Edward Saatchi pivoted from VR filmmaking to a generative AI platform called Showrunner after Oculus Story Studio closed. Showrunner received funding from Amazon and operates on a Discord server. Users select characters and art styles, then write prompts to generate short animated clips tailored to specific scenarios. Generated clips align with preset show aesthetics like Exit Valley and include AI-generated voices intended to resemble real people. The animations often show stiffness that reveals automation rather than artisanal craft. The service is currently free, with Fable planning a $10–$20 monthly subscription in the future.
Even though Story Studio snagged an Emmy for one of its three animated features, a general lack of public interest in VR movies led Meta to shutter Oculus Story Studio back in 2017. The VR era has come and gone, but Saatchi is confident that Showrunner, his new pivot to generative AI that just received an influx of cash from Amazon, can succeed.
Currently, Showrunner lives on a Discord server where users can generate short animated videos by selecting characters and art styles from a list, and then writing prompts dictating what those characters say and how they interact with the environments around them. After being told that you want to see Elon Musk and Sam Altman standing in an office break room and having a conversation about turning homelessness into a software as a service, Showrunner will generate a clip that mostly fits that description.
Showrunner's clips are all styled to match the aesthetics of one of the platform's preset shows, like Exit Valley, a cartoon that appears to be a cross between Silicon Valley and Family Guy. The characters' awkward, AI-generated voices are meant to sound like the real people they are based on. And they tend to be animated with an odd stiffness that makes it clear how much of Showrunner's output is automated by machines rather than crafted by experienced human artists.
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