Belief Studio Launches "Here's to You, My Son" AI Film on Modern Masculinity

May. 12, 2026

Belief Studio has launched ‘Here’s To You, My Son’, a stark and emotionally charged AI-produced film that shows parents from across the UK answering a question many are avoiding: what does it actually mean to be a good man? 

In a cultural moment where masculinity is increasingly shaped by algorithm-fuelled extremes, the project offers something different: clarity, honesty, and presence.

Built using AI as a production tool, but driven by human truth, the film sees parents and grandparents speaking directly to young boys. Each voice is personal, but together, they form a single, unbroken piece of prose, an alternative definition of masculinity at a time when the loudest voices are often the worst.

The cultural gap, and who’s filling It

Scroll any feed and it’s obvious: young men are looking for direction - this is timeless. What’s less timeless, and far less comfortable, is where they’re finding it.

Across social platforms, young boys are being served simple, certain answers to complex questions about identity, success, and manhood. The loudest voices are often the most reductive, offering binary rules, performative strength, and transactional definitions of worth.

Social media algorithms rapidly amplify toxic masculinity and misogynistic content, feeding it to teen boys at a high frequency. Studies show that within minutes of creating accounts appearing as teenage boys, platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts begin recommending large volumes of toxic content such as misogyny, extremism, and male supremacist ideologies.

In a Dublin City University study, after only 2 minutes of browsing as a “teenage boy,” algorithms began to feed toxic masculinity and misogynistic videos. After 2 hours and 32 minutes, up to 76% of recommended content on TikTok and 78% on YouTube Shorts was classified as toxic content. Most of this content was suggested rather than actively searched for, indicating that algorithmic design itself accelerates exposure and, by extension, sharing.

Boys are being subjected to a wave of reductive, performative masculinity that's easy to consume, and hard to unlearn.

At the same time, many good men; fathers, mentors, and role models, are quieter, more hesitant, more aware of nuance, and as a result, often silent.

That silence is leaving space, and something else is rushing in to fill it.

‘Here’s To You, My Son’ - Belief Studio’s response, exists to challenge that dynamic, 

Many Voices, One Truth

The project aims to represent a broad range of people,  all from different backgrounds, and living different lives, each speaking to a young boy in their life. Their words are individual, but carefully woven together into one continuous, collective piece of prose.

The result is something that feels both intimate and universal, a quiet counterpoint to the noise, that speaks in plain English:

“Being a man isn’t a show.
It’s a service no one claps for.
It’s the apology no one asked for.”

And later:

“When you cross it [the line], because you will,
you don’t hide.
You hold your hands up.
You say: that one’s mine. That one’s on me.”

It is a definition of masculinity built not on status, but on responsibility. Not on performance, but on character.

Why we need this now

Elliott Starr, Founder and Creative Partner of Belief Studio and creator of the project, explained:

“If good men don’t define masculinity, someone else will, and right now, they are - loudly, clearly, and often, dangerously. The hard part to say out loud is that they’re effective. Not because they’re right, but because they’re simple, which the algorithms like, and young boys can understand, and find certainty in. Meanwhile, a lot of good men are second-guessing themselves into silence. Silence is a terrible strategy when the other side is shouting. Boys don’t need perfect answers, we all know those don’t exist. They need present ones, clear ones, and honest and moral ones.”

 

AI as a tool, not the idea

While the film is AI-produced, Belief Studio is clear about where the real value lies. The words are human, as is the creative intent, judgement, and pre and post production. AI simply allowed the team to bring the idea to life as a unified piece. 

Starr added:

“Hitting ‘generate’ is the least interesting and valuable part of this. It’s what comes before and after that matters. Same as it ever was, no different to a camera. My hope is that it goes without saying; I wish I had the budget to have shot this, but I didn't, so, I didn't. We could have pulled favours, But, it’s a film that intentionally pinballs all over the UK. There are 13 locations and 27 cast members. That’s a very expensive passion project. If I’d insisted we could only do it if we shot it, it wouldn’t exist, and wouldn’t have any chance of pushing back against the cultural poison that is the Manosphere. There was also the challenge. I wanted to see if an AI film could genuinely make me feel something, maybe even make me cry? If I invested enough of my own time, and brain power, in the visual writing for this film - painting each scene and character with words, could I get a performance from the AI that I hadn't seen anywhere else?”

 

A film built like a conversation

The film’s structure is deliberate. Each parent speaks in fragments. Alone, the scenes feel like dropping in on a private conversation. Together, they build into something bigger - a collective voice where few currently exist.

The final titles land with quiet force:

Here’s to you, my son.
Here’s to the man you won’t become.

A call to speak, before someone else does

At its core, ‘Here’s To You, My Son’ is a provocation to parents, mentors, and anyone shaping the next generation. 

Because the conversation about what it means to be a man is happening, whether we show up for it or not. Belief Studio is simply asking more people to show up.

Starr said:

“If this resonates and you’ve got a young person in your life, it might be worth having the conversation, before someone else does.”

The work is a non-commercial project set to the song ‘We Move Lightly’ by Dustin O'Halloran.