How Anyone Can Create a Hit Series with AI (No Experience Needed)

0:00Ian Shepherd:AI is starting to fundamentally change how content is created. Now Angela Yu, my guest today, is building Storiel, a platform designed to let anyone create and launch microdramas using AI. Any creator with a story to tell can come to the platform and build a story from end to end using fully AI. We're actually creating the infrastructure and ecosystem where creation itself is going to scale. We're in this new world now where creation is faster, cheaper and open to everyone. Anybody with an idea and a vision, they're going to be able to create a story. So it's no longer going to take a year or two years or three years to create a film, but a matter of days.

0:38Ian Shepherd:We also get into how the actual experience itself is changing from passive viewing to something far more interactive. You can co-create with us on the storyline and it's going to offer a completely different viewing experience. And importantly, whether this actually works and what it means for the future of the industry. Not only are some of our AI shows performing at the same level as live action, they're actually outperforming live action shows. And that's attributed to the diversity in the content when you're using AI. The audience does not care at all whether it's AI. This really is a fascinating discussion about the future of content and how AI is starting to reshape the way stories are created, distributed and experienced.

1:27Ian Shepherd:Angela, great to speak to you today. What is the elevator pitch for Storiel? Yeah, so Storiel is an AI native storytelling platform and that's separated into two layers. So the first layer is our Storiel app where viewers can come to our platform, watch exciting short dramas. They can also interact with our characters and step into our story worlds. And the second layer, which is the most exciting part of our business model, is any creator with a story to tell can come to the platform and build a story from end to end using fully AI. So this is a very important shift for us, right? Because we're no longer looking to scale content in a traditional linear studio model.

2:08Instead, we're actually creating the infrastructure and ecosystem where creation itself is going to scale. So for us, the long-term vision is building an ecosystem where any creator can come to Storial and build, own, monetize a story IP globally.

2:25Ian Shepherd:I mean, there's so much to unpack in this, so I'm really excited to get into it. To start with, what did you see happening in entertainment or the creative economy that was missing that encouraged you to think about building this? So first, we really saw the rise of short-form storytelling and how hugely popular it has become. But one huge issue in the industry is that there's simply not enough content to keep up with the demand. At the same time, the creator economy had unlocked UGC for just about anything, but the only portion that was missing is scripted storytelling. So that's where we saw the gap.

3:00There wasn't a true platform where anybody could come and monetize a serialized story IP, and that's what we're aiming to do.

3:08Ian Shepherd:And why do you think this works now where maybe it didn't work before? So the AI threshold for quality has really hit a baseline. So something that was unwatchable about a year ago has now become commercially viable. And at the same time, in this category, competition for user acquisition is hugely fierce. So we need a production model that can be quickly iterated and can be tested over and over again to support this category. And AI is now making that possible. I see, I see. And what was the inspiration to start this and who is the team behind it? Yeah, so we are a team of three co-founders, Eric, Ray and I, and we've been friends for many, many years.

3:52My parents have worked in the entertainment industry for their entire life. And Eric has also worked in the media and entertainment industry for many years. And one thing that we've noticed is that for a new creator to really break into the media and entertainment industry. They need years of experience, a network capital, more and more. But what we're aiming to do is that anybody with an idea and a vision, they're going to be able to create a story. So Eric has years of experience in media entertainment. He led the short drama division at Lemon Pictures, which is a top Chinese television studio.

4:27And Ray has many years of experience in VC and investment banking. And I have my experiences in AI product. So the three of us got together and thought, okay, we're going to disrupt how production is handled and we're going to create something completely different for the content industry.

4:45Ian Shepherd:I see very complementary skills there. And why are you focusing on micro dramas? So we see that consumer habits are really leaning into short, serialized content. Everybody is looking for something dramatic, but at the same time, very bite-sized, very short that you can view directly on your phone in one to two minutes. So we're just stepping into this trend and using AI to really scale the amount of content that can be created. Got it. And these are really blowing up at the moment. What do you think makes a great one or two minute episode versus just like a regular TikTok? So it's the storyline that's definitely the most important.

5:26And as for our company, we really value the diversity in storytelling. So we really encourage stories that has not been anywhere else. So underserved genres like LGBTQ or for the elderly or for younger teenagers. So many content genres that you would not be able to view anywhere else, we encourage this type of drama on our platform. At the same time, the level of drama, the hooks, the paywalls need to be very calculated and formulated. It needs to grab you and to force you to continue to want to continue watching. So that's what differentiates a hit show from a regular show on our platform.

