Using AI to Tell a (Short) Story that Gets You Noticed
🌟Career Coaching: Bio Writing Tips & AI Tools to Create a Powerful Narrative for Your Career in the Entertainment Industry.
LinkedIn recently prodded me to use their AI feature to edit the “About” section of my profile. Curiousity rules, so I decided to give it a whirl. While I pride myself on being able to write well, I was surprised to find how helpful it was to let a robot overlord loose on the story of my career. Whether it is AI’s lack of emotional baggage or its stellar ability to summarize content, the bot definitely gave me a welcome ego boost.
The process also made me realize how ubiquitous our bios have become. Whether it’s a social profile, pitch deck, grant application, business website, alumni directory or dozens of other career requirements and branding opportunities, our bios are out there in the world. They’re the stories we tell about our professional journey, and we want them to be bestsellers.
Are your bios working for you? Do they need an update, polish or major rewrite? Let’s look at how to make sure they are as powerful as possible, and how to use AI to refine your story (and perhaps give you a well-deserved pat on the back).
What Makes a Bio Stand Out?
A compelling bio is concise, tailored to the audience, authentic and memorable. It includes vivid verbs (performed, directed, composed, etc.) and metrics when possible (sold out 225 performances, garnered laurels at 36 festivals, reached 1+ million views). A good bio also shows some personality.
A compelling bio is not a long recitation of titles, which is standard fare in the theater. Those Playbill-style bios are not designed to tell a story; they’re a credit list with as much character as a blank wall. Strong bios avoid cliches and generic phrases (passionate, dedicated, hardworking), and they don’t exaggerate (the most loved show ever!).
Now let's see how these principles apply in real-world scenarios, and how AI can be a valuable tool in refining your bio.
Case Studies
These case studies focus on three distinct professional stages—early career, mid-career and veteran. Each case study includes an original (human-authored) bio, an AI-generated version and an analysis of the results. For cases 1 and 2, the names and details have been altered to ensure anonymity
Case #1. Early Career
Original Bio:
Ben Hur is a dean's list film major at ABC University. He is a fast learner and hard worker with a keen eye for detail and strong command of camera and editing techniques. He has a passion for the art of visual storytelling and has worked as a production assistant on three films that took awards in student film competitions.
This bio is super vague and lightweight, even for someone looking for an entry-level gig. To improve it, I turned to Google’s Gemini and prompted it as follows: “read the following resume and write a bio not to exceed 100 words to be used on a personal website. [Insert Resume].”
AI-Generated Bio:
Ben Hur, a Dean's List film student at ABC University, brings a blend of academic excellence and practical experience to the world of filmmaking. With a 3.8 GPA and proficiency in professional cameras and editing software, he is currently focusing on cinematography and editing. He has worked on several award-winning student films that landed on top in the Los Angeles 24-Hour Film Race. His hands-on experience includes work as production assistant and camera assistant. Currently completing a short film, Ben is eager to contribute his skills and enthusiasm to the film industry.
The AI bio is much stronger owing to the inclusion of specific, meaty details such as “3.8 GPA” and “Los Angeles 24-Hour Film Race”. The final line seems cliche to me, so I would change it to something with more personality. For example: “Currently completing a short horror film he shot with a Canon EOS Rebel, Ben spends his free time sampling goods from every taco truck in L.A.”
Case #2. Mid-Career
Original Bio:
Summer Rain has over 10 years experience creating documentaries, shorts, corporate training and industrial videos. She is a full-spectrum filmmaker with expertise in writing, producing, directing, cinematography and editing. Fluent in Spanish, Summer is a world traveler who excels at working fluidly in culturally diverse environments.
This bio is fairly solid, so I was curious to see whether AI could do better. This time, I fed the resume for Summer Rain into Microsoft’s Copilot along with this prompt: “Read the following resume and create a bio focused on skills not to exceed 100 words for posting on entertainment industry websites such as IMDb.”
AI-Generated Bio:
Summer Rain is a versatile filmmaker with over a decade of experience in creating documentaries, shorts and corporate videos. Skilled in Adobe Creative Cloud Suite (Premiere Pro, Audition, After Effects, Photoshop, Lightroom), conducting on-screen interviews and creating budgets with Movie Magic, Summer works across the entire filmmaking process. At ABC Production Company, Summer oversees music licensing, clearance and copyright matters. As an artist-in-residence at the ABC Center for Human Rights, Summer brings stories to life as a cinematographer and editor. Fluent in Spanish and trained in first aid and CPR, Summer is a world traveler adept at working in culturally diverse environments.
