How to use AI to write a better creative brief
Using AI to prepare a creative brief before hiring a filmmaker or photographer will get you better results, a faster quote, and fewer surprises on shoot day.
A lot of clients in Doha use AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude before meetings and before sending work briefs. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. A thinking tool is a thinking tool, and the best briefs Fabiana Mena receives are often from clients who did their homework before picking up the phone.
The thing is, AI can only help you think through what you already know. It cannot tell you what your business goal is. It cannot tell you where the content will actually live. But it is very good at asking you the right questions until you figure those things out yourself.
Here is how to use it well before coming to fabcreative.studio or to any other creative team.
Start with what the content has to do
Before you start writing a brief, ask yourself the simplest possible question:
What does this content need to achieve?
Why are you creating content?
Why now?
Who is it for?
You can ask an AI tool to help you get there.
Try something like this:
Prompt: "I need to create a brand film for my hotel. Help me figure out what business goal this film should serve. Ask me questions one at a time."
Let it ask you. It will push on things like: who is the audience, what do you want them to feel or do after watching, is this for a new opening or an existing property, is this replacing content you already have or filling a gap.
By the end of that conversation, you will have a sentence that sounds like:
"This film is for international leisure travelers, 35-55, and it has to make the property feel like a destination rather than a stopover. We're using it on the homepage and for paid social."
That sentence is the foundation of a strong brief. It tells Fabiana what the content has to do.
Work out where the content will live
Platform decisions change how content gets made. A 90-second film for a website is structured differently from a 30-second cut for Instagram. A widescreen piece for a lobby screen needs different camera movement than a vertical reel for Stories.
If you are not sure yet, try this:
Prompt: "I'm creating video content for a luxury hotel. Help me think through where it should be distributed. What are the typical platform options and what are the differences between them?"
Then follow up with the specifics of your property and your marketing calendar. You will end up with a short list: three platforms, two formats, one primary audience. That list goes straight into the brief.
Describe the tone without guessing
Tone is the thing most briefs skip because it feels too vague to write down.
Prompt: "I want a brand film for a boutique hotel in Doha. The property is quiet, curated, and draws an international creative crowd. I want the film to feel warm but not casual, elevated but not cold. Help me describe this tone clearly so I can share it with a filmmaker."
A good AI tool will give you three or four ways to phrase it, pull references from the world of film and photography, and help you land on something specific enough to be useful. Bring that language with you. Bring the references too.
Fabiana works with brand guidelines when clients have them. She also works with mood boards, links to films, and a paragraph like the one above. Something is always better than nothing.
Figure out your must-have shots before the conversation
Every shoot has non-negotiable moments. A newly renovated suite or a chef who has to be on screen. If you know what they are before you brief a filmmaker, you protect the shoot day from running out of time before the things that matter most get captured.
Prompt: "I'm briefing a filmmaker for a hotel shoot. Help me build a list of must-have shots by asking me about the property, the renovation highlights, the people I want to feature, and the spaces I can't afford to miss."
Go through it. What comes out is the short list of things the whole shoot has to be organized around.
What AI shouldn't do for you
It shouldn't tell you what your brand actually sounds like. It cannot tell you whether the room is ready to shoot, which vendor relationships are complicated, or what the marketing director will and will not approve.
Those things come from the pre-production conversation with fabcreative.studio. The point of doing the AI work first is to walk into that conversation with a starting point, instead of starting from scratch together.
The clients who send Fabiana a clear brief get a faster, more accurate quote. They also tend to get better content, because the shoot day is spent executing a clear vision rather than building one.
Bring what you have
You do not need a perfect brief to start the conversation, a starting point is more than enough. And if you have worked through the questions above, you have one.
To start a project or ask a question, reach Fabiana at fabcreative.studio.
