Make your first Episode in ten minutes

Updated September 13, 2026 · 7 min read

Ten minutes is enough for a first Episode in Character App. The path: one line of premise at the front door, one photo (or an invented lead), a Character drawn and kept, a World built around them, one line of direction to the Director, Scenes drawn, and a kept Take assembled into the Episode. Most of the ten minutes is watching it work — your job is about six small decisions.

Total time: ~10 min
Your decisions: About six
You need: A phone photo helps
Ends with: A finished Episode
Cost: Free to start · up to 4 Lite Images a day · no card

A finished first Episode — the new Cast member already mid-story in their World’s look. — The ten-minute payoff: a finished Episode, assembled from the takes you kept.

Minute 0–1 · Say what it is
Open the Studio and write one line — the premise, not the plot. “Me and my roommate solving a tiny mystery before dinner” is plenty. The bar is the whole door: it takes your sentence and carries it through everything that follows, so don’t over-think the wording.
If words aren’t coming, skip writing entirely — the ready-made Worlds row sits right under the bar, and stepping into one counts as your premise. Either way, the next question is the same, and it’s the only one that matters: who’s in it?
The shape of the run: premise first, story last — the middle is the Studio working.
TRY THIS
Describe your show
Minute 1–2 · Answer “Who’s in it?”
Three answers, one tap each. Put yourself in it — one photo and you’re the lead. Me and friends — up to five photos, everyone gets a seat. Make someone up — the Studio invents the lead and you skip the camera roll entirely.
A photo is the fastest route to “that’s actually me.” The picture stays on your device until you choose to use it, and the drawn result is a Character, not a filter — it belongs to the show’s Look.
The photo step: one picture in, three Looks to choose from on the right.
Minute 2–4 · Meet your Character and keep the look
The Studio draws your Character in the World’s Look and shows you the result. Name them, and add one line about them if you feel like it — a job, a mood, a thing they never say. Optional fields stay optional; the Bible keeps whatever you give it.
Then the press that matters: keep the look. The Locked marker means this exact design is now the reference every future Scene draws from — this is the moment a drawing becomes a Cast member.
The Locked pill is the whole point: this design is the reference from now on.
Minute 4–5 · Watch the World build
While you were naming a Character, Genesis — the first-run build — was assembling the World around them: the place, the Look, the opening Bible, and the Cast seats. The World screen lands with all of it already populated, so there’s nothing left for you to configure.
You don’t have to touch any of it. Read the cover, glance at the Cast row, and move on — the World’s job is to hold consistency, not demand attention. It’s there in the background for the day episode four needs to remember episode one.
Genesis’s output: cover, Cast, Episodes — one World, already populated.
Minute 5–7 · Pitch the Director one line
Open the Director and write what happens — one line, in your own words. “The roommate finds a note slipped under the door and won’t show me what it says.” Tag the Cast members who should be in it and press Direct.
The Director drafts an outline — the episode’s shape before anything is drawn. Read it like a pitch: wrong ending? Say so. Missing a character? Tag them. The outline pass is free to redo, so make it say what you meant.
One line in the direction field — the Director turns it into the episode’s outline.
Minute 7–8 · Draw the Scenes
Approve the outline and it fans out into Scenes — one dramatic moment each, laid out in shot order. “Draw the scenes” is the first and only image-spend checkpoint: the key frames every take will start from, priced on the press itself.
Scene Images land in the planner as they finish — you can watch them arrive one column at a time. If a frame reads wrong, edit that Scene’s direction line and redraw it on its own; the rest of the board stays put while it re-renders.
Scene Images landing in order — each column is a key frame with its direction under it.
Minute 8–9 · Film a take, keep the take
Now the priced step: “Film It” turns a Scene into a Take — a short Clip candidate you can watch immediately. The Studio shows the exact Credit cost on the press itself, before anything is spent, so the number you approve is the number charged.
Watch the take. If it lands, keep it — the kept take becomes the Episode’s Clip. If it doesn’t, write a sharper direction line and film another take; retakes are how the episode gets good, not a sign it went wrong.
Three takes of one Scene — watch them all, keep the one that lands.
Minute 9–10 · The Episode lands
Kept takes assemble in order, and the Episode appears on the World’s board — a finished, watchable first episode with your face (or your invented lead’s) in it. The “Direction saved” toast is the Studio’s way of saying the work is filed.
Everything you made is durable: the Cast stays seated, the World keeps its memory, the Episode sits in the Library. Tomorrow’s episode two starts from all of it — which is why the second one takes less than ten minutes.
Direction saved — the Episode is on the board and the World kept everything.
TRY THIS
Describe your show

Made this way

Another first Episode — same path, different premise.
A third run — every World keeps its own Cast.
Episode one of a sitcom — ten minutes from the door.
A 60-second Episode’s hook frame.

Generated in Character App · example stills, not a live product demo

Common mistakes

Over-writing the premise. The bar wants a line, not a synopsis — “who + what + the friction” is enough; the Director fills in the shape.
Skipping “keep the look.” An unkept Character never joins the Cast, so the next Scene can’t find them — the Locked press is what makes the person recur.
Treating the first outline as final. It’s a draft the Director expects you to argue with — one sentence of pushback is cheaper than fixing drawn Scenes.
Filming every Scene on day one. The free path covers the World build and daily Images; Clips are the priced step — film the Scene that matters and let the rest wait.
Expecting the first take to be the take. Plan on two or three attempts per Scene — writing direction is a skill that compounds fast.

Questions

Is ten minutes realistic, or marketing?

It’s the honest shape of the first run: the Studio draws while you read, so most of the clock is watching results land. Your active input is about six small decisions — premise, photo, name, look, one direction line, keep-or-retry.

Do I need to pay within the ten minutes?

No — the World build and Scene Images ride the free path (up to 4 Lite Images a day, no card). Filming a Clip is the priced step and it shows the exact Credit cost before you approve it.

What if I don’t have a good photo?

Choose “Make someone up” and the Studio invents the lead — you lose the “that’s me” moment but keep everything else. A clear, front-facing photo with decent light is all the photo path needs.

Can I stop mid-run and come back?

Yes — the World, Cast, and every drafted Scene persist on your account. Reopening the Studio lands you where you left off, not back at the door.

What do I actually end up with?

A finished Episode assembled from the takes you kept, living on the World’s board and in your Library — plus a Cast, a World, and a Bible that make episode two faster.

Your nextScene startswith you.

Make something you’ve always wanted to be in.

TRY THIS

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Explore plans & Credits

1Minute 0–1 · Say what it is

2Minute 1–2 · Answer “Who’s in it?”

3Minute 2–4 · Meet your Character and keep the look

4Minute 4–5 · Watch the World build

5Minute 5–7 · Pitch the Director one line

6Minute 7–8 · Draw the Scenes

7Minute 8–9 · Film a take, keep the take

8Minute 9–10 · The Episode lands

Made this way

Common mistakes

Questions

Keep going

Your nextScene startswith you.

Minute 0–1 · Say what it is

Minute 1–2 · Answer “Who’s in it?”

Minute 2–4 · Meet your Character and keep the look

Minute 4–5 · Watch the World build

Minute 5–7 · Pitch the Director one line

Minute 7–8 · Draw the Scenes

Minute 8–9 · Film a take, keep the take

Minute 9–10 · The Episode lands