How to Pitch Advertising Videos: From Script to Shots with AI
By Drawstory team
Jun 9, 2025
In the world of video advertising, speed matters. Concepts get dropped or approved in days. Budgets shift fast. And before you can film, you need to sell the idea visually - often to a room of skeptical clients.
Traditionally, this meant putting together a pitch deck or storyboard by hand: writing a script, briefing a designer, waiting a few days, going back and forth on visuals, and then hoping the end result still feels fresh.
But today, AI is changing that - fast.
In this post, we’ll explore how creative directors and ad filmmakers are using AI to create video ads, streamline their flow from script to shots, and pitch their ideas visually with tools like AI movie pitch. All insights come from a recent conversation with Emanuele Riccetti, an experienced AI video creator and consultant based in Madrid, who works at the intersection of storytelling, visual design, and automation.
The Pressure to Pitch Fast and Visually
Emanuele has over five years of experience working with AI tools for creative storytelling. Today, most of his client work is in advertising video creation, where a major part of the process is pitching ideas visually before they’re made.
His typical project starts like this:
A brand needs a video ad or explainer.
He writes a script (often with the help of ChatGPT).
Then, almost immediately, he’s expected to show visual directions - not just words.
Clients rarely read full scripts. They want to see it. They want to react to frames, aesthetics, and tone.
That’s where the pitch happens - and where delays can kill ideas.
“Sometimes you write a script in a day, but then it takes a week to create visuals to support it. By that time, the client might already be moving in a different direction,” Emanuele told us.
This is where AI-powered storyboarding comes into play.
The New Flow to Create AI Video Ads
So what does the modern flow look like for creators using AI?
Here’s the step-by-step Emanuele uses to go from idea to pitch in a matter of hours:
1. Script Drafting (with AI support)
He starts by writing a script, sometimes using ChatGPT to speed up first drafts. The goal isn’t perfection - it’s to get a solid concept down quickly.
2. Script Validation with Client
Before creating visuals, he shares the draft to get buy-in. This ensures the team is aligned before investing effort into frames.
3. Script to Shots with AI
Using tools like MidJourney, Runway, and others, he turns lines of the script into AI generated cinematic shots. This is the “script to shots” stage - the backbone of a storyboard or pitch deck.
4. Visual Iteration
He tweaks scenes, characters, and compositions based on client feedback. If something’s off - a setting, tone, or face - he regenerates specific shots rather than redrawing the whole thing.
5. Build the Pitch Deck or Preview Video
With AI-generated images in hand, he assembles a visual storyboard or even a rough animation to help clients feel the final product.
In short, he’s compressing a week’s worth of manual work into a single day.
Why Storyboard AI Matters in Advertising
AI is not replacing creative vision. But it amplifies speed - and in advertising, that’s a huge advantage.
Here’s why it’s changing the way people pitch video ads:
Faster Buy-In
Clients don’t want to imagine the ad. They want to see it. With storyboard AI, you can show them something tangible right away - even if it's still evolving.
Save on Early Design Costs
Instead of hiring a storyboard artist or motion designer in the early stages, creators use AI tools to sketch ideas, then refine them later with real humans if needed.
Iterate More Before Production
By moving fast in pre-production, teams have more freedom to explore creative directions without blowing the timeline.
Tools and Tactics Emanuele Uses
Here are a few of the tools and strategies Emanuele uses daily in his AI video ad creation flow:
ChatGPT – For script generation, especially in early drafts.
MidJourney – For creating high-quality AI-generated frames and visual explorations.
Runway, Pika, Kling – For rough animations or “moving storyboards.”
HeyGen – For character animation and voiceover, if needed.
Manual Prompting – He often crafts and refines prompts by hand, especially for stylistic consistency.
He also participates in a small Discord group of top AI creators, where they share techniques and push each other’s boundaries.
“Right now, I’m still doing most of the prompting and visual building manually. But what I need next is a tool that automates more of it - one that goes from script to shots almost instantly.”
That’s where new platforms like DrawStory come into play.
What Creators Need Next
From Emanuele’s perspective, here’s what’s missing in the current AI ecosystem for ad video creators:
A fast script to shots tool
Not every filmmaker wants to spend hours refining prompts. A tool that turns script blocks into relevant visual scenes — in bulk - would be a game-changer.Easy storyboard editor
The ability to swap characters, remove logos, or change product packaging in generated images without starting over.Non-detectable AI visuals
Many clients are still cautious about using anything that looks “AI-generated.” Tools must produce clean, credible, and customizable frames that pass as pro.A simple storyboard interface
Instead of bouncing between MidJourney, Google Docs, and Figma, creators want one place to build and pitch visual ideas.
Final Thoughts
In advertising, the pitch is the product — at least at first.
The ability to go from script to shots fast is becoming a must-have for creators, not a nice-to-have.
If you’re a director, agency producer, or video freelancer trying to create video ads with AI, the time to adopt these tools is now. You’ll move faster, pitch better, and open creative space for what really matters: making work that lands.
As AI storyboard generators evolve, we’re heading toward a future where your next ad pitch can be visual, aligned, and client-ready by the end of the day — not the end of the week.
