Ep. 278 I Adapt or Die: A Working Filmmaker with AI in 2026

Adapt or die. What does that actually look like for a working filmmaker?

Chicago documentary filmmaker Armin Korsos has a working filmmaker's answer to the question every documentarian is wrestling with right now. If you're not using AI, you will be losing work to people who do. In this conversation, Armin walks through how he turned 20 hours of pre-production paperwork into 30 minutes, how he uses AI image generation to send 40 pitches in the time it used to take to send 8, and why he believes the only currency that still matters in this industry is original ideas.

In Episode 278, Christian sits down with Armin Korsos, founder of the Chicago production company Caymanite and co-founder of Filmmaker Friday Chicago, a film community event series that grew from 50 people at its first event to over 1,700 unique attendees in its first year.

Born in the Cayman Islands to Hungarian parents, raised in the Chicago suburbs, and trained at Columbia College Chicago, Armin uses commercial production work to fund the documentary and narrative projects he cares about. He has a working filmmaker's take on AI (use it now or lose work to the people who do), a hard-earned theory about original ideas as the only currency that still matters, and a community he built for filmmakers who know the work can be a lonely process.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why Armin says "if you're not using AI, you will be losing work to people who do"
• How a Hungarian-born, Cayman-Islands-raised, Chicago-trained filmmaker built a production company that funds his passion projects
• What the Nvidia CEO said that changed how Armin thinks about original ideas when everyone has access to AI
• Why Armin believes "you must be the creator if you want the IP" when working with AI tools
• How Armin found a local approaching age 90 on Cayman Brac with no phone number, no email, and no address
• How a former Premier of the Cayman Islands recorded the narration for Brac in an airport parking lot
• Why an old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground approach still beats the algorithm when looking for authentic voices
• How Filmmaker Friday Chicago grew from 50 people to 1,700 unique attendees in its first year
• Whether film school is still worth it in 2026, and what to ask yourself before going
• Why Armin says luck is preparation meeting opportunity, and what that has to do with documentary filmmaking

Chapters

0:00 The "Adapt or Die" AI Warning for Filmmakers

1:11 Why Filmmaking Is a Lonely Process

2:35 Armin's Journey: Cayman Islands to Hungary to Chicago

6:00 Where Are the Cayman Islands? Grand Cayman vs Cayman Brac

7:46 Why the Artistic Ceiling Is Lower in Hungary

12:25 Is Film School Worth It in 2026?

18:38 How to Fund Passion Projects With Commercial Work

23:09 Automating Pre-Production Paperwork With AI

28:33 Nvidia CEO: Original Ideas Are the Only Currency Left

32:00 Why You Must Be the Creator to Own the IP

34:03 Brac: A 15-Minute Conservation Documentary

38:29 Finding a Subject With No Phone, No Email, No Address

43:19 Recording Narration With the Former Premier in a Parking Lot

46:33 Scaling a Film Community: 50 to 1,700 in a Year

50:26 DocuView Déjà Vu: This Week's Recommendations

Frequently Asked QuestionsHow are working filmmakers actually using AI in 2026?

Chicago filmmaker Armin Korsos uses AI to automate pre-production paperwork (location releases, talent releases, non-disclosure agreements, call sheets, invoicing) so the time saved can go to creative work that requires human attention. He also uses AI image generation for pitch decks, allowing him to send 40 pitches in the time it used to take to send 8. He spends 15 to 20 minutes every night learning new AI tools and updates.

What did the CEO of Nvidia say about original ideas and AI?

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, has argued that AI has equalized the playing field by removing the gatekeeping of technical knowledge. In Armin Korsos's words, paraphrasing Huang: the differentiator between who is successful and who is not in the future is who has the best original ideas. The technical skill barriers are falling. What remains scarce is the original creative input.

Can AI own the intellectual property of work it generates?

Armin Korsos cautions filmmakers that the creator of a work is the one who owns the intellectual property. As he puts it, you must be the creative input or Claude has the creative IP. AI cannot do the creative work for you if you want to own what you make. This is a working filmmaker's practical answer to a question that is still being litigated in courts.

What is Brac about?

Brac is a 15-minute conservation documentary directed by Armin Korsos and edited by Ethan Edmonds, shot over three trips to Cayman Brac, a small island of about 2,000 people in the Cayman chain. The film explores the intersection of land rights, land management, the decline of the native brown booby bird, and the future of the island. It features a local named Tennyson Scott, approaching age 90 and narration by James Ryan, former Premier of the Cayman Islands.

What is Filmmaker Friday Chicago?

Filmmaker Friday Chicago is a film community event series co-founded by Armin Korsos and Parker Foster. It hosts mixers and panel discussions at venues across Chicago, including the Chicago Cultural Center in partnership with the Chicago Film Commission. The first event drew 50 people. By the fourth event the room held over 200. In its first year the series hosted over 1,700 unique attendees, all free of charge, which Armin describes as unofficially the largest consistent film community event in Chicago.

DocuView Deja Vu Picks

Armin's pick: Gamehawker, directed by Josh Isenberg. A 25-minute conservation documentary sponsored by Patagonia and publicly available on YouTube. About birds.

Armin also mentioned: Plant Life, also directed by Josh Isenberg. Currently on its festival run, not yet publicly released.

Christian's pick: The Billionaire, the Butler and the Boyfriend, directed by Baptiste Etchegaray and Maxime Bonnet. A three-part documentary series on Netflix from 2023 about the scandal surrounding Liliane Bettencourt, the L'Oreal heiress and once the richest woman in the world. The film solves a creative problem worth studying: how to dramatize a story where the only existing record is audio. The directors use blurred top-down security-camera-style reenactments to bring the recorded conversations to life.

Sponsored by Virgil Films Entertainment

Documentary First is sponsored by Virgil Films Entertainment. Visit https://virgilfilms.com to learn more about their work distributing documentary films.

About Armin Korsos

Armin Korsos is a Chicago-based documentary and commercial director, founder of the production company Caymanite, and co-founder of Filmmaker Friday Chicago. Born in the Cayman Islands to Hungarian parents and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Armin trained at Columbia College Chicago, where he graduated in 2020. His work has taken him from the Cayman Islands to Colorado's Independence Pass to film communities across Chicago. His most recent film, Brac, is a 15-minute conservation documentary that finished post-production in January 2026 and is now in its festival run.

Connect with Armin:

• Caymanite (production company): https://www.caymanite.us
• Instagram (personal): https://www.instagram.com/armincreates
• Instagram (Caymanite): https://www.instagram.com/_caymanite
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arminkorsos
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arminkorsos

About Filmmaker Friday Chicago

Filmmaker Friday Chicago is a Chicago-based film community event series co-founded by Armin Korsos and Parker Foster. The series hosts mixers, panel discussions, and film showcases at venues across the city, free of charge. Filmmaker Friday also runs in New York City. To attend an upcoming event or learn more, visit https://www.filmmakerfridays.org or follow https://www.instagram.com/filmmakerfridaychicago.

About Documentary First

Documentary First is a podcast for documentary filmmakers, lovers of story, and anyone who wants to think more deeply about what we are watching. Each week, host Christian Taylor sits down with documentary filmmakers from every stage of their careers, then follows up with a solo Deep Dive episode that takes one insight from the conversation and explores it through literature, philosophy, current culture, and the universal human experience. Christian Taylor is a documentary filmmaker (The Girl Who Wore