The Birth of Narrative First and Subtxt: From Bad Films to AI

From sketching characters to sketching narrative DNA

Let me tell you a story. No, not the kind you watch in theaters (or, at least, the ones you used to watch in theaters); this one's about my journey to create Narrative First and Subtxt.

Where It All Started

Years back, I was an animator working on films that, well, let's say they weren't exactly cinematic masterpieces. The higher-ups had a bare-minimum understanding of storytelling, gravitating towards simplified Save the Cat! Beat Sheets and cookie-cutter Hero's Journeys as if they were gospel. It was agonizing to see storytelling reduced to mere bullet points and boilerplate arcs.

So, what did I do? I couldn't sit back any longer and be complicit in the massacre of storytelling. I founded Narrative First to tackle the misunderstandings around story head-on, offering insights into story theory and analysis that delve deeper than the generic templates that are so often thrown around.

Fast forward to now, and we've got Subtxt—a tool built to empower writers to focus on the nuances and complexities that truly make a story resonate.

But hang on to your seats, folks, because the game is about to change, and not necessarily for the better. Enter AI.

The Next Phase

Now, you might be thinking, AI can't be that bad, right? But when AI starts offering "expert" storytelling advice, we're in for a world where everyone thinks they're a story genius. An AI in your pocket will simply affirm your pre-existing notions, throwing real story understanding under the bus. This isn't just a matter of educating Hollywood executives and producers anymore. Now, we've got to make sure everyone with a story to tell knows what they're doing.

The next chapter for Narrative First and Subtxt isn't just providing expertise to professionals; it's about democratizing a true understanding of story for everyone. Because let's face it, storytelling is more than a formula, more than a string of plot points—it's an art form that taps into the human experience. And that's something no AI can replicate.

At least, not the one they're building now.

Stay tuned. The fight for genuine storytelling is just getting started.

Cheers,

Jim