How Branch Out Productions Quietly Built a New Studio Workflow
Hollywood talks about AI endlessly, but very few companies have actually used it to deliver finished, released feature films—on time, on budget, and on a major streaming platform.
In 2025, Branch Out Productions did exactly that. In under nine months, Branch Out conceived, wrote, shot, post-produced, and released two feature films for BET+: Holy Hustle and Son of the Preacher.
These were not AI movies. They were real movies, made traditionally—human actors, human crews, shot in Canada, delivered through standard studio pipelines.
The difference wasn’t what was made. It was how fast, how efficiently, and how intelligently it was made.
Let’s Be Clear: These Were Traditional Productions
Before going any further, this matters:
- No AI actors
- No synthetic performances
- No replacement of human crew
- No “prompt-to-movie” shortcuts
Both films were:
- Shot on location in Canada
- Performed by human actors
- Crewed by experienced professionals
- Edited, mixed, and finished using standard post workflows
If anything, the productions looked exactly like what studios expect.
What changed was everything around the production.
AI as an Acceleration Layer — Not a Replacement Layer
Branch Out treated AI the way great producers treat leverage.
AI was used upstream and downstream, not on set replacing people, but in places where Hollywood traditionally burns time, money, and creative energy.
Across both films, AI workflows were used for:
- Concept development and story exploration
- Screenplay drafting, iteration, and analysis
- Shot lists and production planning
- Previsualization and reference imagery
- Art direction assets (including wall and set art)
- Exterior and location visualization
- Original soundtrack creation and music ideation
- Contracts, deal memos, schedules, and production documentation
- Pitch decks, marketing materials, and internal presentations
Tools included ChatGPT, Gemini, Veo, InVideo, HeyGen, Leonardo, Suno, and others—used surgically, not blindly. The result: decisions were made faster, prep was tighter, and creative alignment happened earlier.
That time savings compounded.
Why This Actually Matters to Studios and Streamers
Hollywood is currently facing three overlapping pressures:
- Compressed budgets
- Fewer greenlights
- Less tolerance for development sprawl
The Branch Out workflow directly addresses all three.
By using AI to:
- Reduce development cycles
- Tighten prep before cameras roll
- Eliminate wasteful back-and-forth
- Improve clarity across departments
…production timelines shrink without sacrificing quality or control.
These weren’t experiments. They were released features, delivered to a streamer, with audiences and deliverables.
The Skunkworks Report
Because this wasn’t theoretical, Branch Out documented the entire methodology in a Skunkworks Report prepared for Skydance / Paramount.
The report didn’t pitch AI as magic.
It showed:
- Where AI actually saved time
- Where humans still matter most
- How contracts and deal memos can safely contemplate AI use
- How studios can adopt AI without triggering legal, PR, or guild landmines
In other words: this was designed to be adoptable.
The Quiet Shift Executives Should Notice
This isn’t about replacing Hollywood. It’s about making the parts Hollywood already does work better.
The companies that win the next decade won’t be the ones shouting loudest about AI.
They’ll be the ones who can quietly say:
“We delivered. Faster. Cheaper. Same quality. Less chaos.”
Branch Out Productions didn’t release a white paper.
They released two movies. That’s the difference.
The Takeaway
AI isn’t coming for Hollywood jobs.
But it is coming for inefficient workflows.
And the proof isn’t a demo—it’s already streaming. See the trailers for both films below:
Here’s the title track for Holy Hustle below – take a listen: