Taking a Traditional Commercial into the World of AI
At Akki Productions, we have been creating films and commercials for over 35 years. Today, AI has opened up an entirely new way for us to bring those stories to life.
Our recent Ramadan commercial for Terra was a great example of this transition. The commercial itself was a relatively simple story to shoot traditionally — a family, a home, everyday moments, food, friendship and the warmth of Ramadan.
The challenge was not the story. The challenge was: Could we achieve the same creative vision through AI?
From Brief to Visualisation
The first step was the same as it would be on any traditional production — understanding the script and visualising the film.
We developed our characters, explored multiple character options and carefully selected the final look for our protagonist, Aisha. We then established the complete family around her so that every character had a defined visual identity.
The same approach went into the locations and environments.
Rather than randomly generating individual shots, we first established what the world of the film should look and feel like.
Every Shot Still Needs a Director
This is where our filmmaking experience became particularly important.
The client had a specific story to tell. That meant every shot needed to serve a purpose.
We created storyboards to determine the composition, camera angles and visual flow before moving into generation. A close-up needed to feel like a close-up. A character’s reaction needed to convey the right emotion. A product shot needed to present the product correctly. And one shot needed to connect naturally with the next.
AI could generate the visuals — but the creative decisions still had to come from us. That human direction is what helped transform individual AI-generated visuals into a cohesive commercial.
The Real Challenge
In early 2026, AI video was still a relatively new space. Creating a video was possible. Creating the exact video you had visualised was much harder.
Getting the right character. The right expression. The right composition. The right movement. The right camera perspective. And then making all of those elements work together consistently throughout a film required considerable creative iteration. For us, this wasn’t about accepting the first result that looked good.
It was about asking: “Is this the shot the film needs?”
If the answer was no, we went back and created it again.
A New Way to Produce
This project reinforced something we strongly believe at Akki Productions:
AI doesn’t change the fundamentals of filmmaking. It changes the way we can execute them.
The same creative thinking that goes into a traditional commercial — scripting, visualisation, casting, production design, cinematography, direction and editing — still matters.
The difference is that AI gives us a new production canvas. And that canvas can make ambitious visual storytelling possible at a fraction of the cost and production requirements of a traditional shoot.
Watch the AI Commercial below…