Boom! The AI bio is significantly stronger owing to the inclusion of concrete details regarding Summer’s skills. It positions her as someone who is solidly mid-career by making it clear she can work for a boss and with collaborators, and she is also able to lead a department.
I also asked Copilot to write a 50-word version of Summer’s bio with the following results:
Filmmaker Summer Rain excels in Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, conducting on-screen interviews and creating budgets. As a Video Creator at ABC Production Company and ABC Center for Human Rights, Summer creates compelling content, showcases global perspectives and enriches projects with diverse cultural insights.
The Copilot bot is less successful here, because Summer runs the clearance and music licensing arm of ABC Production Company; she is not a Video Creator there. This is a great reminder to use AI as a tool, not a replacement for your own creative voice or your common sense. Use it to brainstorm, refine and generally assist you in improving your bio. Make sure it does not inject information that is misleading or false.
Case #3. Veteran
This being my blog, I decided to look to my own career for this third case study of someone who is an industry veteran (usually meaning 25+ years in showbiz). The original bio is from a pitch deck for a movie musical that I am currently working on.
Original Bio:
Julie Crosby is a founding partner of Cromono International. With offices in New York, Paris and Taipei, Cromono has garnered 300+ credits on live theater, music concerts and digital projects. Crosby’s work on Broadway and off, including a decade as the leader of WP Theater, has resulted in an extensive network of writers, creators and producers. Her recent screen credits include Alien Intervention, a sci-fi feature distributed by Vision Films, and the web series Heirloom, which clocked over five million online views before being licensed by Screen Media. She recently wrapped production on Original Sound, a musical feature that she originally produced for off-Broadway's legendary Cherry Lane Theater. She holds a Ph.D. in medieval drama from Columbia University.
Since I haven’t updated my own resume in perhaps ten years, I turned to ChatGPT with the following prompt: “I need to update my bio for a pitch deck intended to raise funds for a new movie. Please read the following bio, find and analyze other career information on the web about me (including my LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliecrosby/) and then update my bio not to exceed 100 words.”
The ChatGPT results were not particularly impressive:
Julie Crosby, Ph.D., is a founding partner of Cromono International, with offices in New York, Paris, and Taipei. With over 25 years in entertainment, her portfolio includes more than 300 credits in live theater, music concerts, digital projects, and films. As former Producing Artistic Director of WP Theater, Crosby cultivated a vast network of writers and producers. Her recent projects feature the sci-fi film "Alien Intervention" (2023) and the web series "Heirloom" (2016), which amassed over five million views. She holds a Ph.D. in medieval drama from Columbia University.
ChatGPT’s addition of dates didn’t really do anything for me–would an investor care? I also found the insertion of the “Ph.D” at the beginning of the bio off-putting — the bio’s purpose isn’t to land me a job lecturing at a university. And finally, the “300 credits” have been collectively garnered by the three partners at Cromono, so it is misleading to attribute them exclusively to me.
So I turned to Google’s Gemini with the same prompt. Here is Gemini’s version:
Julie Crosby, a founding partner of Cromono International, brings 25+ years of diverse production experience across theater, film and digital media. With 300+ credits, her work spans Broadway, Off-Broadway (including a decade leading WP Theater), and successful screen projects such as Alien Intervention and Heirloom. Her expertise encompasses development, financing and production, evidenced by her recent feature, Original Sound. Crosby's extensive network of creators and producers, combined with her Ph.D. from Columbia University, positions her as a seasoned leader in the entertainment industry. She has a proven track record of bringing creative projects to life.
While the “300+ credits” issue continued, that final line – “she has a proven track record of bringing creative projects to life” – really crystalizes what a potential investor wants to know, and for whatever reason, I would not have written it myself. So Gemini gets the gold star.
If you’ve played with any of the AI platforms, you know that wording the prompt correctly is key. It can take a bit of trial and error to get satisfactory results. And depending on where or how you plan to use your bio, you may want to refine the prompt as you go along. For example:
"Refine this bio to highlight key achievements and skills."
"Suggest keywords that are SEO friendly and relevant to the entertainment industry for inclusion in the following bio."
"Analyze the tone of this bio and suggest improvements for a more professional voice."
Your bio is a dynamic tool, reflecting your evolving career, and your professional story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. AI can help you create a strong, engaging narrative. So experiment with these AI tools and prompt strategies to refine your own bio. If you'd like personalized feedback on the results, send an email along with your new bio to showbizingnow@gmail.com. As always, we love hearing from you.
