ShowCreator
08

Three-act episode generator

Every episode on Show Creator is written into the same structure: a cold open, three acts with a scene budget each, and a tag. The generator drafts the beats, you shoot them as takes, and the stitcher cuts them in order. Episode one is the pilot; episode sixty uses the same sheet.

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Every episode, same five acts

Cold openAct oneAct twoAct threeTag

Twelve beats, one take each, four to fifteen seconds a take.

01

Why a fixed structure

Three acts are the oldest reliable shape for a story that has to turn, and television added the cold open and the tag to make each episode start fast and end with a hook. Show Creator hard-codes that shape with a budget per act: one beat for the cold open, three for act one, four for act two, three for act three, one for the tag. Twelve beats, twelve takes at most, one cut.

The budget stops the common failure of act two sprawling and act three evaporating. If the draft wants to spend six beats on complications it cannot; it has four, so the complications it keeps are the ones that matter.

02

What each act is asked to do

The brief for each act is written into the drafting prompt and shown on the act sheet so you can hold the draft to it.

  • Cold open (1 beat): in motion from the first frame, end on a question.
  • Act one (3 beats): the lead, the world, the want, then the inciting turn.
  • Act two (4 beats): the obvious fix fails, the rival arrives, the low point.
  • Act three (3 beats): confrontation, an irreversible decision, the episode’s question answered and the series’ question widened.
  • Tag (1 beat): the button, the joke, or the hook for the next episode.
03

Drafting an episode

Drafting reads the pitch, the cast sheet with roles, and every earlier episode’s synopsis and cliffhanger, then returns a title, synopsis, cliffhanger and all twelve beats for two credits. Each beat is one take: one location, up to three people, one action, at most one line. Redraft any single beat for one credit when only one slot needs work.

Later episodes are born with the same empty sheet as the pilot, numbered in order. Reorder episodes and the numbering follows; the first episode is always the pilot. A series can run to sixty episodes.

04

Shooting and cutting

Every beat opens the take desk with its text as the prompt. The take desk prices the render from quality, resolution and duration before you start, uses your cast sheet as reference images, and runs in the background. Finished takes sit in their beats on the act sheet; a re-shoot replaces the take in its beat and the earlier render stays in your library.

Cutting the episode conforms the finished takes to one frame size and frame rate, fills silent takes with silence so sound never drops out, and joins them in act order for two credits. The result has its own page, plays on the series page in episode order, and can be published to the showcase.

Sample takes

Rendered from beats like yours

A 24-hour pharmacy at night, rain on the front glass. Abram, mid 20s in dark paramedic blues, slides a long curling receipt across the counter and asks, "Who signed for this?" The pharmacist does not look up.
Morning light through the slatted doors of a riverside boathouse. Leila, late 20s with a high black ponytail, tests the weight of a brass padlock on a chain and says to Rhys, "They locked us out of our own boat."
A seaside boardwalk at night, arcade stalls shuttered, one carousel still lit. Teague, late 20s in a faded satin bomber, counts cash from a paper bag and freezes when a second set of footsteps stops behind him.
A small-town courthouse hallway with terrazzo floors. Callista, mid 40s in a dove-grey skirt suit, drops a stamped docket sheet into a bin, pauses, and fishes it back out with a small smile.

Questions

Can I change the number of beats per act?
No. The budgets are fixed for every show on the site. You can leave beats empty and the cut will simply skip them.
How long does a full episode run?
With every beat at its target length, about two minutes. Takes range from four to fifteen seconds so an episode can be shorter or a little longer.
Does a later episode know what happened in earlier ones?
Yes. The draft includes the previous ten episodes’ synopses and cliffhangers and is asked to pay off the latest cliffhanger.
What does an episode cost to cut?
Two credits for the cut. Drafting the sheet is two credits, and each take is priced per second before you render it.
Who owns the episodes I make here?
You do. Everything the service produces at your direction belongs to you under our terms of service, and you can publish it, sell it or keep it private. Because copyright is handled differently by each country, check with a lawyer in yours before signing anything that depends on ownership. Read the terms of service.

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