Showrunner
3 known investors
Showrunner is a platform for creating AI-driven serialized TV shows using simulations, where users can write, direct, and produce episodes with AI characters and persistent story continuity across multiple genres.
Also known as AI Showrunner Β· Fable Β· Fable Studio Β· Showrunner Studio
Investors Β· 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Showrunner is an AI-driven platform for making serialized television, developed by San Francisco-based Fable Studio, a media startup founded in January 2018 by Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington. Users write a scene or a short prompt and the system generates a watchable episode, with sets, characters and canon that persist across a series rather than one-off short clips. Shows can be created in any genre or world, including comedy, sci-fi, horror and anime, and users can build reusable characters, choosing their appearance, voice and personality, or insert themselves into a show using a photo.
Published shows are playable and remixable: viewers can branch the canon and write subsequent episodes while the original creator retains canonical control. Editorial curation surfaces titles that gain traction, and shows that find an audience can be curated into the Showrunner network lineup alongside other worlds on the platform. Announced originals include "Exit Valley," a Family Guy-style comedy set in "Sim Francisco" satirizing AI tech leaders; "Ikiru Shinu," a post-apocalyptic horror anime; "Sim Francisco," an anthology set in a shared universe; and "Everything Is Fine," described as a playable film planned for 2026. At launch the product focused on animated content, which requires less processing power than photorealistic live-action generation.
Showrunner grew out of Fable's earlier work: the studio's debut VR title "Wolves in the Walls," based on the Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean book, won a Primetime Emmy for outstanding innovation in interactive media in August 2019; in May 2023 Fable announced "The Simulation," a simulated-reality project of AI-powered characters; and in July 2023 it published a paper on SHOW-1 (also called AI Showrunner), demonstrated with unauthorized AI-generated "South Park" episodes.
Founding story
Fable Studio was founded in January 2018 by Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington as a media company specializing in virtual reality, launching with the VR title "Wolves in the Walls." Saatchi previously co-founded Oculus Story Studio, formed in 2014 as a division of Oculus VR, which produced VR titles including the Emmy-winning "Henry" before Meta shut the unit down in 2017. In 2019 Saatchi led the formation of Fable Studio, which pivoted away from VR toward AI-driven playable stories.
Business model
Viewing generated content is free, while creators pay a subscription for credits used to generate scenes and episodes, insert themselves as characters, or build on existing shows; reported pricing was $10-$20 per month at launch and cited as between $10 and $40 per month. Creators receive a share of revenue - cited at around 40% - when other users remix or build on their content. The company has also pursued IP licensing arrangements with studios under which studios would receive a share of user spending.
Subscription credits sold to creators for generation capacity, with revenue sharing back to world/show creators when fans pay to remix their canon; viewing remains free. Proposed studio IP licensing would give rights holders a cut of user spending.
Traction
A closed alpha involved 10,000 users before the public alpha launch in July 2025; the company had approximately 15 employees at that time. Nine AI-generated "South Park" episodes released as part of the SHOW-1 research received more than 80 million views. Inserting oneself and friends into stories emerged as a popular, unanticipated use case among alpha testers. Fable reported a licensing agreement with one unnamed studio at launch.
Latest developments
Showrunner launched publicly in alpha in July 2025 on the SHOW-2 model, with Amazon's Alexa Fund investing in Fable at an undisclosed amount; Animation Magazine reported the investment in September 2025. The current Showrunner Studio site promotes publishing and remixing of shows, creator revenue share, a Gossip Goblin competition with $20,000 in prizes, and an iOS app coming soon to the USA. A playable film, "Everything Is Fine," is planned for 2026, and licensing discussions with major studios were still without a publicly announced agreement as of early 2026.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Coverage of the July 2025 launch widely characterized Showrunner as the "Netflix of AI," positioning it as a two-way streaming service where audiences generate episodes rather than only watch. Saatchi frames AI as a new entertainment medium closer to video games than to a cheaper VFX tool, and has publicly expressed uncertainty about demand for consumer-made shows. The SHOW-1 "South Park" demonstrations drew more than 80 million views, giving the technology broad visibility ahead of launch.
The platform is positioned around serialized output and persistent story worlds - continuity across episodes, recurring characters, and canon that accumulates with each episode - rather than short standalone clips. Published shows are playable and remixable with creators keeping canonical control, and a curation path can promote community shows into the platform's own lineup. Creator monetization ties earnings to a world's remix activity rather than view counts.
