Today we’d like to introduce you to Tery Spataro.
Hi Tery, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a classically trained illustrator and designer, and I’ve always been drawn to storytelling, visual expression, and the ways technology can expand human creativity. My career began in traditional creative communications, brand strategy, and digital innovation, where I worked on projects that helped organizations think differently about how they connect with people. Even early on, I was interested in the space where art, communication, and emerging technology meet.
Over time, that interest evolved into a much more personal creative journey. I began using AI in 2020, not as a shortcut, but as a creative partner. That opened up an entirely new language for me — one that combined filmmaking, visual art, writing, sound, and worldbuilding in ways I had never experienced before. It allowed me to move beyond conventional production constraints and create deeply personal, experimental, and emotionally driven work.
Since then, I’ve created AI-driven films, videos, and visual experiences that explore transformation, consciousness, memory, identity, and the strangeness of being human. My work often blends the surreal, cinematic, and poetic. Some of it has been exhibited in museums and festivals, and some of it has grown into larger story worlds through books, animation, and immersive experiences.
At the same time, I’ve continued to build practical systems around this work — developing workflows, creative methods, and storytelling approaches that help turn emerging tools into meaningful artistic expression. That balance between experimentation and structure has become a big part of who I am.
Where I am today feels like the convergence of many chapters of my life: artist, strategist, storyteller, filmmaker, and innovator. I’m still exploring, still learning, and still pushing into new territory, but the throughline has remained the same — a desire to create work that sparks imagination, invites reflection, and helps people feel something real.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it definitely has not been a smooth road.
Like many creative people, I’ve had to reinvent myself more than once. My path has moved through illustration, design, creative strategy, storytelling, and now AI-driven filmmaking and visual expression. From the outside, those shifts can look exciting and seamless, but living through them is much harder. Reinvention takes faith, resilience, and a willingness to keep going even when the next chapter is not fully clear.
One of the biggest challenges has been working in spaces that people do not always immediately understand. Because I work with AI, I’ve had clients assume that I simply push a button and out comes an illustration or a film. But my process is far beyond that. It involves concept development, story, visual direction, experimentation, editing, refinement, emotional tone, structure, and countless creative decisions. The tools may be new, but the artistry, judgment, and years of experience behind the work are very real. Part of my journey has been helping people understand that what I do is not automated creativity — it is deeply human creativity shaped through new mediums.
There have also been personal struggles along the way. Balancing creative ambition with the realities of life, caregiving, uncertainty, and the pressure of building something unconventional has not been easy. There have been moments of exhaustion, self-doubt, and wondering whether others would truly understand the value of what I was building.
But those struggles have also shaped me. They taught me to trust my voice, stand by my process, and keep creating work that feels meaningful and true to who I am. In many ways, the difficult parts of the journey made the work deeper. They pushed me to create not just from skill, but from conviction.
So no, it has not been a smooth road — but it has been a deeply transformative one, and I think that transformation lives inside the work I make today.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work lives at the intersection of art, narrative, emerging technology, and emotional experience. I specialize in creating visually rich, concept-driven films, books, immersive experiences, and commercial creative work that blend the surreal, cinematic, and deeply human. I’m especially known for using AI not as a shortcut, but as a true creative partner in a process that involves story development, visual strategy, design, editing, and emotional shaping.
Alongside my artistic work, I also do commercial AI-driven creative work through Cosmic Cats and Flying Cupcakes, my AI-native studio and production company. Through that work, I help develop films, branded storytelling, visual campaigns, music videos, and other creative content that combine imagination with practical production systems. That side of my work allows me to bring AI into commercial spaces in a way that is thoughtful, strategic, and creatively ambitious, while still staying grounded in story and emotional impact.
What I’m most proud of is building a body of work that feels both experimental and meaningful. One project I’m especially proud of is White Out, a short film that explores the definition of dystopian through a striking visual and conceptual lens. It is currently being shown at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus through the Lynn University Art Museum, and was recently featured at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. I’m also very proud of Beyond Darkness, one of the early AI films, which has been shown in international festivals and was first screened at the Jax Fuse Film Festival in 2024 at The Link in Nocatee.
Another project very close to my heart is Strange Place, a 175-page fully illustrated book that expands my interest in worldbuilding, visual storytelling, and immersive narrative. The Strange Place VR experience was produced while I was attending the Loop Art Critique residency founded by Ariel Baron-Robbins in Miami, in collaboration with Casandra R. Herzberg. That project was important to me because it pushed my work beyond the page and into a more dimensional, experiential form.
What sets me apart is that I bring together classical art training, years of experience in design and creative strategy, and a deep hands-on understanding of AI-driven image and film creation. My process is not about pressing a button and generating something instant. It’s about building an idea from the inside out, concept, story, mood, composition, movement, meaning, and refinement. I think that combination of artistic foundation, strategic thinking, commercial application, and willingness to explore new creative territory is what makes my work distinctive.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can work with me through commissioned projects, commercial engagements, speaking opportunities, exhibitions, and selected creative partnerships. Through Cosmic Cats and Flying Cupcakes, my AI-native studio, I create AI-driven films, visual storytelling, branded content, immersive concepts, and creative direction for clients who want original, high-quality work with a strong artistic point of view.
I’m especially interested in working with brands, organizations, publishers, curators, and creative teams who value thoughtful storytelling, visual innovation, and a professional creative process. While I’m open to the right partnership, I’m most focused on opportunities that are clear in vision, serious in intent, and supported in a meaningful way.
People can also support my work by hiring me for projects, commissioning original work, inviting me to speak, curating my work into exhibitions or screenings, and sharing my films, books, and visual projects with audiences who connect with this kind of work. My films can also be supported by visiting Cosmic Cats and Flying Cupcakes on Rad TV at https://rad.live/content/channel/cosmic-cats-and-flying-cupcakes-aka-tery-spataro-VPCXn3/, and my books are available through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tery-Spataro/author/B01L2P7U2C. Referrals, introductions, and professional opportunities are always deeply appreciated.
At this stage in my career, I’m focused on building sustainable, meaningful work with people who truly value the creative process and the artistry behind it.
Let’s connect https://linktr.ee/teryspataro
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.teryspataro.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teryspataro
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terys/
- Twitter: https://x.com/tery
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/teryspataro
- Other: https://linktr.ee/teryspataro
Image Credits
Tery Spataro
