A three-minute music video built across New York without taking the production there
Two artists, one track (3:04) and a story set across New York. U3 built the production worlds, the performances and the full edit — with no international location shoot.
Mahmoud Kayal × Maya Estephan
Arabic · Markets: Palestine
In brief: U3 AI Agency produced "Baddak Ya Habibi", a 3:04 AI-native music video for Mahmoud Kayal and Maya Estephan set across New York production worlds, with two-artist storytelling and lip-synced performance, completed in about two weeks with no international location shoot; released on YouTube.
- Runtime: 3:04 — the film itself; the version on this page runs on into a making-of (Confirmed by U3)
- Artists: 2 — two-artist visual storytelling (Confirmed by U3)
- Location shoot: 0 — New York built as production worlds (Confirmed by U3)
The business problem
A full-length duet needed a New York setting, two performing artists, and wardrobe and location continuity across three minutes — and a conventional international shoot was out of reach.
Why the obvious approach wasn't enough
Sending a production to New York would have cost several times the budget before a frame was cut. A shorter or cheaper clip would not have carried the song.
The U3 idea
Build New York as production worlds — streets, the bridge, the car — lock the two artists' likenesses, direct the performance and lip-sync sequences as a music video, then edit it as one film.
Why it mattered
AI-native production removed the location, travel and crew cost structure entirely, and kept every world consistent with the last.
Production system
- Multiple New York production worlds built and art-directed to the song.
- Two-artist visual storytelling with locked likenesses.
- Performance and lip-sync sequences to the final vocal.
- Wardrobe and location systems held across the video.
- Cover assets and multiple aspect ratios.
- Full edit to 3:04, completed in about two weeks.
What shipped
- "Baddak Ya Habibi" — full music video (3:04)
- Cover assets
- Vertical and wide versions
Craft & finishing
- Editing: Full edit to 3:04 across multiple production worlds.
Proof
- YouTube: ~100K views (Confirmed by U3, as of Sep 2026)
- Across platforms: ~500K — views and listens combined (Confirmed by U3, as of Sep 2026)
- Production: ~2 weeks (Confirmed by U3, as of Sep 2026)
- Cost: ~20% — of a conventional international location-shoot benchmark, for this project (Confirmed by U3, as of Sep 2026)
Sources
Before → After
Before:
- A duet that needed New York, two artists and three minutes of continuity
- A conventional international shoot out of reach
After:
- A 3:04 music video released on YouTube
- Production completed in about two weeks
- Delivered at roughly a fifth of a conventional shoot benchmark
What this proves
U3 can build full-length, multi-character entertainment productions without the cost structure of a conventional international location shoot.
Who this is for: Artists and labels · Independent musicians · Music producers · Entertainment platforms
Part of: AI Film & Entertainment