Gen Jam: Make Your Own AI Film: Micro Drama edition
What if your first episode could launch the next vertical sensation?
This time with our friends at KARTEL STUDIOS, we’re diving into the booming world of micro-dramas—short-form, vertical series built for the For You page. Inspired by the skyrocketing popularity of Chinese soap-style shorts on platforms like RealShorts, we’re bringing to the robots —with an absurd, experimental, creator-first twist.
Your mission? Build the pilot of your own micro-drama using generative tools. Think: AI-fueled scandal. Robot detectives in love. 3-minute procedurals. Your series, your tone—anything from unhinged soap operas to high-stakes psychological thrillers (with talking furniture, if that’s your thing). All made in a night.
What You’ll Do
🧠 Concept & Chaos
Start with a genre or totally irrational idea. Develop a vertical-format micro-series concept. Use tools like ChatGPT, Udio, ElevenLabs, and more to draft dialogue, generate scenes, and create characters.
🎥 Produce the First Episode
Use image and video tools like Luma, Runway, and Pika to bring your pilot episode to life. It can be stylized, animated, voice-over driven, lo-fi, or highly chaotic—just make it memorable.
🏆 Premiere & Celebrate
We’ll screen your episodes in vertical format and vote on awards like:
Best Overall Film
Most WTF
Most Likely to be a Show
Who Should Attend
📱 Short-Form Creators & Serializers – If you think in swipes, cliffhangers, and 'next ep' buttons, you're home.
🎭 Writers & Performers – Great opportunity to develop a world and deliver something emotionally wild in 3 minutes or less.
🤖 AI Nerds & Tinkerers – Show off what these tools can really do when it comes to serialized storytelling.
🎬 Filmmakers & Editors – Love working fast? Love storytelling games? Let’s go.
Details
📍 Location: KARTEL Studios (Santa Monica)
📅 Date: Tuesday, July 16
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Schedule:
6:00 PM – Arrivals, Mingling, and AI Tool Demos
7:00 PM – Challenge Kickoff & Team Formations
7:15 PM – Production Begins
9:30 PM – Episode Screenings & Judging
10:00 PM – Awards & Wrap
What to Expect
💻 Bring Your Own Laptop – AI won’t hallucinate your drama without you.
🎛️ We’ll Have Tools – Runway, ChatGPT, ElevenLabs, Luma, etc. Bring logins if you’ve got ’em—we’ll provide shared access where we can.
🍕 Dinner – Ticket entry covers pizza and drinks! Your lead actor might be fake, but your food is real.
Whether you're channeling soap opera madness or reinventing the crime procedural for TikTok, this is your chance to break something wildly new.
Machine Cinema: Make Your Own Micro-Drama.
🎥 One night. One episode. Infinite plot twists.