
Frames
Nine, about every two and a half seconds from 19:18 to 19:40, letterbox trimmed[3]

The Trials · Judgement is coming

Who the pyramid summoned

A black structure lands, and Earth must send its strongest and fastest[3]. Tap a card to turn it over. The names on the cards are ours, from the film's frames and its synopsis; the film's own billing is a single line, Judgement Is Coming[3].

  • The girl The heart of the filmThe girlGrieving, and the cheetah's friend The heart of the film The girl A grieving girl who discovers that the true champions of the trials may be the planet's apex animals[3]. Started asPhotoreal, in the film's warm orange and teal grade[3] First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026Not named in the synopsis we used.Seen inThe Trials
  • The cheetah The contenderThe cheetahInjured, rescued, decisive The contender The cheetah The injured cheetah she helped save, who may decide the fate of all life[3]. Started asIts walk into the burning arena is in the reveal above[3] First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026Seen inThe Trials
  • The black pyramid The judgeThe black pyramidJudgement is coming The judge The black pyramid A mysterious black structure that demands Earth's strongest and fastest compete for humanity's survival[3]. Started asSeen across misty moorland, and as a monolith in a burning field[3] First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026Seen inThe Trials
  • The lion Apex animalThe lionAmber eye, in close-up Apex animal The lion One of the apex animals that may be the planet's true champions[3]. First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026Seen inThe Trials
  • The hippo Apex animalThe hippoJaws open, in the smoke Apex animal The hippo A hippo charging through smoke and burning grass, one of the creatures in the arena[3]. First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026Seen inThe Trials
  • The elephant Apex animalThe elephantWalking through fire Apex animal The elephant An elephant walking out of a line of flames, among the animals the girl comes to see as champions[3]. First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026Seen inThe Trials
  • The farmer BystanderThe farmerA pickup on a dirt road Bystander The farmer A man in a cap on a misty dirt track beside his pickup, in the film's early, quiet act[3]. First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026His part in the story is not stated in the sources we used.Seen inThe Trials
  • The soldier Humanity's answerThe soldierBehind the scope Humanity's answer The soldier A soldier behind a rifle scope. Jets and armoured vehicles gather around the pyramid too[3]. First seenBeyond the Loop S2E1, June 2026His part in the story is not stated in the sources we used.Seen inThe Trials

LATE · Two looks

The present in neon, the past in black and white

LATE tells one story in two looks. The present is a saturated cobalt-and-amber anime office at night; the old cleaner's memory plays in inky black and white[1][13]. Drag the line, or just scroll, to cross from one to the other.

A bearded painter in round glasses, in black and white
An old man with a white beard and round glasses in a blue-lit office at night
MemoryThe painterThe cleaner as a young painter, chasing a masterpiece[1].
PresentThe night cleanerThe same man, decades on, telling the story in a blue office[1].

The same man, then and now: two uncropped frames of LATE, paired by us[27].

A ballerina in a black tutu, in black and white
A translucent dancer over a blue night city seen through office windows
MemoryThe dancerHis wife, in a black tutu under the stage lights[1].
PresentA ghost in the glassShe returns over the night city, in the office window[27].

Both frames from LATE, uncropped[27].

A woman sitting alone on a bed with her head in her hands, in black and white
A framed photo of a young couple hugging, on an amber-lit desk
MemoryAloneThe dancer on the edge of the bed, head in her hands[27].
PresentThe photo on the deskThe young man and the girlfriend he is late for[1].

The pairing is ours; the story is in the film[1][27].

LATE · The rules of the two looks

How the two looks split the story

What each look carries, from the frames of the film and the competition write-ups[1][13][27].

The presentNeon animeThe memoryBlack and white
PaletteSaturated cobalt blue, lit by amber desk lamps and city lights[1]Inky black and white, lit by stage spotlights[1]
WhereAn office tower at night, above a glowing city[27]A painter's studio, a dressing room and a packed theatre[27]
WhoA young office worker, late again for his girlfriend, and the old night cleaner[1]The painter and his wife, a dancer[1]
Turning pointThe old man's single tear[27]Her note on the dressing table: I danced for you every night[27]
BridgeComic-book split panels put the two men in one frame[13][27]The painter's watch face becomes the young man's face, in colour[27]

LATE won first place in the Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition, April 2025[1].

