Fast Hours is a weekly generative AI podcast where Drew Brucker and Rory Flynn dig into the craft, taste, and business of making creative work with AI.
Every week, they unpack what’s changing across AI image and video generation, creative workflows, models, platforms, culture, creative careers, and the business of creative work.
What matters? What works? What’s overhyped? And where does leverage exist for creatives?
Expect AI news, practical workflows, experiments, guest conversations, and strong opinions from two dudes actually using it in their professional work.
He’s Using AI to Double His Agency Without Hiring (Ep. 86 / feat. Phil Rivers)
Phil Rivers is using AI to scale his agency by automating approvals, task creation, onboarding, and shared workflows across his team.Drew and Rory spend an embarrassing amount of time obsessing over AI visuals. Phil Rivers shows up with 40 clients, 16 employees, and an entirely different obsession: automating all the boring stuff nobody wants to do.And it turns out the boring stuff might be where the biggest opportunities are hiding.Phil has rebuilt his agency around an AI-powered operating system that handles client approvals, project management, task creation, onboarding, and internal knowledge sharing.His goal? Double the number of clients his existing team can handle without hiring another employee.And he's already built much of the infrastructure to pursue it.Phil Rivers breaks down an AI-powered agency operating system built with Claude Code, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Supabase, GitHub, Slack, Asana, and Figma. Automated client approvals create campaign tasks and deadlines. A Slack agent named Tim drafts Asana tasks with dependencies. Klaviyo data, onboarding automation, permissions, and shared knowledge help teams handle more clients.#AIAutomation #ClaudeCode #AgencyOperations #FastHours
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⏱️ Fast Hour
00:00 Who is Phil Rivers?
08:16 Why rebuild an agency with AI?
11:15 How an email agency first used Midjourney
14:24 How do you adopt AI without slowing down?
24:35 How to build an agency on AI from day one
27:03 How can Asana automate campaign planning?
34:36 Why service keeps clients longer than results
37:30 How do you build client context into AI?
43:20 Who decides what the AI remembers
47:38 How AI unblocks account leads to just serve
49:52 How can teams share AI skills?
54:11 How does one MCP support an entire team?
58:17 Why one-off tasks break agency teams
1:00:13 Meet Tim, the Slack agent that writes tasks
1:05:41 How many clients can AI add with zero new hires
1:09:19 Can AI shorten employee onboarding?
1:14:27 Which AI projects aren't worth building?
1:18:20 How do you keep AI workflows current?
1:19:13 How to prove AI ROI to your boss
1:24:50 How do you secure shared AI infrastructure?
1:30:11 What can Obello automate for brands?
1:34:42 How many clients can the team handle?
1:35:42 How does AI automate client onboarding?
1:38:33 What's Phil's biggest AI operations lesson?
1:41:24 Who should viewers tell about Fast Hours?
4 Oct 2026
Claude Opus Feels Like Midjourney Now
Claude Opus feels like Midjourney because it can take minimal direction and produce imaginative visual work.Drew Brucker and Rory Flynn gave Claude Opus room to create, then watched the to-do list get ambitious (their neglected websites finally got some attention). A promo’s visual style carries into animated podcast clips, while a handwriting experiment reshapes Drew’s site.Claude Opus powers motion graphics, podcast clipping, and website builds from creative references. Midjourney supplies the creative comparison and visual references for animation. Riverside Model Context Protocol connects recordings and transcripts. ChatGPT image generation builds animation assets. Magnific and ElevenLabs support sound effects and narration.#ClaudeOpus #Midjourney #MotionDesign #FastHours---⏱️ Fast Hour00:00 What's coming in Fast Hours 85?04:20 Why does context improve creative quality?05:35 Why does Claude Opus 5.5 feel like Midjourney?06:07 One design system, a creative domino effect09:07 We built a custom AI clipping workflow10:01 A blind grader judging clip hooks?13:35 Why does Riverside MCP matter for clipping?14:26 How do reference clips train an AI editor?16:37 How do you build clips around out-of-order hooks?19:32 Podcast clips get branded motion graphics23:52 Motion designers losing their sh*t over AI democratization29:58 How precise are code-based motion graphics edits?32:14 Domain expertise raises the ceiling for AI motion design39:17 Drew let his daughters' handwriting shape his brand website44:52 How do you prompt a cohesive website redesign?49:56 Fast Hours builds a website from its creative DNA52:05 Can transcripts power a searchable website?58:28 Music-reactive web design with a face1:00:20 Code-based animation gets a story to tell1:04:00 How does one image become an animation asset library?1:05:48 How do AI tools add animation and narration?1:11:24 How does ElevenLabs find a voice from a description?1:16:15 How real does a Tavus conversation feel?1:21:41 What will Phil Rivers teach about AI operations?
27 Sept 2026
Opus 5.5 Is Cracked! AI Videos You Can Actually Edit
Opus 5.5 made editable AI video practical: build motion graphics in code, then revise shots, text, and variations without starting over.A cocktail graphic from Rory’s T-shirt became an animation system. Then came four more drinks, a Pokémon battle, podcast promos, and a client-style video. Drew and Rory sound like two people who’ve spent years hearing “one tiny change” and knowing exactly how much work that used to mean.Claude Opus 5.5 turns one cocktail image into a JavaScript or HTML animation system and produces four more recipe videos. Three.js lets Rory block a Pokémon battle and change camera angles for complex scenes. Riverside supplies context for Fast Hours promos. Drew tests a client-style video using a website and company context file.#Opus55 #AIVideo #MotionGraphics #claudeai ---⏱️ Fast Hour00:00 What are Drew and Rory making this week?07:31 Why is AI adding work for project managers?9:29 Why most companies are stuck at basic AI17:36 What is production debt, and why AI took off20:45 Is the $200 AI plan a different product?21:19 What changed with Claude Opus 5.525:04 How one T-shirt image became a motion graphic26:28 Why code-rendered video is infinitely editable28:19 How to turn one render into an animation pipeline31:25 Can Opus 5.5 render a 3D Pokémon battle?36:58 How can Three.js block a complex shot?41:36 How did AI make a Fast Hours promo?42:28 Do you need brand guidelines for this?45:41 Can AI pick a stronger clip hook?47:34 Cutting a promo with no instructions49:18 Why creatives aren't siloed anymore50:39 Watching a sponsor promo render live53:38 What one Opus 5.5 prompt gets you for a B2B SaaS video56:09 The exact prompt behind the one-shot video57:21 Claude Code vs Cowork for motion builds59:17 How do editing and motion graphics combine?1:03:05 How did Drew turn his kids' handwriting into a font?1:10:33 Stop sending AI output without the context1:14:17 How to share a skill that runs anywhere1:18:40 Why trading transcripts beats trading drafts1:20:40 Can you share a Claude project?1:24:18 How to get email discounts, then unsubscribe1:27:44 Where does the episode close?
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
497,943
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
16 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
35 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 62 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
67
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
51
Contact Midjourney : Fast Hours
Guest appearances
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