Let’s keep it real

Way too many posts are flying around about “generative storytelling.” Sure, AI can crank out scripts, fake a voiceover, and even Frankenstein a shot if you ask it nicely. But you know what it can’t do?

AI could never stand beside sculptor Sean Paul Lorentz, with sparks flying past your lens as you’re thinking “should I be wearing goggles?” For our short film, cinematographer Michal Venera kept it real—and real close.

Nothing is generated. Just an artist and his tools. This is about getting out of the way—letting the moments speak for themselves, and keeping it imperfectly human.

There’s a certain grit and beauty you only get when you’re chasing real people in real spaces. You don’t script Sean’s story—you discover it.

And that’s the kind of work I want to keep doing.

At Swope Films, we specialize in telling stories about people who are actually doing something—building, creating, changing their little corner of the world. It’s not fast food content. It’s handmade. Sometimes messy. Always honest.

Yes, AI is cool. But I’ll take a real human with a blowtorch any day.