Insights · Production
What AI actually changes in commercial production
Not the idea, not the performance, and not the taste. It changes the schedule, the scale and how many versions you get to see.
Every client conversation about AI eventually lands on the same question: can we just generate the commercial? After nearly twenty years of directing, and after building an AI pipeline into real client work, here's the honest answer. AI hasn't replaced the parts of a commercial that make people feel something. It has changed almost everything around them.
What it replaced on a real shoot
This fall we made a :30 videoboard spot for Back Bay Mental Health's partnership with Boston College Athletics, starring former NFL linebacker Ted Johnson. The stadium gave us a short morning window. We shot Ted in natural light, with no lighting package, and he was on camera for well under an hour.
The idea of the spot is that you're not alone. It opens in an empty stadium, and on Ted's line the stands fill with a cheering crowd. Five years ago that meant a game-day shoot, extras, or an expensive visual-effects vendor. This time we built the crowd in our AI pipeline, shot by shot, over the real plates. The rule was simple: the stands were the only thing allowed to change. Ted, the camera and the light stayed exactly as shot.
What it didn't replace
The script, the casting, the performance, the choice to leave the stadium empty for the first half, and the decision about which line the crowd arrives on. Those are the things the audience actually responds to, and none of them came from a prompt. AI makes a hundred plausible frames. Choosing the one that's right, and knowing what to cut, is still the job.
Where it changes the budget
- Fewer shoot days. A second location, a crowd or a set extension no longer means a second day on set.
- More options, earlier. We can test a difficult shot before the shoot, and show three versions of an idea where we used to show one.
- Unusual formats. Stadium LED ribbons are thirty times wider than they are tall. Some generation tools cap out at a cinema-width frame, so part of the craft is knowing which tool can deliver which canvas.
- Visual effects in the shot. Glows, overlays and transitions can be written into the generation itself instead of composited on in post.
The money doesn't disappear. It moves from logistics to direction: less spent on moving trucks and people, more on getting the frame right.
The rules we keep
Real people speak for themselves. We don't generate synthetic testimonials, and we don't put words in anyone's mouth. We start from real footage wherever a person is on screen. And a director signs off on every frame, because the fastest way to make AI look like AI is to stop directing it.
What this means if you're hiring
Ask any production partner three questions. What will you shoot for real? What will you generate, and why? Who decides when it's good enough? A clear answer to all three is a better sign than any demo reel.
See the spot and the rest of the campaign on our work page, or read about our AI video production and video production services.