Tim McAleer

Producer at Florentine Films (Ken Burns’s production company) who builds custom AI-powered tools to automate archival media management and metadata extraction for documentary production.

Best podcasts with Tim McAleer

Ranked by the Snipd community

56 snips

Nov 17, 2025 • 48min

“Nobody wanted to do this work”: How Emmy Award–winning filmmakers use AI to automate the tedious parts of documentaries

Tim McAleer, a producer at Ken Burns’s Florentine Films, shares his innovative journey in automating documentary filmmaking using AI. He discusses transforming chaotic archival media into structured, searchable data through custom tools. Tim explains how he built an AI that automatically extracts metadata from images and audio, thereby revolutionizing post-production workflows. He also highlights using different AI models for various tasks, making historical documents accessible, and the pivotal role of AI in automating tedious tasks rather than creative processes.

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!

Get the app