The watch that becomes a face

Eight frames of LATE from Curious Refuge's Vimeo copy, about one a second[27].

  1. The watch that becomes a face, frame 1 of 801
  2. The watch that becomes a face, frame 3 of 803
  3. The watch that becomes a face, frame 5 of 805
  4. The watch that becomes a face, frame 6 of 806
  5. The watch that becomes a face, frame 8 of 808

LATE · About 2:39

LATEThe watch that becomes a face

Where the two stories lock together

Written and directed byHal Watmough

In the theatre, the painter checks his watch, and the dial turns into the young office worker's worried face, in full colour[27]. It is the moment the old man's memory and the young man's evening become one story: he is about to make the same mistake[1].

I danced for you every night.
The dancer's noteLATE, at about 4:08[27]
From
LATE, about 2:39 to 2:47[27]
Won
1st place, Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition 2025[1]

Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before · Before the portal

A morning routine that holds the world together

A simple man with a simple morning routine realises he is the only thing holding the whole world together[6][9]. The film is one continuous shot from his bed to the office[6]. The scene names are ours.

Wake up
The bedroom

Wake up

He sits up in patterned pyjamas, a sunflower in sunglasses on the bedside table[9].

Out of the door
The suburb

Out of the door

Tank top, tie and a rose-tinted street of bungalows[9].

Mad or sweet?
The bus stop

Mad or sweet?

A bus advert asks whether a driver who declared picnic time is mad or sweet[9].

Get out!
The high street

Get out!

The first cartoon slips into the real street: a badger in a suit with a placard[9].

The office
Open plan

The office

Rows of beige cubicles, waiting for him to keep the world turning[9].

Pete's Booth
His desk

Pete's Booth

A terminal, a stack of papers and his name in pink letters overhead[9].

Through the portal

Frames from the film on YouTube, between 7:10 and 8:00[9].

  1. Through the portal, frame 1 of 901
  2. Through the portal, frame 3 of 903
  3. Through the portal, frame 5 of 905
  4. Through the portal, frame 7 of 907
  5. Through the portal, frame 9 of 909

Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before · 7:10 to 8:00

Flow SessionsThrough the portal

From photoreal to hand-drawn, in one shot

Made inGoogle Flow, as one of the ten Flow Sessions filmmakers

The film's big turn: wide eyes, an office exploding into paint, rainbow glasses, a black hole, then the hero falling into a hand-drawn cartoon world[9]. He set out to make a single-shot film with animated elements, and above all a fun one[6].

Made forGoogle Labs' Flow Sessions, screened at Soho House, New York[6]

Released
14 January 2026, Edit9 presents[9]
Frames
Nine, from 7:10 to 8:00 of the 13-minute film[9]

The path

From the edit suite to the XPRIZE, in six lines

Scroll, and each line lights up.

  1. 01Twenty years

    More than 300 hours of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky television, over 20-plus series[5].

  2. 02First prize

    LATE, his first AI-driven short, beats 700+ entries in the first global AI animation competition[1][2].

  3. 03A roadmap

    Realism first, then dynamism and fidelity, and now narrative and performance[2].

  4. 04Freedom to play

    Google Labs picks him for the Flow Sessions, and he makes a single shot that falls into a cartoon[6][9].

  5. 05Head of Post

    At Wonder Studios he directs The Trials: 33 minutes, 175,000+ views[3].

  6. 06Fifth of 2,500

    Slingshot places fifth in the $3.5 million Future Vision XPRIZE[4].

How he works

An editor's way into AI film

Pieced together from Edit9, his own posts, the making-of and what the hosts saw on AI LIVE. The tools behind LATE and Slingshot have not been published.

