SMUGGLER leverages Gemini AI to enhance creativity and efficiency

In the dazzling world of Hollywood, where creativity reigns supreme and every second counts, production companies like SMUGGLER navigate a landscape that demands both artistry and efficiency. With a legacy of award-winning work and collaborations with visionary filmmakers, SMUGGLER understands the delicate balance between pushing creative boundaries and streamlining work to meet the industry’s relentless pace.

“The ethos of SMUGGLER is that we’re very progressive and we cannot lag behind,” says Andrew Colón, Chief Operating Officer at SMUGGLER. “In a competitive field like production—with limited resources, time, and money—we must remain at the forefront.”

Business challenge

SMUGGLER, a globally recognized production company with a rich history spanning over two decades, is celebrated for its achievements with renowned filmmakers and creators such as Henry-Alex Rubin, Randy Krallman, Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper, Mark Molloy, and Jonah Hill. The company’s dedication to innovation and maintaining a leadership position in the industry has been a key factor in its success.

For the fast-paced media and entertainment industry, where time is not on your side and being on the leading edge is paramount, SMUGGLER sought a solution that would empower its teams to work smarter, not harder. It needed a tool that could seamlessly integrate into its existing workflows and unlock new levels of creativity and productivity without compromising the security of their valuable data.

Thinking differently

SMUGGLER faced the complexity that each of its employees—including all the creative and administrative people in the company—brought their own approach to work. Each person also has their own ideas about the tools they want to use in their day-to-day tasks.

“We are always talking with employees who are describing what they want, and they often want to engage another technology platform,” says Colón. “However, I’m part of the digital and corporate security team, and we want as much to happen inside Google Workspace as possible. We don’t go outside Workspace when there’s no need.”

Within this dynamic landscape, SMUGGLER recognized the need to optimize and enhance collaboration across diverse teams. With time a precious commodity, the company sought to streamline tasks, improve efficiency, and foster creativity while keeping their intellectual property safe and sound. “Every director is different, every creative brief is different,” says Colón. “And time is a resource that we could always use more of. Not to mention encouraging our colleagues to take full advantage of the capabilities and integrations within our company’s Workspace.”

Solution

To address these challenges, SMUGGLER looked to Google Workspace, their existing productivity and collaboration suite, and SADA, An Insight company, their Google Workspace provider, to activate Gemini AI, the advanced AI tool integrated in Google Workspace. “When we became aware of Gemini’s availability, we jumped on it because the Google Workspace instance in which we operate now has it,” says Colón. “Then we don’t have to use an external AI tool.”

While SMUGGLER as a company was new to Gemini, it was already aware of the general availability of AI at the consumer level. “Andrew introduced Gemini AI to us first because he was using it on his personal account, so we reached out to SADA, our Google Workspace reseller, and asked about licensing Gemini AI,” says Suzie Burton, Director of Operations at SMUGGLER. “There was an incentive to be an early adopter of Gemini AI, so we signed up. It was easy to have our SADA representative add Gemini to our user accounts.”

Offering a comprehensive AI solution

Gemini AI offered a comprehensive solution that aligned with SMUGGLER’s needs, providing ways to automate tasks, streamline workflows, and enhance collaboration without the need to adopt external platforms. This was particularly appealing to SMUGGLER, as they prioritized data security and SMUGGLER preferred to keep operations within their familiar and secure Google Workspace environment.

Colón also highlighted the company’s preference for integrated solutions. Gemini works where SMUGGLER is already working—in tools like Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, even Gmail—all inside the same browser-based interface, which allows them to work together seamlessly.

Transforming workplace operations

Burton played a pivotal role in integrating Gemini AI into the company’s operations. She recognized the transformative potential of Gemini AI to assist with a wide range of tasks, from creative writing and data analysis to information retrieval and task automation.

“I use Gemini a ton when I can’t figure something out,” says Burton. “If I’m asked by our CFO to create a spreadsheet of expenses, it would take me hours to get the columns and the formatting correct. However, if I went right into Gemini and typed in what I thought he was requesting, Gemini would create a spreadsheet for me straight away.”

Getting started with Gemini with SADA’s help

To get started with Gemini AI, SMUGGLER collaborated with SADA, a multiple-time Google Cloud Partner of the Year, to acquire and implement Gemini AI licenses. After the initial provisioning, SMUGGLER was able to successfully integrate Gemini AI into their Google Workspace workflow. Burton took charge of assigning licenses to employees in the Google Workspace Admin Console, ensuring a smooth adoption process.

Strategically, the company decided to start with 40 licenses, focusing on employees who were enthusiastic about using AI and open to new technologies. This approach allowed SMUGGLER to build a core group of Gemini AI users who could champion its benefits and encourage wider adoption within the company.

“Google Workspace gives our team access to all these fantastic apps and tools and this incredible integration,” says Colón. “Our team realizes the value of Google Workspace integration, and that Gemini is the new cornerstone of it.” 

Impact

As a result of working with SADA on its acquisition and implementation of Gemini AI, SMUGGLER was able to increase efficiency, enhance collaboration, improve creativity, streamline workflows, and harden security by:

• Automating time-consuming tasks, such as generating reports, drafting emails, and creating templates, freeing up time for employees to focus on creative and strategic endeavors
• Providing new avenues for creative exploration by originating concepts, offering different perspectives, and helping employees break through creative blocks
• Helping optimize workflows, leading to faster project turnaround times and increased productivity
• Enabling SMUGGLER to maintain control over their data and ensuring sensitive information remains secure

“Part of our responsibilities as SMUGGLER managers is to show people how we want them to do things—based on our diligent research and understanding of the best ways—and our own internal meetings and demonstrations,” says Colón. “Few things are more exciting than when we find that there is a way to do a thing that we wished had existed, and of course, it almost always does. Bottom line: Gemini is not only an amazing tool but also the tool that we want people to use for all the reasons stated above.”

Applying Gemini to a wide range of tasks

Overall, SMUGGLER has found Gemini AI to be a versatile tool that can be applied to a wide range of tasks across departments. Examples of how SMUGGLER uses Gemini AI include:

• Creative writing: Gemini AI has helped writers develop outlines and draft scripts, providing a valuable tool for the creative process
• Data analysis: Gemini AI has assisted with analyzing financial data, identifying trends, and creating visualizations, enabling SMUGGLER to make data-driven decisions
• Contract review: Gemini AI has helped SMUGGLER review contracts, identify potential risks, and make suggestions for changes to the legal language
• Information retrieval: Gemini has enabled SMUGGLER to find phone numbers of organizations that seemingly don’t have published contact details

“Gemini has increased my efficiency in the sense that when I need something, instead of Googling it, I just go to Gemini,” says Burton. “If I have to find phone numbers of companies that don’t want to be found, I can use Gemini to find their phone numbers.”