A British sitcom set in the world of venture capital has released its pilot episode free on YouTube. No Big Deal, written and created by Andrew Dickinson, went out in London on 14 September and can be watched here.
Inside the firm called Janus
The action takes place at Janus, an investment firm hunting for the next billion-pound business idea, usually with disastrous results. Its staff include Derek Tudor, a brilliant but unpredictable investor who cannot keep his thoughts to himself, and Lydia de Mabro, the de facto leader of the firm after its only successful investment earned her a board seat.
Also in the building are John Stevens, who inherited the money behind his business and brings rather more goodwill than qualification to running it, and Perry Kent, a seasoned investment banker whose real ambition is a US Green Card and who treats the firm as a step towards it. Across their desk come proposals for fart-proof underwear, clinical toilets and questionable items of sex furniture. Anything that looks promising has collapsed into comic disaster by the closing scene.
From a television plan to an AI studio
Dickinson, a former angel investor and investment manager, first looked at making the pilot through the usual channels.
“I originally planned to make the pilot through traditional television production, but it quickly became clear that the process would be slow and prohibitively expensive. When I met the team at ModeLabs, I realised AI offered an entirely new way to bring the project to life.”
The pilot was produced instead by ModeLabs.ai, a UK AI studio, and is believed to be the world’s first sitcom written by a human and produced entirely using AI. Dickinson said the process was still a long one, with the script rewritten more than 65 times.
“Making the Pilot wasn’t simply a case of pressing a button. Every shot, camera movement, performance, line reading, location and visual detail had to be carefully planned, refined and recreated through an iterative creative process between the writing and production teams. Even while we were making it, the script was rewritten more than 65 times.”
Music and production
Dickinson also wrote all of the original music used in the series, which was performed and recorded with the musician Andy Pike. He has said every storyline began with a real incident from his years in investment, exaggerated and expanded for comic effect.
Dan Hawthorne, of ModeLabs.ai, said the studio saw the pilot as a test of what a small team can now attempt on an independent budget.
“We’re incredibly proud of what our team has achieved. Combining emerging AI technology with talented writers and filmmakers has opened up exciting new creative possibilities, and we’re grateful to Andrew for trusting us with his vision.”
The opening episode costs nothing to watch and is hosted on YouTube here.
Clips and announcements are posted to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and Reddit.
