How to Make a Film in 2027

Category: Marketing & Storytelling

Quick answer: Making a film in 2027 still follows the same stages as always, which are development, pre-production, the shoot, and post-production. The big change is that AI tools now handle much of the producing work, like script breakdowns, schedules, budgets, and call sheets, which frees the team to spend more of its time on the creative work that ends up on screen.

People ask us all the time how a film actually gets made now, especially with so much changing in AI. It's a fair question. If you only read the headlines, you'd think films are being typed into a prompt box.

That isn't how we make them, and it isn't how most good films get made. What has changed is less visible. The coordination behind a shoot, which used to eat up weeks of a producer's time, now happens much faster, and that has real effects on how quickly a film can come together and how much attention goes into the parts people actually see.

Here's how we work, and how we think about making films going into 2027.

Most of filmmaking is coordination, and that's the part that changed

When people picture a film shoot, they picture the camera. But a huge share of the work happens before anyone shows up on set.

Someone has to read the script and tag every scene for the people, props, locations, and wardrobe it needs. Someone has to turn that into a shooting schedule, build a budget line by line, book the crew, send call sheets, and then chase every person until they confirm. For years this lived in spreadsheets, group texts, and late nights, and it's where a lot of productions lose time and make mistakes.

That's the work AI is now good at, and it's where we've changed our own process the most.

Here's how we make a film, step by step

Development. Every project starts with a brief and a conversation about what the film needs to accomplish. From there we write a treatment or script and agree on the look, the story, and the people who'll appear on camera. If you're putting a brief together, our guide on how to write a video brief covers what to include.

Pre-production. This is where the script turns into a plan. We break down every scene, build the schedule and budget, lock locations and crew, plan any animation or visual effects, and decide which versions we'll cut from the footage, like vertical edits for social or a shorter cut for email. Planning those versions before the shoot makes a real difference to how they turn out.

Production. The shoot itself. Depending on the project, that might be a single day with a founder in their office or several days across multiple locations. For our Polaris launch film, the team shot location plates in Prague and filmed the foreground on an Arri Alexa Mini LF, with a physical set piece built in the shape of the brand mark, large enough for our lead to sit inside.

Post-production. Editing, color, sound, music, animation, and compositing. This is also where the different versions get cut and delivered.

For most projects, the whole process takes us three to four weeks from first call to final cut.

We use Abby to run the logistics of every production

One of the main reasons we can move at that pace is a tool called Abby.*

Abby is an AI producer's agent. You give it a script, and it breaks down every scene, drafts the stripboard schedule and the budget, and builds shot lists. Once the plan is set, it sends call sheets to cast and crew by email and text and follows up with everyone until they confirm. It also keeps track of payments, payroll, cashflow, and insurance in the same place, and for independent productions it can find financing leads like grants and film incentives.

For our clients, the difference shows up in a few ways. Pre-production moves faster, which is a big part of how we keep projects to a few weeks. Fewer details slip through the cracks, because confirmations get chased automatically instead of depending on someone remembering to send a text. And our team spends more of its time on the creative decisions, like the story, the casting, and how each shot is lit, rather than on paperwork.

The filmmaking itself still needs people

We're excited about what AI can do for production, and we use it every day. But there's a clear line in how we use it.

AI helps us plan, organize, and keep a shoot on track. The parts that end up on screen, like a founder speaking honestly about why they started their company, a product working in a real environment, or the way light falls across a set, still come from people with cameras making a lot of small judgment calls. That's also what audiences respond to. As more AI-generated video fills people's feeds, a film made by real people in a real place tends to stand out more, not less.

So when we talk about making films in 2027, we mean using AI to handle the logistics so that more of everyone's time and attention goes into the craft.

What this means if you're planning a film for 2027

Start with a clear goal. Know what you want viewers to do or believe after watching, and put it in your brief.

Plan your versions early. If you'll want vertical cuts, a short email version, or a silent loop for your homepage, say so before the shoot.

Give yourself enough time. Our process runs three to four weeks, and your team will need time to review cuts on top of that.

Lock your people early. If a founder, customer, or executive needs to be on camera, get a date on their calendar as soon as you can.

If you're still deciding what kind of film you need, our guide on choosing between a launch film, an explainer, and a product demo walks through it.

What our films have done for clients

Speakology AI sent their brand film to investors during their raise, and their investor reply rate went up 86 percent and the round closed 120 percent above their original ask. Fuse AI used their launch film in investor outreach during a $3 million seed round. Flowy AI's launch brought in more than 350,000 organic views and over 45,000 signups with no ad spend, and our launch film for Polaris reached 2.4 million views across YouTube and X.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to make a brand film? For most projects, we go from first call to final cut in three to four weeks. Larger productions with multiple locations or heavy animation can take longer.

What happens in pre-production? Pre-production is when the script becomes a plan. It includes the script breakdown, the shooting schedule, the budget, booking crew and locations, and sending call sheets.

What is an AI producer's agent? It's software that handles the logistics of a film production, like breaking down a script, building a schedule and budget, sending call sheets, and following up for confirmations. Abby is the one we use.

Is AI replacing film crews? Not in our work. AI handles the planning and coordination, and people still do the filming, directing, and editing that end up on screen.

What software do production companies use to plan a shoot? Studios use a mix of tools for scheduling, budgeting, and call sheets. We use Abby because it handles all of them in one place.

Planning a film?

Horizon Studios makes brand and launch films for AI, SaaS, and deeptech companies, with teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles. If you're planning a film for early 2027, we'd love to hear what you're working on. Get in touch.

*Abby was created by Horizon Studios founder William Julien.

Horizon Studios is a brand film and cinematic video studio for technology companies, based in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Recent work includes Polaris, Speakology AI, Flowy AI, and Fuse AI. See the full portfolio at horizonstudios.us/projects.