AI Is Everywhere. But So Are We.
If you’re even mildly online, you’ve probably had some version of this thought in the past year:
Is AI coming for my job? Will Skynet take my job, my dog, and client retainer?
If you’re a filmmaker, maybe it already has. Tools that “cut your edit,” “clean your dialogue,” and “score your soundtrack” are being marketed like they’ll replace your entire team. And we get it, some of them are amazing. And yes, we use them too.
But let’s be clear — there’s a difference between letting AI do your thinking and letting it do your busywork.
Remember the collar Incident?
Just over six years ago, we were shooting a high-end commercial with actor Pete Koch. He looked sharp. The performance? Spot on. The client? Thrilled. Until we wrapped.
Then came the email:
“His collar looks like he stepped out of Staying Alive.”
Cue the record scratch.
We were floored. But we took the hit like pros and committed to fixing it in post. And by “fixing it,” we mean rotoscoping and compositing his collar frame by painful frame in After Effects. The fix took six full days of soul-crushing, creativity-free labor.
Fast-forward to today: with the right AI tools, that same fix would take about six hours.
So yeah, we absolutely use AI in our workflow.
How We Actually Use AI
We use AI for the things that suck, the tedious, pixel-pushing, zero-fun tasks that used to burn hours of our life and budget. The kinds of things no client wants to pay for and no editor wants to do.
Audio cleanup is a great example. Garbage dialogue tracks that used to be scrapped or reshot can now be salvaged in minutes.
Licensing the perfect song often costs more than the shoot itself. AI-generated music is getting scary good, and we use it to create temp tracks that actually work, then replace them when it’s time to lock picture.
Video patching is another game-changer. Cutting out filler words or awkward pauses and stitching interviews seamlessly used to be nearly impossible. Now it takes a few clicks, and it looks like it never happened.
Match cuts, sky replacements, and frame cleanup are now faster than ever, letting us deliver cleaner edits without ballooning timelines or budgets.
Audio transcription speeds up post workflows and makes interviews searchable in seconds.
Removing unwanted objects from a scene, like boom mic dips, exit signs, or rogue water bottles, is no longer a headache.
Auto-captioning and subtitling are not only great for accessibility, they’re faster than ever and easily localized.
Humans Still Make The Best Mistakes
You know what AI can’t do?
It can’t spot a weird light flare that accidentally makes a moment iconic.
It can’t feel a scene falling flat and improvise something better on the fly.
It can’t pull a last-second solution out of thin air when the location floods.
It can’t tell the client a dumb joke that makes them forget their nerves.
And it definitely can’t break the rules, because it never knew them in the first place.
And that’s the real risk of AI. It can make everything look fine. Generic. Acceptable. But the truly great stuff still needs a human brain and a human heart behind it.
The Right Kind of Smarts
We embrace AI in our craft, but only if it’s meaningful. Because for us, AI is a tool that helps us work smarter, not lazier.
It’s not about chasing the latest tech trend. It’s about knowing what to use, when to use it, and when to get the hell out of the way so creativity can breathe.
Because at the end of the day, AI might be fast. But it can’t feel when a shot feels right.
And it sure as heck can’t carry a production case up three flights of stairs.
