My First Impressions of Content Genie

Written by Sharon Lew, President & Founder @ Lew & Co (Talent Management Company.)

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‍When I first heard about Content Genie, I honestly had no idea what it really did. I figured it was another search tool —maybe a faster one,  but probably similar to what Catch+Release already created. Turns out, I was way off.

"When I finally tried it, I was shocked at how much it could do."

I started by uploading a deck that had been sitting on my desktop forever — an 18-page pitch for a possible Clif Bar commercial. The concept was, and I quote “The innate desire kids have for adventure and how it prepares them for the road ahead.” It had everything: multiple ideas, 2 scripts, tone notes, and casting specs. 

I didn’t think Genie would even be able to read the whole thing, but it uploaded in seconds and immediately got to work. What blew me away was that it didn’t just look at the visuals, it actually seemed to read the story and tone behind the project.

In one section, the casting specs said:

“DAD: late 30s, Black, casual clothing — t-shirt and jeans
GIRL: 12, Black, natural hair, helmet, t-shirt and shorts or overalls.”

Within minutes, it pulled up photos and clips that matched almost exactly: It was very intentional in its findings: dads and daughters, kids playing soccer, moments of kids crying on the field… Not every clip was perfect, but most were surprisingly on point and honestly, some were just too cute. 

"I couldn’t stop watching. I don't know how the actual curators do it. I went down a TikTok rabbit hole - it was so hard to look away!"

It also has a feature that teaches you how to write better prompts, so you can fine-tune what it finds. After Genie finished curating and doing her thing.. I was told I’d be getting an email with all the content. I had no idea it was going to send even more content.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, I was sent over 170 images and videos neatly organized into the two themes in the storyboards: Soccer and Skateboarding.

I’ve already told a bunch of friends to try it. It’s a great tool for pulling together boards or even pitch visuals fast — The time saving element is worth the cost of admission alone. It’s Free. I probably should have opened with that, but yes, it’s free. Give it a try or call one of the folks at Catch+Release to help you through the process. You’re welcome.