Kakao, OpenAI Produce 7-Minute AI Short 'Ryan Begins'
Kakao said the short, based on the webtoon of the same name, was made with generative AI tools and directed by Jiwon Han.
Kakao announced on November 10 that it produced the AI short animation Ryan Begins, featuring the Kakao Friends character Ryan. The roughly seven-minute short was made through a technology collaboration between Kakao and OpenAI, according to animenewsnetwork.com.
Ryan Begins is based on the webtoon of the same name. The production combined human creative direction with generative AI tools in both planning and production.
The team includes director Jiwon Han, who directed Netflix's animated film Lost in Starlight, and AI supervisor Young-jun Kim. The team used ChatGPT's image generation feature to create initial images from scene sketches and detailed prompts, which artists then refined by hand. For a single scene, the team used roughly 1,500 prompts to reach the intended direction and emotional tone.
Advance screening in Seoul
Kakao held an advance screening and Q&A session on November 8 at Movieland in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, alongside an exhibition of the production process. Tickets for the Q&A session sold out within a day of going on sale.
The Ryan Begins webtoon launched last year and was the first official storyline-driven webtoon building on the Kakao Friends character Ryan's universe. An English version of the original webtoon is not available.
Quick answers
How long is Ryan Begins?
The short runs about seven minutes.
Who directed Ryan Begins?
Jiwon Han, who directed Netflix's animated film Lost in Starlight, directed the short. Young-jun Kim served as AI supervisor.
Is the Ryan Begins webtoon available in English?
No, the English version of the original webtoon is not available.