  1. 01 Story first AI should disappear into the background so the story can take centre stage[2]. Edit9's rule
  2. 02 A look for each time LATE cuts between a neon present and a black-and-white past, with comic-book split panels[1][13]. LATE
  3. 03 One continuous shot His Flow Sessions film is a single shot with animated elements[6]. Google Flow
  4. 04 Refine, don't re-roll The Trials' making-of showed a Nano Banana start frame refined back and forth with an agent[20][11]. Nano Banana
  5. 05 A real crew About 20 people in The Trials' credits, from concept artists to a colourist and a re-recording mixer[3][20]. Wonder Studios
  6. 06 Cut it like a trailer On AI LIVE, Chris Branch gave Slingshot a 1 for its editing and the build of the music[21]. The edit

Two competitions

First in 2025, fifth in 2026

His two competition results side by side, with who ran them and who judged them.

Curious Refuge AI Animation CompetitionApril 2025Future Vision XPRIZESeptember 2026
His filmLATE, five minutes[1][8]Slingshot, three minutes, a Wonder Studios submission[10][4]
Run byCurious Refuge and Promise Studios, with Luma Labs[1][13]XPRIZE; results announced at Moonshots Live, Los Angeles[4][16][18]
Entries700+[1][13]2,500+[4]
His place1st[1]5th overall[4][16]
Prize$10,000 and a chance to pitch the film to Promise[1]$100,000 cash award for fifth place[4][16]
Judges includedDave Clark, Albert Bozesan and Rob Minkoff[1][13]Neil deGrasse Tyson, Neal Stephenson, Mira Lane and Rod Roddenberry[17]
Top prizeLATE itself[1]The Gifted, $3.5 million[4]

On AI LIVE

What the hosts said

He won that competition and now he's never looked back.
Chris BranchAI LIVE Ep. 129, 25 August 2026, on Hal and Slingshot[21]
That scene reminded me of one of my favourite scenes in film, which is in Endgame when Captain America has to go fight this whole army by himself.
Andrew DavisAI LIVE Ep. 123, 16 June 2026, on The Trials[20]
The voice didn't feel like AI voice. It felt like it was somebody actually speaking.
Andrew DavisAI LIVE Ep. 129, 25 August 2026, on Slingshot[21]

06By the numbers

Hal in numbers

Two competitions, two decades of television and one 33-minute film that travelled well beyond its own channel. The YouTube figures refresh weekly.

1.7M+ views on The Trials, its trailer and clips across YouTube, X and Instagram, counting reposts by others YouTube, X and Instagram, October 2026[3][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]
1.1M+ views on other people's reposts of The Trials alone: PEAK on X, a Korean film channel on YouTube and The Australian AI Film Awards on Instagram X, YouTube and Instagram, October 2026[28][29][30]
548K views on PEAK's repost of The Trials on X, his biggest single repost and three times the film's YouTube count X, October 2026[28]
405K views on a Korean film channel's 18-minute retelling of The Trials, uploaded with permission YouTube, October 2026[29]
175K views on The Trials, the Beyond the Loop film he directed for Wonder Studios YouTube, October 2026[3]
183K YouTube views across the 10 films on this page YouTube, October 2026[3][19]
48.7K views on Curious Refuge's AI animation winners video, which features LATE (the whole video, not LATE alone) YouTube, October 2026[12]
$100K cash award that comes with fifth place in the Future Vision XPRIZE, won with Slingshot GamesBeat; Moonshots, September 2026[4][16]
5th of more than 2,500 entries in the $3.5 million Future Vision XPRIZE, September 2026 GamesBeat, September 2026[4][16]
1st of more than 700 entries in the first Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition, with LATE, April 2025 Curious Refuge, April 2025[1][13]
$10K first prize for LATE, plus the chance to pitch the film to Promise Curious Refuge, April 2025[1]
1 of 10 filmmakers worldwide invited to Google Labs' Flow Sessions, late 2025 His LinkedIn, January 2026[6]
300+ hours of television he has edited, for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and others The Talent Manager[5]
20+ television series edited over more than 20 years, in cities from Sydney to Singapore The Talent Manager[5]
5 years as lead editor on BBC's The Repair Shop, as it moved to prime time and won a BAFTA The Talent Manager[5]
33 min running time of The Trials, Season 2 Episode 1 of Beyond the Loop YouTube, June 2026[3]

07Biography

The Hal Watmough story

Three hundred hours in the edit suite

Hal Watmough spent more than 20 years as a broadcast editor before he made a frame of AI film. His editor's profile lists more than 300 hours of television across more than 20 series for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and international broadcasters, on jobs that took him to Sydney, New York, Cologne and Singapore[5].

His credits run from entertainment to current affairs: Take That: For The Record, which won a Grierson Award; a BBC Panorama on the Colombian drug trade; The Choir: Sing While You Work, nominated for a BAFTA; and the Educating series, which won one[5]. For five years he was lead editor on the BBC's The Repair Shop, as the programme moved from daytime to prime time and picked up a BAFTA of its own[5]. Programmes he has edited have also won Rose d'Or, NTA, RTS, TRIC and Broadcast awards[5].

Edit9

By early 2024 he had set up Edit9, his own creative studio, and was posting short AI experiments to its YouTube channel: Breakable in March 2024, then Spinning, Why, Reflection, Bug Life, The Crossing and The Conversation #1[19][2]. Edit9's first client films followed, among them a graphics-heavy video built entirely from AI assets for Rat Betty, a 20th-anniversary film and a sustainability film for Q Estate Agents, and a promo for Sussex Security Services[2].

Edit9 puts his approach in one line: AI should disappear into the background so the story can take centre stage[2]. The bet behind it is that the next generation of filmmaking will be defined by who uses AI well, to make audiences feel[2].

LATE, and a first prize

LATE was his first AI-driven short[2]. A young office worker, late again for his girlfriend, is told by the old night cleaner how he lost his dancer wife while chasing a masterpiece: five minutes about the fleeting presence of beauty and not losing yourself in toil[1][8]. The present plays in a saturated cobalt-and-amber anime look and the cleaner's memory in inky black and white, with comic-book split panels bridging the two[1][13].

He entered it in the world's first AI animation competition, run by Curious Refuge and Promise Studios with Luma Labs, which drew more than 700 entries[1][13]. The judges included Dave Clark, Albert Bozesan and The Lion King co-director Rob Minkoff[1][13]. On 16 April 2025 LATE was named the winner, taking $10,000 and the chance to pitch the film to Promise[1]. Edit9 still bills it as the winner of the first global AI animation competition[2].

The story was fantastic, the message was excellent, and they just nailed it.

A Curious Refuge competition judge, on LATE[13]

A roadmap, then a button

After LATE he set himself a roadmap for bringing AI into professional film production: start with realism, move through dynamism and fidelity, and arrive at narrative and performance, which is where his focus is now[2]. In May 2025 he posted PHILIA, a short study in scale for an Ephemera series, and in October 2025 REPAIR, six minutes about George, who sits alone as night falls trying to fix a broken shirt button, convinced that once it is mended he can finally join the life outside[25][24].

The Flow Sessions

Late in 2025 Google Labs invited him to the Flow Sessions, one of ten filmmakers worldwide given Flow credits, full access to the tools and support from Google Labs, Creative Lab and DeepMind[6]. Among the Google Labs team he thanked was Henry Daubrez[6]. The films were screened privately at Soho House in New York just before Christmas[6].

His film, Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before, came out on 14 January 2026[9]. He set out to make a single-shot film with animated elements and, above all, to have fun[6]. A simple man with a simple morning routine realises he is the only thing holding the whole world together, before tumbling through a portal into a hand-drawn cartoon world[6][9]. Curious Refuge added it to its AI film gallery as Altruism[14].

The most important part of creativity is the freedom to play.

Hal Watmough[6]

Head of Post, and The Trials

He is Head of Post at Wonder Studios in London, the AI-native studio whose co-founders Justin Hackney and Xavier Collins executive produced his biggest film[6][3]. On 11 June 2026 Wonder released The Trials, which he directed, as Season 2 Episode 1 of its anthology Beyond the Loop, with a live premiere at Wonder's new London office in a converted church[3][20]. In 33 minutes a mysterious black structure demands that Earth's strongest and fastest compete for humanity's survival, and a grieving girl discovers that the true champions may be the planet's apex animals, among them the injured cheetah she helped save[3]. CapCut, ElevenLabs, OpenArt and InVideo are credited as executive producers[3].

It is the most watched film he has made, with more than 175,000 views on YouTube and nearly 4,000 likes[3]. It spread well beyond Wonder's own channels: a video post of the film on X by the film account PEAK passed 548,000 views, three times the YouTube count, and a Korean film channel's 18-minute retelling, uploaded with permission, passed 405,000[28][29]. In August 2026 The Australian AI Film Awards named it their first Best International AI Film, and the awards' Instagram reel passed 235,000 views[30]. Counting Wonder's own trailer and clips, The Trials has drawn more than 1.7 million views across YouTube, X and Instagram[3][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. It was a hybrid production: the credits list a producing team, concept artists, script consultant Sarah Feldman, sound designer and re-recording mixer Ross Millership and colourist Josh Cordell, about 20 people in all by AI LIVE's count, and Wonder's behind-the-scenes film followed the production from the first day on set to the final cut[3][20][11]. Wonder then put him in front of its community for a livestream workshop, How to Make AI Cinema Feel Real, hosted by Marcus Grip[15].

Slingshot and the XPRIZE

Slingshot, a Wonder Studios submission to the Future Vision XPRIZE that the results credit to Hal Watmough, was published on 18 August 2026[10][4]. When an unstoppable mass hurtles toward Earth, a man who has never committed to anything must ignite a black hole to fly the planet out of the solar system, on a one-way trip with the robot who talked him into it[10].

At Moonshots Live in Los Angeles in September 2026, Slingshot placed fifth overall from more than 2,500 entries, a place that carries a $100,000 cash award[4][16]. The judges included Neil deGrasse Tyson, Neal Stephenson, Mira Lane and Rod Roddenberry[17], and the $3.5 million grand prize went to The Gifted by Jeff Synthesized[4].

On AI LIVE

AI LIVE opened Ep. 123 with The Trials, on a night of long-form AI films chosen mostly by community member Marco Magario[20]. Ten weeks later Slingshot was played in the show's XPRIZE takeover, Ep. 129, and 12 of its 16 live YouTube votes were 1s, the top mark[21]. Chris Branch singled out the editing and the build of the music, and Andrew Davis was not sure one emotional performance was AI at all[21]. On Ep. 132 the hosts congratulated him on fifth place[23], and he has watched the show live in the chat[22].

08Toolkit

What Hal makes it with

  • He made Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before in Flow, as one of the ten Flow Sessions filmmakers given credits and full access by Google Labs.[6]

  • The Trials' making-of showed a Nano Banana start frame refined back and forth with an agent rather than re-rolled.[11][20]

Only tools with a public source are listed. The tools behind LATE and Slingshot have not been published. CapCut, ElevenLabs, OpenArt and InVideo are credited as executive producers on The Trials[3].

09In their own words

Hal, on the record

The most important part of creativity is the freedom to play.
Hal WatmoughOn his Flow Sessions film, LinkedIn, January 2026[6]
I danced for you every night.
The dancer's note, in LATEThe line that turns LATE, at about 4:08[27]
The story was fantastic, the message was excellent, and they just nailed it.
A Curious Refuge competition judgeOn LATE, April 2025[13]

10Press and awards

Hal in the press

11Collaborators

Who Hal works with

12Questions

Questions about Hal

Who is Hal Watmough?

Hal Watmough is a UK filmmaker and editor, Head of Post at Wonder Studios in London and founder of the creative studio Edit9. After more than 20 years editing television for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, he won the first Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition with LATE in 2025, directed Wonder Studios' The Trials in 2026 and placed fifth in the Future Vision XPRIZE with Slingshot[5][1][3][4][6].

What is Hal Watmough known for?

Three AI films: LATE, the 2025 winner of Curious Refuge's AI Animation Competition; The Trials, the 33-minute Beyond the Loop film he directed for Wonder Studios, with more than 175,000 YouTube views; and Slingshot, fifth of more than 2,500 entries in the 2026 Future Vision XPRIZE[1][3][4].

What is LATE by Hal Watmough about?

