Meet Showrunner, the First Streaming Platform for AI-generated Shows

Emmy-winning San Francisco startup Fable Studio has announced Showrunner, an AI platform that can write, voice, and animate episodes of its shows. By leveraging generative AI in the streaming space, the company promises that users can generate their content by using prompts.

The Hollywood Reporter stated that under the initial release, users will be able to watch AI-generated series and create their content, complete with the ability to control dialogue, characters, and shot types, among other controls. However, the technology is limited solely to animation and can’t yet create live-action shots.

Chief Executive Edward Saatchi envisions Showrunner to be “the Netflix of AI.” He explains how, after finishing all episodes of a show, users can make another one using prompts or ask AI to make one itself.

In addition, this is not the first stint Fable has had with generative AI. The company released AI-generated episodes of South Park to showcase its technology last year.

Until the end of this year, users will be able to join the waitlist for a free testing version of the platform, says Saatchi. With the announcement, 10 animated shows made mostly with AI were unveiled.

The company encourages users to make their episodes of the shows, the best of which will be included in the series catalog after Showrunner’s official launch. Also, the winners will get a lump-sum payment and share revenue if a streamer picks the show.

Saatchi says the platform’s technology allows users to create a series of scenes that can then be stitched together to create a full-length episode. Prompts can range from just a couple of words to over a hundred. Users will be able to edit the dialogue, shots, and flow of scenes, among other things, he adds.

Fable’s AI model powers Showrunner, which was created after the release of open-source AI systems from OpenAI and Stable Diffusion.

Saatchi states the system is trained on “publicly available data.” He adds that creating an original output matters to him, and the content will decide if the technology is worthwhile.