They Paid Me to Write It. Then They Made It With AI

Thalia Kent Egan on vertical drama, AI theft, and why filmmaking shouldn't be brutal.

Thalia Kent Egan was commissioned to write a 90-page vertical drama script. She was told she would direct it, that the company wanted bold storytelling, real actors, heartbeat moments. Then they went quiet. When she followed up, they replied to say they had already released it as an AI-generated project using her script without telling her.

Thalia studied languages at Oxford, did a directing master's at Goldsmiths, and has spent over a year inside the vertical drama world. She is one of the few people working in the format who will say clearly what it is: a tech industry making content for commercial gain, with a bingo card of tropes, racist casting, exploitative storylines, and crews paid below proper rates. She is also one of the few people trying to change it from within, and one of the most thoughtful observers of what the format is actually doing to audiences.

This conversation earns its runtime at every turn. The opening story is the sharpest possible account of where the industry is heading. The bingo card section is the funniest. The observation that the phone screen creates a cult fandom around actors that AI cannot replicate is the most interesting. And the Garden of Eden feature she has been developing since her year abroad in France is the best note to end on.