6:07Ian Shepherd:I see, I see. And tell me about AI and AI native creators. What does that actually look like in practice? So an AI native creator is someone who has a lot of imagination, knows the type of story that they want to tell, knows what it looks like. So they still need to have the skills that a traditional filmmaker or a writer needs to have. They need to understand what's the most important aspect of the story. But what's different is that they're able to turn it around very quickly with AI, right? So it's no longer going to take a year or two years or three years to create a film, but a matter of days.

6:44jot down and start creating immediately. So someone who's highly flexible, who's full stack, who understands the entire production process and has great imagination and is very motivated to start creating in the new generation and new era.

6:59Ian Shepherd:And I'm really sort of fascinated to understand, like, what's the secret sauce? Is it the storytelling? Is it their ability to use the AI? Is it sort of taste and understanding trends? What do you think differentiates someone that's going to win in this world? I think it's taste and storytelling. You know what the audience wants, you know what looks good, you know what's lacking in the content industry now, and you know how to make it look good and appealing. At the same time, again, you need to understand how to create a good shot, from what angle, what type of setting, what type of pacing. So that's where the storytelling aspect comes in.

7:37So it's really going to be a perfect mix between taste and storytelling.

7:41Ian Shepherd:Really curious. So can you walk me through exactly what a creator would do in terms of building an episode? Yeah, so first they would log on to our Storial Canvas. They can see what types of projects are available now to work with us. And they can select the script and start working on the Storial Canvas and start creating and understanding the script, forming the character design, etc., etc. and the entire story is formulated on Storial Canvas. Once they're done with the project on Storial Canvas, we view this as the production aspect of storytelling. Then they're able to distribute in just one click from Storial Canvas onto the Storial app.

8:22So it's going to be a full cycle production all within the Storial ecosystem. And aside from this, creators can also bring us a project that they've already finished producing and creating, and then they can license it to us to distribute through our Storial app where we will work with them on a minimum guarantee or a revenue share basis. Okay.

8:45Ian Shepherd:And what does this actually look like? So is it sort of a graphic user interface where they're laying out the storyline and the characters and how they interact? Is that what someone would typically see? Yeah. So how we got the idea to build Storial Canvas is as we were working with over 3 ,000 creators, We realized that a lot of the AI tools and AI workflows that are available to them now are not solving the pain points that they have. So we got the idea, OK, we're going to build an easy to use canvas, easy to use workflow orchestration layer, if you will, where they can do everything at one place on a clean and easy to use surface.

9:28So you'll no longer need to be very technical. You can do storyboarding, visuals, video with all of the AI models available, including C-Dance 2 on Storial Canvas. And then you'll also be able to distribute it directly through Storial Canvas. So aside from the portion that I've just described, beyond this, Storial Canvas is also an environment and a community for these creators to share ideas, share templates, share storylines and plot lines with each other. So we call this our storial canvas environment because it really is going to entail end-to-end production.

10:06Ian Shepherd:I mean, it's mind-blowing just how quickly everything's changing. And from a consumer's perspective, when they're watching some of this content, what makes it different from a TikTok or YouTube video? Yeah, so a TikTok video is just a funny moment or a 30-second funny cat video that you're seeing, right? But what we are offering is completely different. It's a fantasy, it's a drama, it's a getaway, and it's serialized. So you're able to watch from episode to episode, you're able to fall into the story, follow the characters, the narratives, the arc from throughout the entire story. So this is going to be vastly different from what's being offered on YouTube, on TikTok, where it's more of a persona or a social media trend that is eye-catching.

10:55Ian Shepherd:And I understand there's sort of some element of active viewing and interactivity. What does that look like? So for a long time, the media and entertainment industry has viewed the audience as very passive. I'm sitting in a movie theater. I'm watching the movie. There's no way for me to actually influence what happens with the story. But now with AI, we're able to completely disrupt that. So not only are you able to interact with the characters on our platform, you can co-create with us on the storyline. You can tell us what you think the ending of the show will be and we'll actually realize it for you.

11:31So anybody is a creator. Anybody can step into the story and it's going to offer a completely different viewing experience.

11:39Ian Shepherd:It's amazing. Do you think people actually want that or they just don't know what they don't want? They don't know that yet because they've never done it before. So prior to StoreReel, I worked on an AI companionship app and we built the app from zero to one, scaling it to 4 million users. So I know firsthand how many audiences crave to actually be a part of the story, be interacting with these characters that are an escape and a getaway from your daily life. So people are becoming more and more lonely in the age of AI and social media and in tech. So I think now's a good time where we introduce, okay, in another space, in another world, there's someone who's willing to be there for you and to care for you and to talk to you about your thoughts and to really bring you away from the stress of the real life.

12:32So I'm very confident that this is something that will be hugely popular. Cool.

