Showrunner is a new video content platform that will specialize in user-generated AI slop. The idea is people will pay to use generative AI tools to produce their own TV, starting with short animated sketches. Who asked for this? Amazon for starters, which is investing an undisclosed amount in the company behind Showrunner. But even the startup’s CEO, Edward Saatchi, doesn’t sound entirely convinced by the pitch. “Maybe nobody wants this and it won’t work,” he told Variety.
Billed as “Netflix for AI,” Showrunner is the work of a small, dozen-person start-up called Fable cofounded by Saatchi, who previously specialized in VR entertainment for Oculus. The platform is in beta right now, with users experimenting on “making” episodes for two shows: a Family Guy-looking tech satire called Exit Valley, and a sci-fi romcom about a husband and wife who get transported to another world while fighting at IKEA.
Early users are currently on the company’s Discord serving up AI prompts like “Ali G meets Joe Biden and Asks him if he wants to buy some feet pics from this super hot chic he knows.” Others include Joe Rogan and Donald Trump arguing about the Epstein files. None of them are actually funny. Of all the ways you could spend time on the internet, watching cringe slop on Showrunner might currently be one of the worst. But that may not even be the point.
“The ‘Toy Story of AI’ isn’t just going to be a cheap Toy Story,” Saatchi told Variety. “Our idea is that ‘Toy Story of AI’ would be playable, with millions of new scenes, all owned by Disney.” He seems to feel that the interactivity of rapidly sharing, refining, and iterating on prompts gives Showrunner a level of interactivity more reminiscent of video games than traditional TV or YouTube.
According to Fable, the goal is to charge users monthly fees to make the shows. Some of that money will in turn go to companies like Disney, who it’s currently in talks with for licensing rights. There are also reportedly guardrails in place to keep the AI-generated shows somewhat narratively consistent and prevent copyright infringement.
Considering that all of the content already looks like it’s ripping off Fox animated sitcoms, we’ll see how that goes. Disney and other Hollywood studios are already suing one AI company for allegedly stealing their IP.
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