Make A Living - AI-Assisted Short Film

Disciplines

• AI-Assisted Film
• Storytelling
• Creative Direction
• Animation

About this Project

Make A Living is a surreal animated short created for Runway’s Gen:48 global filmmaking challenge.

Set inside a fantastical store where customers can assemble their ideal lives, the film follows Maddie as she chooses the traits, experiences, and markers of success that are meant to help her build her best self. What begins as a playful proposition gradually becomes a reflection on aspiration, identity, and what may be lost in the pursuit of an imagined better life.

Produced within the competition’s 48-hour constraint, the film used generative AI as part of an accelerated visual-production process spanning concept development, narrative design, image generation, animation, editing, sound, and performance.

Selected as one of 50 finalists from more than 3,000 submissions, Make A Living demonstrates the potential of generative tools when guided by an authored idea, not simply to produce imagery but to develop coherent characters, worlds, and meaning.

Key Features

• Original short-form narrative and world concept
• AI-assisted visual development and animation
• Character-led storytelling within a surreal conceptual setting
• End-to-end production under a 48-hour competition constraint
• Cinematic editing, sound design and final assembly
• Exploration of generative tools as part of a complete filmmaking workflow
• Selected as a Top 50 finalist in Runway Gen:48 from 3,000+ submissions