ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI Video Production
From Concept to Commercial in Hours
Discover how AE Studio helped an early-stage stealth startup transform a fragmented, multi-tool video ad workflow into a single AI-powered platform, making professional TV advertising accessible to small businesses in hours instead of days.
The first commercial I made in September 2023 was about 15 hours of work. Last weekend, I did one end-to-end in 40 minutes — we hit our 50-commercials-a-week goal with 10 days to spare.
Michael, Vica
THE CHALLENGE
The problem.
Television advertising has historically been out of reach for small businesses. The cost of producing a professional commercial, traditionally ranging from $10,000 and up, puts broadcast advertising firmly in the territory of large brands with dedicated marketing budgets. Local businesses, from flower shops to auto mechanics to clothing boutiques, are left competing for attention without access to the same creative tools.
The local advertising market in the United States is valued at $162 billion, but only 4.2% of that spend goes to video. The barriers are not a lack of interest from small businesses; they are a lack of affordable production options and the complexity of placing media effectively. Generative AI is beginning to change what is possible, but the tools exist in isolation.
The client, an early-stage stealth startup, had already built a working process that used AI to generate video ads for local businesses at a fraction of traditional costs. The problem was the workflow itself. It relied on a combination of disparate tools: manual scripts, Google Drive folders, spreadsheets, and consumer AI products accessed through their UIs rather than APIs. Designers and prompt engineers stitched the process together by hand.
Producing a single video ad took approximately 4.5 hours of combined effort. The process worked but it did not scale. Every new client added proportional manual work. Quality control was inconsistent. There was no central system of record, no standardized outputs, and no path to a self-service model that could operate without constant internal involvement.
The client needed to unify their workflow into a platform that could grow with their business, reduce production time, maintain creative quality, and eventually support a self-service model where local businesses could initiate the process themselves.
THE SOLUTION
What we built.
Auditing the Existing Workflow
Before building anything, AE Studio mapped the client's existing video ad creation process end to end. This meant interviewing designers and prompt engineers, identifying every tool in the stack, and tracing where handoffs happened and where time was lost.
The audit revealed that the bottlenecks were not in any single tool but in the gaps between them. Research outputs had to be manually formatted before they could feed into the storytelling step. Scripts had to be copy-pasted into voice synthesis tools. Image prompts required expert knowledge to construct from scratch for each new client.
With a clear picture of where manual effort was concentrated, the team could prioritize which integrations would unlock the most time savings and quality improvements.
Automated Brand Research and Data Gathering
The first step in creating a video ad for a local business is understanding that business: its brand, its customers, its competitive landscape, and what makes it worth advertising. This research had been done manually, requiring staff to visit websites, read reviews, and synthesize findings into a usable format.
AE Studio replaced this with an automated brand research engine. Using Perplexity and Tavily for AI-powered web research alongside direct API integrations with Instagram and Yelp, the system gathers structured data about any SMB client automatically. The output is standardized for downstream processing and stored in a centralized database, so every subsequent step in the workflow has consistent, reliable inputs.
What previously required manual research time is now initiated by entering a business name and URL.
AI-Powered Storytelling and Script Generation
With structured brand data in hand, the platform generates advertising narratives automatically. The storytelling module uses improved prompt engineering practices, including prompt templating, versioning, and easy modification, to produce scripts that are tonally appropriate, aligned with the brand, and compatible with voice synthesis requirements.
Rather than replacing human creative judgment, the system generates multiple narrative directions that the internal team can review, select from, and edit. The output is structured for direct handoff to the voiceover step without reformatting or manual intervention.
Streamlined Voiceover Creation with Eleven Labs
Voice synthesis had previously required manual interaction with third-party tools outside the core workflow. AE Studio integrated the Eleven Labs API directly into the platform, allowing approved scripts to move automatically into voiceover production.
The integration supports multiple voice options and includes automated quality control to ensure outputs are consistent with video length and pacing requirements. If a generated voiceover does not meet length or timing standards, the system flags it for review before it proceeds to the next stage rather than passing a flawed asset downstream.
Optimized Prompt Generation for Visual Assets
Generating effective image and video prompts requires domain expertise that not every team member has. The client's designers were producing high-quality results, but the process was manual and not reproducible at scale.
AE Studio built a prompt generation system that automatically selects camera angles, shot types, visual styles, and pacing parameters based on the brand profile and narrative generated in earlier steps. The system was designed in collaboration with the client's design team through SME interviews, encoding their visual expertise into repeatable logic.
The output prompts are structured for compatibility with image and video generation APIs, with pathways built for migration from Midjourney to automated alternatives including Ideogram, ImageGen, and SDXL, as well as direct-to-video generation pipelines that can bypass intermediate image steps entirely.
Unified Platform with End-to-End Workflow Automation
The five components, brand research, storytelling, voiceover, prompt generation, and customer onboarding, are connected through a centralized database and managed through a single interface. Because all intermediate outputs are standardized and stored in one place, the modules pass data to each other without manual intervention.
Role-based access controls separate what clients see from what internal team members can access. Clients interact with onboarding inputs and final outputs. The internal team can review, modify, and re-run intermediate steps at any quality control checkpoint. This structure makes the system auditable and controllable without sacrificing the automation that makes it fast.
The platform replaces the previous combination of Google Drive folders, spreadsheets, manual scripts, and disconnected third-party tools with a single enterprise-grade system designed for scale.
HOW IT WORKS
The details.
Mapping the Workflow Before Building Anything
Before writing a line of code, AE Studio mapped the existing video production process from start to finish. We interviewed designers and prompt engineers, identified every tool in the stack, and traced where handoffs happened and where time was lost. The bottlenecks turned out to be in the gaps between tools, not in the tools themselves. Research outputs had to be manually reformatted before they could feed the next step. Scripts had to be copy-pasted into voice tools. With that picture clear, we knew exactly where automation would have the biggest impact.
Automated Brand Research From a Business Name and URL
The first step in creating a video ad is understanding the business. This had been done manually: visiting websites, reading reviews, synthesising findings. We replaced that with an automated research engine. Enter a business name and URL, and the system gathers structured data about the brand, its customers, and its competitive landscape. The output is standardised and stored centrally so every subsequent step in the workflow has consistent, reliable inputs.
AI-Generated Scripts Ready for Voice Synthesis
With structured brand data available, the platform generates advertising narratives automatically. The storytelling module uses prompt templates that can be versioned and updated easily. It produces scripts that are tonally appropriate, brand-aligned, and structured for direct handoff to the voice step without reformatting. The internal team reviews and selects from multiple generated directions rather than writing from a blank page.
Voiceover Built Into the Same Pipeline
Voice synthesis had previously required manual interaction with a separate tool. We integrated the voice API directly into the platform. Approved scripts move automatically into voiceover production. The integration supports multiple voice options and includes automated checks to ensure outputs match the video's length and pacing requirements. If a generated voiceover does not pass those checks, it is flagged for review before moving forward.
Visual Prompts Generated From the Brand Profile
Creating effective image and video prompts requires expertise that not everyone on the team had. The client's designers were producing strong results manually, but the process was not repeatable at scale. We built a prompt generation system that selects camera angles, shot types, and visual styles automatically based on the brand profile and narrative. The system was designed in collaboration with the design team, encoding their visual expertise into repeatable logic.
Five Steps, One Platform, No Manual Handoffs
Brand research, storytelling, voiceover, prompt generation, and client onboarding are all connected through a centralised database and managed through a single interface. Each step passes its output to the next automatically. Role-based access controls separate what clients see from what the internal team can review and adjust. The platform replaces a combination of shared drives, spreadsheets, manual scripts, and disconnected tools with one system built for scale.
OUTCOMES
What shipped.
~230 minutes removed from the end-to-end ad production workflow
Production time reduced from ~4.5 hours to under 3 hours per video ad
5 previously manual workflow stages unified into a single platform
Automated brand research via Perplexity, Tavily, Instagram, and Yelp APIs
Foundation established for self-service model targeting $162B local ad market
KEY TAKEAWAYS
What we learned.
- Workflow unification unlocks scale. Connecting five separate tools into one platform with standardized outputs eliminated the manual handoffs that made each new client a proportional increase in internal work.
- Auditing before building is essential. Mapping the existing workflow revealed that bottlenecks were in the gaps between tools, not within any single tool, which focused development effort where it would have the most impact.
- Encoding expert judgment into automated systems preserves quality. Collaborating with designers to translate their visual expertise into the prompt generation logic allowed the system to produce results that matched human-crafted prompts without requiring expert involvement every time.
- API integrations replace fragile manual processes. Moving from consumer UI interactions with ChatGPT and Midjourney to enterprise API connections made the workflow reliable, repeatable, and independent of manual tool-switching.
- Building for the self-service future while delivering managed service value now. The platform architecture was designed from the start to support both models, allowing the client to generate immediate value while building toward a more scalable business.
IN SUMMARY
Bottom line.
In summary, professional video advertising has been inaccessible to small businesses for decades, not because local businesses lack the need for it, but because production costs and workflow complexity made it impractical. As a result, generative AI changes the economics, but only if the tools work together as a system rather than as a collection of disconnected experiments.
By consolidating the client's workflow into a unified, automated platform, AE Studio reduced production time by approximately 230 minutes per ad and created the operational foundation for a self-service model that can scale without proportional increases in cost or manual effort. Furthermore, the $162 billion local advertising market, where video currently captures just 4.2% of spend, represents a significant opportunity for a platform that makes broadcast-quality ads accessible to any small business in hours.
FAQ
Frequently asked.
How does the platform make professional TV advertising accessible to small businesses?
What AI tools and APIs power the video ad production workflow?
How does the system maintain creative quality while automating production?
How does role-based access work for clients versus the internal team?
What is the long-term vision for the platform beyond the initial engagement?
LET'S TALK
Bring us the hard problem.
We'll bring the team that ships.