How We Automated Talent Outreach for a Film Production Company Using AI

In early 2025, a film production company approached us with a unique challenge - they were planning a high-energy music video shoot and needed to source trained dancers across Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. The timeline was tight, and manually finding, contacting, and following up with dozens of dance studios wasn’t feasible.

We built them a fully automated outreach system using tools like Clay, Dropcontact, OpenAI, and Smartlead, allowing them to go from news article to personalized email - in minutes, not hours.

Here’s how we did it:

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Step 1: Tracking Real-Time Dance-Related News

We began by identifying potential signals of active dance talent. Using keywords like: Dance competition winners, Cultural fest performers, New dance academy launch, Top dance studios in (city), etc.,

We scraped news articles and blog posts using Google Alerts and Instant Data Scraper. These sources gave us visibility into which academies were actively performing, getting recognized, or expanding - a strong signal of capability and availability.

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Step 2: Extracting and Qualifying Leads Using Clay

All collected URLs were imported into Clay.

Clay parsed the article content using NLP and extracted:

• Names of dance academies, choreographers, and performance groups
• The city, type of performance, and context (e.g., award, event)
• Intent signals, such as expansion, hiring, or collaboration readiness

This gave us a filtered list of highly relevant studios - not just random leads.

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Step 3: Identifying the Right People to Contact

Next, we used Clay’s enrichment capabilities to identify:

• Founders, directors, or lead choreographers
• Their emails, LinkedIn URLs, and geolocation
• Their studio websites or social handles (where available)

We verified these emails in real time using Dropcontact, ensuring high deliverability and zero spam risk.

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Step 4: Generating and Sending Personalized Emails Automatically

Each contact received a personalized email referencing the article or performance they were featured in.

Using OpenAI inside Clay, we fed the extracted article data to craft highly specific and warm outreach messages.

Subject: Your academy’s performance stood out – quick collaboration?

Hi Anjali,

I came across your studio's award-winning performance at the Hyderabad Cultural Fest — congratulations!

We're currently casting dancers for an upcoming music video and your team looks like a perfect fit. Would love to explore a quick collaboration.

Let me know if you’re open to a quick chat this week.

Warm regards,
[Production Team Name]

We connected Clay to Smartlead.ai to:

• Send emails in a drip format
• Track opens and replies
• Automate follow-ups if no response was received

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Tools We Used - 

• Instant Data Scraper - Pull real-time news articles
• Clay - Parse articles, enrich leads, draft messages
• Dropcontact - Verify email addresses
• OpenAI (via Clay) - Personalize outreach copy
• Smartlead - Scale and automate email outreach

What we achieved?

• 40+ highly relevant dance academies contacted
• 15+ replied within 72 hours
• 3 were shortlisted for collaboration
• Nearly 25 hours saved compared to manual research & outreach

The film production team was able to finalize casting in record time - without cold calling or scrolling endlessly through Instagram.

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Why This Matters

This case proves that AI-powered outreach isn’t just for SaaS or B2B tech — it can be applied to industries like film, casting, performing arts, and even recruitment.

By combining real-time data with contextual messaging, automation tools can completely reshape how outreach and partnerships are done.

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Want a similar system built for your business or project? Whether you're casting, hiring, or looking to scale B2B outreach connect with me on LinkedIn

Why Edutech Companies are Turning to YouTubers for Effective Product Promotion?

Edutech companies are increasingly turning to YouTubers to promote their products for several compelling reasons:

Broad Audience Reach: YouTube has a vast and diverse user base, providing edutech companies with access to a global audience. This wide reach allows these companies to target potential learners from different demographics and geographic locations.

Trust and Credibility: YouTubers often have a strong rapport with their followers, who trust their opinions and recommendations. When a popular YouTuber endorses an edutech product, it lends credibility to the brand, making potential customers more likely to try the product.

Engagement and Interaction: YouTubers engage with their audiences through comments, live streams, and community posts. This interaction fosters a sense of community and allows for immediate feedback, which can be valuable for edutech companies in refining their products and marketing strategies.

Targeted Marketing: Many YouTubers focus on specific niches, such as technology, education, or professional development. Edutech companies can collaborate with influencers whose content aligns with their product offerings, ensuring that their marketing efforts are directed at a relevant and interested audience.

Creative Content Integration: YouTubers are skilled at creating engaging content. They can integrate edutech products into their videos in creative and natural ways, such as through tutorials, reviews, or educational content, making the promotions more appealing and less intrusive than traditional ads.

Cost-Effectiveness: Partnering with YouTubers, especially micro-influencers with smaller but highly engaged followings, can be a cost-effective marketing strategy. It often yields high returns on investment compared to traditional advertising methods.

Authentic Storytelling: YouTubers excel at storytelling and can share personal experiences and success stories related to edutech products. This authenticity resonates with viewers and can drive higher engagement and conversion rates.

Adaptability and Trends: YouTubers are often at the forefront of digital trends and can quickly adapt to new platforms and content formats. By working with these influencers, edutech companies can stay relevant and leverage the latest trends to reach their target audience.

SEO Benefits: YouTube videos often rank high in search engine results, providing additional SEO benefits. Edutech companies can gain visibility not just on YouTube but also in broader search engine queries. 

Enhanced Learning Experience: Many YouTubers produce educational content themselves, creating a synergy with edutech products. When these influencers promote edutech tools, it can enhance the learning experience for their audience by providing additional resources and support.

In my experience following brands like PhysicsWallah, Unacademy, OdinSchool, their collaborations with creators like Aman Dhattarwal, Technical Suneja have clearly driven visibility. I’ve seen many students discover courses just from short YouTube testimonials.

In summary, partnering with YouTubers allows edutech companies to leverage the influencers' reach, credibility, and creativity to effectively promote their products, engage with potential customers, and ultimately drive growth.

Several popular YouTubers that many edutech companies are collaborating with include:

Technical Suneja

Ranveer Allahbadia

Satish Kushwaha

Mohammad Fraz