Netflix of AI or Party Trick? Showrunner's Celebrity Cartoons Meet Industry Skepticism

Showrunner's AI Scenes: What Working Writers Can Use Today (and What to Ignore)

If you've ever wished you could spin up a quick animated scene with public figures arguing, floating, or melting down on cue, Showrunner from Fable Studio promises exactly that. It lets you write a short prompt, pick preset characters like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or even a young Clint Eastwood, and get a clip back in a few minutes.

For writers, the pitch is simple: idea in, animation out. The question is whether that output helps your process or wastes your time.

What Showrunner Does Right Now

Showrunner is a public AI platform (released in July) that runs through Discord. You enter an overarching idea, choose characters, actions, and settings from a menu, and it generates a short animated scene with a vibe similar to Adult Swim's Rick and Morty. The experience is mostly point-and-click plus text entry.

The company's ambition is big. Leadership talks about a "Netflix of AI," where viewers can insert themselves into shows and spin up new episodes. Amazon's Alexa Fund has invested, and the team says they're in talks with major studios about licensing.

What Working Showrunners Experienced

• Mike Schiff (The Neighborhood): Spent roughly 45 minutes making six or seven clips for a group chat, and didn't send any of them. His take: the system stitches references well but doesn't deliver the lived-experience spark that makes an episode work.
• Jeff Dixon and Jim Cooper (Curses!): Felt like a party trick. Dialogue leaned on constant cussing regardless of character, which read like beginner-level "edgy" writing without actual jokes or story underneath.
• Marc Guggenheim (Arrow, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Carnival Row): Unimpressed with the Discord-first flow and the results, which felt like a dressed-up flash animation. His point: the job of a showrunner is 10% writing and 90% people, process, and notes. An app can't sit in meetings, manage egos, or filter bad notes. He'd maybe use it for a quick political gag in a newsletter-very narrow use.

What That Means for Writers

• It's a sketch pad, not a room. Great for testing a beat, a tone, or a quick social gag. Not great for building a real story with character turns and theme.
• Expect shallow connections. The system is good at linking concepts you feed it-names, memes, topics. It's weak on lived truth and subtext.
• The default voice can be crass. Several users found that profanity pops up as a stand-in for wit. If you care about tone, you'll need to over-specify it.
• Time-to-value is fragile. You can burn 30-60 minutes chasing something "almost funny." Treat output as a draft animatic at best.
• UX friction is real. Running through Discord isn't ideal for professional pipelines. Don't expect a smooth handoff to editorial or production tools yet.
• IP and likeness questions exist. Preset public figures raise legal and brand risks if you plan to publish. Know your use case and your risk tolerance.

A Practical Workflow That Respects Your Voice

• Start with a beat sheet. Three to five beats from your own experience. One conflict, one escalation, one button. Write those lines yourself first.
• Translate beats into constraints. For each beat, specify exact lines that must appear, character actions, and a clear outcome. Don't leave tone to chance-state it.
• Control the defaults. Tell the system "no profanity," "deadpan, dry humor," or "earnest and sincere." Add pacing cues like "2 lines per character per beat."
• Iterate in tight loops. Change one variable at a time (line, action, camera direction) and rerun. Save versions so you can compare.
• Treat the clip as an animatic. Use it to spot timing, visual gags, and rhythm. Then rewrite the dialogue for craft and clarity.
• Use it where stakes are low. Pitches, internal brainstorms, or a newsletter joke. For public work, clear any rights questions first.

Prompt Patterns That Tend To Work Better

• Beat-driven: "Scene: Coffee shop. Characters: [A], [B]. Tone: dry, no profanity. Beat 1: A asks for help; B refuses with a petty reason (10 words). Beat 2: A offers a trade; B's reason falls apart. Button: A leaves triumphant, B mutters a 5-word self-own."
• Conflict-first: "Two rivals argue over a broken contract. Stakes: a charity event fails if they don't agree by the end. Arc: start petty, shift to honest, end on a quiet handshake. Keep lines under 12 words."
• Visual gag anchored: "Action-led. Kim floats 6 inches off the ground each time she lies. Others notice on delay. Final beat: she tells the truth and drops, landing on a whoopee cushion. Tone: playful, no insults."
• Constraint-heavy tone control: "Style: heartfelt, no sarcasm. Vocabulary: everyday words only. Rhythm: 2 lines A, 2 lines B per beat. Ending: one-word callback to the opening image."

Where It Fits in a Professional Stack

• Useful for: Previz for pitches, mood boards, throwaway sketches, testing a visual gag, or warming up a writers' room.
• Weak for: Character growth, subtle turns, deep theme, or anything that needs earned emotion.
• Viable niche: Quick satire, especially with public figures. As Marc Guggenheim noted, a short Trump jab for a newsletter might be fine.

Reality Check on "AI as Competitor"

Showrunner's leaders argue that AI isn't just another tool-it competes for attention and budget. That's true at the surface level: anyone can generate content that looks finished.

But professional writing is more than deliverables. It's judgment, lived reference, timing, and the ability to take notes without breaking the spine of a story. The current app doesn't touch that.

How to Get the Most Value in 30 Minutes

• Set one clear goal: test a gag, punch a beat, or preview a tone.
• Write your lines first. Use the platform to visualize, not to write for you.
• Ban filler: specify "no profanity, no insults, no catchphrases."
• Cap runtime and dialogue length. Short constraints force clarity.
• Save the best frame or 5-second moment and move on. Don't chase perfection.

Bottom Line for Working Writers

Showrunner can spark a joke, test a vibe, or sell a pitch beat faster than a blank page can. It does not replace a writers' room, a showrunner's job, or your lived experience.

Use it like a disposable storyboard. Keep the craft where it belongs-on the page, with people, in the rewrite.

Further Learning

• AI courses by job for building a focused upskilling plan without wasting time.
• Generative video tools to compare Showrunner-style options and workflows.