Technology
Showrunner is powered by SHOW-2, Fable's proprietary generative AI model and successor to SHOW-1, a network of AI agents that produced full animated TV episodes. The system is built for serialized output with continuity across episodes, persistent characters, sets and canon, and character customization including appearance and voice. Saatchi has described guardrails in the model to block offensive or illegal behavior and copyright infringement, plus story-level guardrails that assess whether a character's actions are consistent with that character. He has also acknowledged that current AI cannot sustain a narrative beyond roughly one episode, making the technology best suited to deeply episodic formats such as sitcoms, police procedurals and space exploration.
Go-to-market
Initial access ran through the Discord messaging platform, where the company also maintains its community, following a closed alpha with 10,000 users before the public alpha launch. Marketing leans on community activity, including creator competitions such as a $20,000-prize contest set in the Gossip Goblin universe, a newsletter for early-access features and events, and social channels on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and X. Generated video can be shared on YouTube and other third-party platforms. An iOS app for watching shows and following worlds is announced as coming soon in the USA.
Consumer creators and fans who want to make or extend serialized shows, including users who insert themselves and friends into fictional worlds; viewers who watch and remix published shows; and, via licensing discussions, Hollywood studios and IP owners seeking sanctioned derivative content.
Geography
Fable Studio is based in San Francisco, with offices in the city's Mission District at the time of the Showrunner launch. The planned iOS app is slated first for the USA.
History
January 2018: Fable Studio launches with the VR title "Wolves in the Walls," based on the Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean book; it wins a Primetime Emmy for outstanding innovation in interactive media in August 2019. May 2023: Fable announces "The Simulation," an AI project to build a simulated reality of AI-powered characters. July 2023: Fable publishes a paper on SHOW-1 (AI Showrunner) and releases unauthorized AI-generated "South Park" episodes, drawing criticism from the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA during their strike. June 2024: Fable announces Showrunner as a streaming service with ten original series. July 2025: Showrunner launches publicly in alpha on SHOW-2, alongside an investment from Amazon's Alexa Fund. A playable film, "Everything Is Fine," is announced for 2026.
Risks & controversies
The SHOW-1 "South Park" demonstrations were produced without the rights holders' permission and were heavily criticized by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA during their 2023 strike over automation of members' work; writer Christos Gage called the generated episodes "soulless and unfunny," while TechCrunch's Devin Coldewey offered a more mixed assessment. Reporting also questioned whether the AI-generated South Park episode was a hoax, and Wikipedia notes that The Simulation's official website is entirely fabricated. Studio licensing remains unresolved: talks with Disney and other major studios were disclosed at launch, but as of early 2026 no formal agreement with a major studio had been publicly announced, against a backdrop of AI copyright litigation by Disney and NBCUniversal against Midjourney. Saatchi has also acknowledged product-market risk ("Maybe nobody wants this and it won't work") and the model's inability to sustain narrative beyond a single episode.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Competitors Β· 1
by search overlapCompanies competing with Showrunner for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 8
launches, deals, and filingsFable announced a "playable" film titled "Everything Is Fine" planned for release in 2026.
Amazon's Alexa Fund venture arm invested an undisclosed amount in Fable, with the money going toward building out Showrunner. Earlier investors cited include Day One Ventures, 8VC and Greycroft. Animation Magazine reported the investment on 2025-09-04.
Saatchi stated Showrunner had reached a licensing agreement with one unnamed studio at launch and was in discussions with major Hollywood studios, including Disney, about licensing IP for user-created derivative content, with studios receiving a share of user spending. As of early 2026 no formal agreement with a major studio had been publicly announced.
Fable publicly launched Showrunner in alpha, powered by its proprietary SHOW-2 model, after several months of closed alpha testing with 10,000 users. Access was initially via Discord, with two original shows at launch: "Exit Valley" and "Everything Is Fine."
Fable Studio announced Showrunner, a streaming service where users create and share their own AI-generated episodes, with ten original series including "Exit Valley," "Ikiru Shinu" and "Sim Francisco."
Fable released a paper describing SHOW-1 (AI Showrunner), a network of AI agents that generates full animated TV episodes, demonstrated with nine unauthorized AI-generated "South Park" episodes.
Fable Studio announced "The Simulation," a project to create a simulated reality of AI-powered characters with the eventual goal of artificial general intelligence.
Fable Studio's VR title "Wolves in the Walls" won a Primetime Emmy for outstanding innovation in interactive media.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 7
primary sources listed
- Showrunnershowrunner.xyz Β· web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Showrunner do?
- AI platform from Fable Studio for creating, publishing and remixing serialized TV episodes and story worlds.
- Who are Showrunner's investors?
- Showrunner's investors include Abstract Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures.