Fix It in Pre: Why Story Development Is the New Power Position in Filmmaking
Ron Watermon • December 6, 2025
“We’ll Fix It in Pre…”
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:
“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.
We’re entering a moment where what you do before production may determine everything: cost, quality, speed, risk, investor confidence, and ultimately whether your story breaks through in a crowded, consolidating entertainment landscape.
It’s a moment that validates what we are building with STORYSMART® Films and STORYSMART® Studios. It is the idea that the front end of a project is no longer only creative, it's strategic, financial, and foundational. And that the studios who thrive in the next decade will be the ones that master development discipline, own their IP, and use AI as an accelerator rather than a shortcut.
A New Center of Gravity in Filmmaking
McKinsey & Company’s research
identifies something that industry insiders have felt for years but didn’t have the data to quantify. Half of a film’s total budget now lives in preproduction and postproduction.
That means the two biggest cost centers are the parts the audience never sees.
Historically, budgets ballooned in post because that’s where problems became visible:
- scenes didn’t cut together,
- the story didn’t land,
- reshoots became necessary,
- continuity broke down,
- edits ran long,
- VFX costs exploded,
- and weeks or months of work disappeared into the “salvage bucket.”
But with AI now embedded across previsualization, storyboarding, 3D set design, shot planning, scheduling, VFX previz, and automated rough cuts, the industry is waking up to a simple truth:
The cheapest moment to fix a problem is before it exists.
The smartest moment to invest is before the cameras roll.
The most valuable work in filmmaking now happens early.
This is where the leverage sits. This is where waste disappears. This is where creative clarity becomes competitive advantage. And this is exactly where our true story studio model is being planted by design.
Development is the Highest ROI Stage of Filmmaking
For years, development was treated as a necessary prelude. Important, of course, but not where the money was. Not glamorous. Not urgent. I believe that mindset will bankrupt studios in the AI era. Here’s why.
AI will multiply the value of every decision made in development.
- A tightly structured story? AI-enhanced storyboards and previsualization will amplify its coherence.
- A weak or unfocused story? AI will not save it, but it will expose the gaps faster and more brutally.
- Clear character arcs? AI will help build stunning sequences that reinforce them.
- Messy arcs or half-formed motivations? AI will render your confusion in real time.
In the past, fuzzy development led to expensive fixes later. In today’s AI-infused workflows, fuzzy development leads to chaos immediately.
This is the new power position. This is the new choke point. This is where a smart studio wins, and where an unprepared one collapses.
When a filmmaker can use AI to A/B test shots before shooting, you no longer have the excuse of “we’ll figure it out on set.” Every inefficient choice becomes self-inflicted.
The work you do in development isn’t invisible anymore. It shows up in every pixel of the finished film.
AI Is Shifting the Economics of Filmmaking
McKinsey & Company
forecasts that AI will lead to 80–90% efficiency gains in VFX and 3D asset creation. That number should make every studio CFO lightheaded.
But efficiency doesn’t automatically mean lower costs. Hollywood has already learned this lesson: when VFX got cheaper, movies didn’t get cheaper, they just looked better. What this shift does mean is that capital allocation inside a film’s budget will change. Money will move from back-end correction to front-end design, borrowing best practices from the tech start-up ecosystem.
What this will look like practically is that:
- Less money burned on reshoots
- Less money wasted on unused VFX
- Fewer overstaffed production days
- More money spent on story architecture
- More invested in development
- More resources directed at rights acquisition, archive licensing, and IP protection
- More intentionality in marketing and distribution planning
The studios that fail will be those that cling to the old model: underdeveloped scripts, rushed prep, and hope-as-a-strategy.
The studios that succeed will be the ones that treat development not as a cost but as capital investment—one that multiplies the value of everything that follows.
For us, this shift isn’t just theoretical. It’s baked into the DNA of how we will build our slate. We will front-load development because it’s where the creative advantage is. Front-loaded development is the financial advantage too.
IP Ownership Becomes the Most Valuable Asset
AI introduces a new competitive layer that didn’t exist before: the need for IP-protected training models. McKinsey highlights Adobe’s “commercial safe” models—AI systems trained only on materials the creator or studio has full rights to.
Here’s what that means in practice, if you want to use AI to generate AI-enhanced pre-visualization, historical reenactments, stylized sequences, motion elements from still photographs, character expressions, backgrounds or any other proprietary creative, then the safest and most powerful way to do that is by training AI on assets you own.