12:37Ian Shepherd:Well, I'm really excited to see how that plays out. And I think you've released more than 50 series now. What early signs are you seeing? So what we're seeing is very exciting because not only are some of our AI shows performing at the same level as live action, they're actually outperforming live action shows. And that's attributed to the diversity in the content when you're using AI. So all of our AI content is no longer gatekept by budgeting or anything else. You can create a story that you want to tell, and we always focus and encourage stories that have not been told. So once you open up imagination beyond the hands of just top studio executives and give it to the broader audience and broader creator ecosystem, the type of content you'll see is quite mind blowing.

13:26And it's going to be very different from what you traditionally see. So I think that's what's driving the data points that we're seeing with our AI content.

13:35Ian Shepherd:Specifically in that data, what data points are you looking at that leads you to think that? Yeah, so we're already seeing that our AI content compared to live action titles, there is a 22 % retention day seven lift. So people are waiting and staying on the platform to ask for more. And retention is a huge indicator of whether the platform is healthy for the category and industry. So we're also very proud of this metric raising. That means that we're headed in the right direction and using the right content strategy. And what makes a great story or from just an average one? Again, I think what makes it different is the storytelling from the creator side, right?

14:16So unlocking the imagination and the creativity from the creators, as opposed to a small group of executives or studios getting to make these content and creative decisions.

14:28Ian Shepherd:And does the audience care that it's AI generated or do they love it for that? so that's something that we were worried about but we are already proved that the audience does not care at all whether it's ai as long as the story and the storyline the characters the narrative is attractive then the audience will buy into the story and really follow the story throughout yeah i mean it's going to be very interesting to see how this evolves how does Storial make money and how do creators make money? Yeah, so Storial makes money via the platform and where users pay on a subscription or a paper episode basis.

15:09And the creator makes money when they upload their content to our platform. We will revenue share with them this revenue that we're generating from the user side. Got it.

15:20Ian Shepherd:And does the creator retain the IP? Do they own that or do you own that? Yeah, so if the script is developed by Storial, then we retain the IP because we're still in very early stages of this category. We're still the ones creating a majority of the scripts, but we hope to curate this ecosystem to a point where the creators are the ones bringing us the stories and the produced show, in which case they will be the sole owner of the IP and we will just be the ones distributing the content for them. I love the way that you're pioneering here with what you're doing, do you think that TikTok or YouTube could build this themselves?

15:59Yeah. So if you look at a company called Twitch, they were able to survive and become hugely popular at a time where YouTube Live was already live. So we're following a very similar route in which we focus on servicing our niche, which is the short drama, short serialized content. And we focus on servicing our creators who give us the content and trust us with the content for distribution. So as long as we service our ecosystem and curate this batch of fans who will stick to our platform, we believe that we'll be defensible even if TikTok or YouTube decides to enter the arena.

16:37Ian Shepherd:Vision. And I know that you spoke earlier about enabling stories that might not traditionally get made. How important is that to you in your mission? I think that's very important. I grew up as an Asian American in the U.S. And I think I didn't grow up watching stories where my ethnicity was the face of what everybody was watching. But that doesn't mean that story is about my culture shouldn't be told. Right. And that, I'm sure, applies for many, many groups of people. And I think what we are offering is a chance at true freedom in what's being made and what's being produced and what's being watched.

17:15power to the creators and the audience. So I think this is the vision in supporting and servicing our ecosystem.

17:23Ian Shepherd:So your eyes light up there as you answered that question. That's great to hear. Well, Angela, it's been really fascinating to learn about what you're building. Before we go, I just wonder, what does Storial look like in five years from now? Storial in five years will be a marketplace for AI storytelling where anybody can come, they can post, they can show what they want to show. And then there will be people and fans who want to interact with this content. And we will be the ones who services the public and really gives back the creativity to the people. I really am excited to follow the journey and to see where it takes you.

18:00Ian Shepherd:If somebody listening wants to learn more about it, how can they find out? So they can download the Storial app on iOS or Google Play, or they can head over to Storial.com to learn more about our vision. Excellent. Well, thanks for joining me today and telling us all about it. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to the Business of Creators. I've got some big guests coming, so be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Now, if this is your first time listening, I'm Ian Shepard, co-founder and co-CEO of Electrify Video Partners. We invest in large, established creator businesses to accelerate their growth.

18:36Ian Shepherd:For creators, that means three things. First, the chance to take money off the table today. second the expertise and a team to scale your business faster and third a creative transition plan enabling you to step back or exit the business altogether we've raised over a hundred million dollars and made 10 investments including youtube channels veritasium fern and fireship if you're a creator thinking about the next stage please get in touch to find out more