The tools for storytelling have never been so accessible as they are now with AI. But it’s not the first time this has happened. In the 1990s, cheap cameras and desktop editing opened the door the same way. What I learned then still holds: the tools got easier, but finding the story did not.
My friends told me to play it safe
In the late 90s I was living in Bondi, filming as a hobby with my first Sony camera after backpacking through Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. I was running a recruitment agency at the time, and film was the thing I did on the side. A film theory class, pulling apart Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, taught me how much of what we feel watching a screen is built on purpose. That idea never left me.
Then I got sick, badly, and it changed how I saw everything. I sold the agency, taught myself to edit on Premiere 1.0, and followed my heart instead of the advice I was getting.
My heart told me to jump
That jump led to Pam Ann. I talked my way into making her comedy sketches and promo videos, and one pitch video won a sponsorship from travel.com.au on the spot. From there I toured with her across America, filming in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and New York. Then I went to Amsterdam to study interactive multimedia, and eventually came home to Sydney.
Now I use everything I learned along the way to help not for profits and small businesses tell their stories.
What does the 90s have to do with AI?
Every time the tools change, people split into two groups: the ones who wait until it feels safe, and the ones who pick the tools up and start. In the 90s, it was cameras and desktop editing. Now it’s AI. The tools do more of the technical work every year, but they can’t tell you what your story is, who it’s for, or which moment is the one worth keeping. That part is still human.
So if the new tools have you nervous, pick them up anyway. Just remember what they can’t do for you. Go and find the story.
Chapters
- 0:00 The Tools Have Never Been So Accessible
- 0:14 Bondi in the 90s and My First Camera
- 1:09 Learning Screen Psychology
- 2:27 The Recruitment Years
- 2:45 A Life Changing Wake Up Call
- 3:18 Meeting Pam Ann
- 4:49 The Pitch That Won travel.com.au
- 7:13 On Tour in America
- 8:48 Studying Multimedia in Amsterdam
- 9:21 Back to Sydney: Stories With Purpose
- 10:19 AI and What Hasn’t Changed
Common questions
Will AI replace storytellers?
AI makes the production side faster and cheaper, the same way desktop editing did in the 90s. It doesn’t find the true moment in someone’s story or decide what matters to an audience. That judgement is what people will keep paying for.
Is it too late to start with the new tools?
No. The people who did well in the 90s weren’t the ones who knew everything first. They were the ones who started. When did you first pick up a camera, or take a leap on something? Tell me in the comments on YouTube.
Want help getting the real story on camera?
I’m Phil Mace, a Sydney video producer. I help small businesses and not for profits find the story that’s actually worth telling, then capture it on video. If you’ve got a shoot coming up and you’re not sure where to start, send me a quick message or put your question in the comments on YouTube. The good questions become the next video.
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