This changes the stakes and your focus. It makes developing your own copyright protected storytelling source material critically important. Having an IP bullet-proof digital archive will be vital to success in the space of true storytelling.
Suddenly:
- Home movies aren’t sentimental—they’re training data.
- Family photos aren’t just keepsakes—they’re intellectual property.
- Memoirs aren’t private—they’re story engines.
- Oral histories aren’t anecdotal—they’re IP foundations.
- Archive collections aren’t clutter—they’re competitive advantage.
This is why STORYSMART urges public figures, families, athletes, founders, and others we work with to build digital archives and protect their IP on the front end. AI doesn’t diminish the value of these materials. It radically increases it.
In a world where AI can recreate the past, the people who own the past hold the power.
An Opportunity for Independent Filmmakers
Today’s media headlines tell us everything we need to know: consolidation is accelerating, legacy studios are merging or being acquired, and risk tolerance is dropping across the board.
This leaves three consequences:
- Fewer greenlights for unconventional stories.
- Fewer buyers for mid-budget films.
- Fewer opportunities for emerging or diverse voices.
But AI flips this dynamic.
A small, rights-disciplined, development-driven studio like ours can now compete visually with studios 10x our size, prepare more thoroughly and cheaply, deliver cleaner budgets, eliminate waste, create sophisticated marketing assets in-house, and distribute through flexible, audience-driven channels.
With a great story, a smart development framework, and the right implementation of AI, a small studio can now punch far above its weight.
This is what we are building STORYSMART for, not to chase studio scraps, but to redefine how true stories become powerful, commercially viable films.
AI Can’t Replace Human Creative Judgment
For anyone who fears that AI will automate creativity out of filmmaking, let me offer this reassurance: Great stories and great storytelling will always matter.
AI can generate images, but it can’t generate integrity. Sure, it can simulate motion, but it can’t simulate meaning. Yes, it can accelerate decisions, but it can’t make the right ones for you.
The creative vision, the ethical line, the narrative precision, the commitment to truth all remain human responsibilities. The filmmakers who thrive will be those who hold the line on story clarity while using AI responsibly to elevate their craft.
A Practical Playbook for True Storytelling
Here is the emerging blueprint for success in the AI era:
1. Start with Story Source Material
Gather archives, photographs, journals, recordings, manuscripts, letters, and testimonies. These are not “nice to have”—they’re the core of your IP advantage.
2. Build Chain of Title Early
Rights disputes kill films. Resolve them before you write a script or approach investors.
3. Use a Development-First Framework
Structure your story deeply before you visualize it. Clarity is the cheapest and most scalable asset you can create.
4. Use Proprietary, IP-Safe AI Workflows
Do not feed your materials into open models. Protect your story from unwanted training and misuse.
5. Create Investor-Ready Story Packages
AI allows you to create mood boards, sample sequences, and previs early. Use this to attract investment on solid ground.
6. Think Like a Studio, Act Like a Startup
Be lean, decisive, and development driven. The big players are too slow to seize many of the opportunities AI is unlocking.
This is the heart of the STORYSMART model: helping people own, shape, and develop their stories into assets—before anyone talks about production.
The Future Belongs to Those Who Prepare
AI is not reinventing filmmaking. It’s reinventing where profitable filmmaking happens.
The center of power has moved to the front of the process, into the place where our framework thrives: development, rights stewardship, ethical clarity, and disciplined story design.
The future will not be defined by who has the most expensive toys or the biggest crews. It will be defined by:
- who owns the story,
- who understands the story,
- who structures the story,
- and who prepares with enough clarity to let AI amplify that work.
Fix it in pre isn’t just a new production philosophy. It’s a new economic model. It is the new creative paradigm, the new competitive advantage. And for those of us building a new studio model, it is a once in a generation opportunity.
The tools have changed. The process has changed. Now the question is are we prepared to lead in the era where story development is the power position?
At STORYSMART®, we are. And we’re inviting the next generation of storytellers, families, public figures, and creators to join us.
About the Author
Ron Watermon is a filmmaker, author, and founder of STORYSMART®, a story development film studio that helps individuals preserve, protect, and profit from their true stories.
He is currently directing Steak Guerrillas: The Dr. Arturo M. Taca Story, a documentary exploring courage, truth, and the cost of resistance. Learn more at storysmart.net, ronwatermon.com and steakguerillas.com
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