A young office worker, late again for his girlfriend, is told by an old night cleaner how he lost his dancer wife while chasing a masterpiece. It is a five-minute film about the fleeting presence of beauty and not losing yourself in toil, told in a neon-blue anime present and a black-and-white past[1][8].

What did Hal Watmough win with LATE?

First place in the Curious Refuge AI Animation Competition, run with Promise Studios and Luma Labs, announced on 16 April 2025. It drew more than 700 entries, and the prize was $10,000 plus the chance to pitch the film to Promise. LATE was his first AI-driven short[1][13][2].

Who directed The Trials on Wonder Studios?

Hal Watmough. The Trials is Season 2 Episode 1 of Beyond the Loop, Wonder Studios' AI-native anthology, released on 11 June 2026 with a live premiere at Wonder's London office. A mysterious black structure demands that Earth's strongest and fastest compete for humanity's survival, and a grieving girl and the injured cheetah she saved may decide the fate of all life[3][20].

Where can I watch The Trials?

Free on Wonder Studios' YouTube channel, where it is co-listed with Edit9 and OpenArt, and on Wonder TV. Wonder also released a behind-the-scenes film on 17 June 2026[3][26][11].

What is Slingshot, and how did it do in the Future Vision XPRIZE?

Slingshot is a three-minute Wonder Studios film credited to Hal Watmough in the XPRIZE results. A man who has never committed to anything must ignite a black hole to fly the Earth out of the solar system. It placed fifth of more than 2,500 entries at Moonshots Live in September 2026, a place that carries a $100,000 cash award[10][4][16].

Has Hal Watmough won a BAFTA?

He has edited BAFTA-winning programmes. He was lead editor on the BBC's The Repair Shop for five years as it won a BAFTA, and he edited on the BAFTA-winning Educating series. Those awards went to the programmes[5].

What TV shows has Hal Watmough edited?

His credits include The Repair Shop (lead editor for about five years), Educating, The Choir: Sing While You Work, Take That: For The Record and a BBC Panorama on the Colombian drug trade, among more than 300 hours of TV across 20-plus series[5].

What is Edit9?

Edit9 is Hal Watmough's own creative studio. Its YouTube channel carries his AI shorts, from early experiments in 2024 to LATE and Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before, and its client work includes films for Rat Betty, Q Estate Agents and Sussex Security Services[2][19].

What is Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before?

Hal's film for Google Labs' Flow Sessions, released on 14 January 2026: a single shot with animated elements in which a man with a simple morning routine realises he is holding the world together, then falls through a portal into a cartoon. He was one of ten filmmakers in the programme, and Curious Refuge lists the film as Altruism[6][9][14].

What AI tools does Hal Watmough use?

He made his Flow Sessions film in Google Flow, and The Trials' making-of showed a Nano Banana start frame refined with an agent. He has not published the tools behind LATE or Slingshot[6][11][20].

Does Hal Watmough work at Wonder Studios?

Yes. He is Head of Post at Wonder Studios in London, which produced The Trials and Slingshot[6][3][10].

Has Hal Watmough's work been on AI LIVE?

Yes. The Trials opened AI LIVE Ep. 123 on 16 June 2026, and Slingshot was played in the XPRIZE takeover on Ep. 129, where 12 of its 16 live votes were 1s. The hosts congratulated him on fifth place on Ep. 132[20][21][23].

13Sources

Sources

Every fact on this page links to one of these. YouTube view counts are refreshed weekly.

  1. 1AI Animation Competition: The Winners (1st place: LATE by Hal Watmough)Curious Refuge · 16 April 2025 · curiousrefuge.com
  2. 2Edit9: Hal Watmough, filmmakerEdit9 (studio website), read 31 October 2026 · 31 October 2026 · edit9.co.uk
  3. 3The Trials | Official Film | Beyond the Loop S2YouTube (Wonder Studios, with Edit9 and OpenArt) · 11 June 2026 · youtube.com
  4. 4AI short film The Gifted wins $3.5M Xprize and chance to become feature movieGamesBeat · 28 September 2026 · gamesbeat.com
  5. 5Hal Watmough, editorThe Talent Manager · 31 October 2026 · thetalentmanager.com
  6. 6Hal Watmough on his Google Labs Flow Sessions filmLinkedIn · 14 January 2026 · linkedin.com
  7. 7Hal Watmough, creator pageWonder TV (Wonder Studios) · 31 October 2026 · tv.wonderstudios.com
  8. 8LATEYouTube (Edit9) · 24 March 2025 · youtube.com
  9. 9Don't Worry, You've Been Here Before!YouTube (Edit9) · 14 January 2026 · youtube.com
  10. 10SlingshotYouTube (Wonder Studios) · 18 August 2026 · youtube.com
  11. 11The Trials: Behind the ScenesYouTube (Wonder Studios) · 17 June 2026 · youtube.com
  12. 12You NEED to Watch these AI Animated Films!YouTube (Curious Refuge) · 16 April 2025 · youtube.com
  13. 13You need to watch these AI animated filmsCO/AI · 16 April 2025 · getcoai.com
  14. 14Altruism | An AI Short FilmCurious Refuge AI Film Gallery · 27 January 2026 · curiousrefuge.com
  15. 15Wonder Sessions x Hal Watmough: How to Make AI Cinema Feel RealLuma (Wonder Studios) · 2026 · luma.com
  16. 16Why We Gave Away $3,500,000.00 for Someone to Build the Next Star Trek | Moonshots Live (show notes)Moonshots with Peter Diamandis, via SpaceNexus · 28 September 2026 · spacenexus.us
  17. 17Future Vision XPRIZE names judgesXPRIZE · 2026 · annualreport.xprize.org
  18. 18Winner of the Future Vision XPRIZEGoogle (The Keyword) · September 2026 · blog.google
  19. 19Edit9 (@Edit9-dj9vc): channel page and view counts of all uploadsYouTube, read 31 October 2026 · 31 October 2026 · youtube.com
  20. 20Ep. 123: Some of the Best AI Animation We've SeenAI LIVE · 16 June 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  21. 21Ep. 129: Future Vision XPRIZE: The Best Entries We've Seen So FarAI LIVE · 25 August 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  22. 22Ep. 98: Two Weeks to Make This MasterpieceAI LIVE · 6 November 2025 · theailiveshow.com
  23. 23Ep. 132: Kling 4, ElevenLabs v4 & Opus 5.5 Editing Video With Code (at 1:25:28)AI LIVE · 29 September 2026 · theailiveshow.com
  24. 24REPAIRYouTube (Edit9) · 11 October 2025 · youtube.com
  25. 25EP 026/120 - PHILIA (EPHEMERA #6)YouTube (Edit9) · 6 May 2025 · youtube.com
  26. 26The TrialsWonder TV (Wonder Studios) · 11 June 2026 · tv.wonderstudios.com
  27. 27LATE (Curious Refuge competition copy)Vimeo · 16 April 2025 · vimeo.com
  28. 28The Trials (2026) one of the best new Sci-Fi movies of the yearX (@Filmfanatics__, PEAK), read 31 October 2026 · 29 June 2026 · x.com
  29. 29The Trials, retold in Korean (uploaded with the creator's permission)YouTube (엠터) · 25 July 2026 · youtube.com
  30. 30Best International AI Film: The TrialsInstagram (@absolutely.ai, The Australian AI Film Awards, with Wonder Studios), read 31 October 2026 · 27 August 2026 · instagram.com
  31. 31The wait is over. The Trials is here.Instagram (@wearewonderstudios), read 31 October 2026 · 11 June 2026 · instagram.com
  32. 32THE TRIALS - Out Now!X (@WonderStudiosX), read 31 October 2026 · 11 June 2026 · x.com
  33. 33The Trials | Official Trailer | Beyond the Loop S2YouTube (Wonder Studios) · 27 July 2026 · youtube.com
  34. 34This is how The Trials was really madeInstagram (@wearewonderstudios), read 31 October 2026 · 17 June 2026 · instagram.com
  35. 35Huge congratulations to Hal Watmough for winning first place in our AI Animation CompetitionInstagram (@curiousrefuge), read 31 October 2026 · 16 April 2025 · instagram.com