As we close out the year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what gives storytellers power.
Not budgets. Not technology. Not even access. It’s the discipline to shape a story before anything is filmed, published, or shared.
This month’s edition leans into that idea.
We look at why development is the new power position in filmmaking, and how taking control early is the best way to protect the integrity of true stories and make the most of them.
I am grateful you have chosen to be part of our growing community of people who believe in the power of true stories.
Our momentum is real. And we’re just getting started.
I hope you enjoy the holidays with your loved ones.
1. Feature Article
Fix It in Pre: Why Story Development is the New Power Position in Filmmaking
Fix It in Pre:Why Story Development is the New Power Position in Filmmaking
There’s an old Hollywood adage every filmmaker has heard: “We’ll fix it in post.”
For decades, it was spoken with a kind of swagger—part joke, part promise, part surrender. It captured the idea that filmmaking is messy and unpredictable, and that the magic (or triage) happens later, in dark edit bays with coffee-fueled editors and armies of VFX artists.
But that era is ending.
According to analysis from McKinsey & Company, the phrase that once defined Hollywood problem-solving may be replaced by a different mantra for the AI age:
“We'll Fix it in pre.”
And if you’re a filmmaker, storyteller, studio executive, or someone whose life story might one day be adapted for the screen, this shift represents the single most important change in how films will be made and who will have the power to make them.
MEDIA LENS - From Photo Archives to Films: How Ai is Reshaping Filmmaking
I was almost giddy when I saw the story in Variety about a new documentary film studio planning to use AI to bring archival photos to life.
As a digital archival nerd and documentary filmmaker who is currently using archive materials to bring a true story to life on screen with Steak Guerrillas, this development makes a lot of sense to me.
Call it confirmation bias, but when I read Unfeatured Films’ announcement that they were using artificial intelligence to animate archival photographs and restore old footage, I felt a jolt of affirmation.
Their pitch of “cost-effective AI-driven innovation” that could “restore and resurrect archival footage in ways never before seen” is a signal to me that we are on the right path at STORYSMART®.
It is also a sign that documentary filmmaking, especially the kind rooted deeply in history and personal testimony, is about to enter a new era.
