SHOWBUSINESS.ACTOR
SHOWBUSINESS.ACTOR
The Founder's Statement
The Founder's Statement
Actors have been abandoned. Not metaphorically. Literally. The entire AI revolution has raced ahead without us, celebrating "creative empowerment" while leaving the oldest and most human art form with exactly nothing.
Actors have been abandoned. Not metaphorically. Literally. The entire AI revolution has raced ahead without us, celebrating "creative empowerment" while leaving the oldest and most human art form with exactly nothing.
Filmmakers got tools.
Filmmakers got tools.
Animators got tools.
Animators got tools.
Painters got tools.
Painters got tools.
Editors got tools.
Editors got tools.
Writers got tools.
Writers got tools.
Designers got tools.
Designers got tools.
Musicians got tools.
Musicians got tools.
Every discipline received a rocket ship into the future.
Every discipline received a rocket ship into the future.
Actors got a labor dispute.
Actors got a labor dispute.
And a handful of tools designed explicitly to replace them.
And a handful of tools designed explicitly to replace them.
This is not, however, a failure of technology. It is a failure of imagination.
This is not, however, a failure of technology. It is a failure of imagination.
Because acting is not content. It is thought, emotion, rehearsal, physicality, and textual interpretation. All domains where AI could have been transformative, had anyone bothered to look.
Because acting is not content. It is thought, emotion, rehearsal, physicality, and textual interpretation. All domains where AI could have been transformative, had anyone bothered to look.
No one did.
No one did.
So I am doing it myself. Not because it's easy. Not because I am special or uniquely gifted. I don't even know if I can do this. All I know is I will.
So I am doing it myself. Not because it's easy. Not because I am special or uniquely gifted. I don't even know if I can do this. All I know is I will.
Not out of bitterness, but out of necessity. Not to burn bridges, but to build the ones that never existed. We cannot ask the tech world, or even the entertainment world, to save us. The have shown us their priorities. Poor actors are not among them. So they built for everyone except us.
Not out of bitterness, but out of necessity. Not to burn bridges, but to build the ones that never existed. We cannot ask the tech world, or even the entertainment world, to save us. The have shown us their priorities. Poor actors are not among them. So they built for everyone except us.
But actors deserve tools that respect the craft. Tools that enhance the internal work, not counterfeit the external results. Tools that make the accelerate the creative process. Make it more accessible, more organized, more alive. Tools that treat performers as creators, not data sources.
But actors deserve tools that respect the craft. Tools that enhance the internal work, not counterfeit the external results. Tools that make the accelerate the creative process. Make it more accessible, more organized, more alive. Tools that treat performers as creators, not data sources.
This begins now.
This begins now.
What I'm Building
What I'm Building
My Contracts app (showbusiness.actor) was the first proof of concept. A tool that improves the business of acting without attempting to replace the actor doing it. But it's only one component of a much larger vision: an ecosystem built for performers, by performers, from the ground up, because they understand the work behind the work.
My Contracts app (showbusiness.actor) was the first proof of concept. A tool that improves the business of acting without attempting to replace the actor doing it. But it's only one component of a much larger vision: an ecosystem built for performers, by performers, from the ground up, because they understand the work behind the work.
A workflow platform, built by an actor, for actors. An AI operating system designed to amplify a performer's creativity, not erase it. A set of tools that honor the art form's depth, its complexity, and its lived human intelligence.
A workflow platform, built by an actor, for actors. An AI operating system designed to amplify a performer's creativity, not erase it. A set of tools that honor the art form's depth, its complexity, and its lived human intelligence.
We are building the first end-to-end, audition notice to opening night, creative ecosystem designed specifically for actors and performing artists. Not a gimmick, not a replacement engine, but a suite of tools that enhance the inner work of performance: script analysis, emotional mapping, beat breakdowns, memory pathways, blocking logic, rehearsal scaffolding, and moment-to-moment imaginative play. Every piece is designed to strengthen the artist, protect the artist, and return power to the artist.
We are building the first end-to-end, audition notice to opening night, creative ecosystem designed specifically for actors and performing artists. Not a gimmick, not a replacement engine, but a suite of tools that enhance the inner work of performance: script analysis, emotional mapping, beat breakdowns, memory pathways, blocking logic, rehearsal scaffolding, and moment-to-moment imaginative play. Every piece is designed to strengthen the artist, protect the artist, and return power to the artist.
Ethics & Philosophy
Ethics & Philosophy
Actors are not replaceable. But their process is transformable.
Actors are not replaceable. But their process is transformable.
AI must support internal work: intuition, counterintuitive choices, novel ideas. Not counterfeit external performance.
AI must support internal work: intuition, counterintuitive choices, novel ideas. Not counterfeit external performance.
Performance is lived experience, not content.
Performance is lived experience, not content.
Tools for actors must be built by people who understand actors.
Tools for actors must be built by people who understand actors.
The performer remains the creator. The AI does not, and cannot, do their job.
The performer remains the creator. The AI does not, and cannot, do their job.
Software is either free or paid for once with money. It is not paid for with user data, ads, or subscriptions to static products.
Software is either free or paid for once with money. It is not paid for with user data, ads, or subscriptions to static products.
Compute is paid by use only, and all unused funds must be returned to the user in a timely manner without request.
Compute is paid by use only, and all unused funds must be returned to the user in a timely manner without request.
Creative work is fully private and never touches a corporate server.
Creative work is fully private and never touches a corporate server.
Updates are free for life. Existing functionality, what people relied on and built workflows around, is sacrosanct.
Updates are free for life. Existing functionality, what people relied on and built workflows around, is sacrosanct.
The Path Forward
The Path Forward
I don't pretend this is easy work, or that it will be well understood at first. Building tools for performers, real tools, not replacements, is lonely work because almost no one else is doing it. But the future I'm building is simple: a world where actors have the same technological agency every other artist now takes for granted.
I don't pretend this is easy work, or that it will be well understood at first. Building tools for performers, real tools, not replacements, is lonely work because almost no one else is doing it. But the future I'm building is simple: a world where actors have the same technological agency every other artist now takes for granted.
This isn't a closed project. It's a new beginning. Anyone who shares this intention, actors, technologists, educators, artists, and the stubborn few who still believe performance is worth protecting, is welcome to walk this road with me. I am not asking for permission. I am extending an invitation. This is not a startup pitch. This is a correction. A redirection. A refusal to let an entire craft, and the people who devote their lives to it, be left in the cold while every other artistic domain receives their future.
This isn't a closed project. It's a new beginning. Anyone who shares this intention, actors, technologists, educators, artists, and the stubborn few who still believe performance is worth protecting, is welcome to walk this road with me. I am not asking for permission. I am extending an invitation. This is not a startup pitch. This is a correction. A redirection. A refusal to let an entire craft, and the people who devote their lives to it, be left in the cold while every other artistic domain receives their future.
Actors deserve a future where the tools amplify their humanity instead of erasing it. That is the world I'm building. If you believe that too, there is work to do.
Actors deserve a future where the tools amplify their humanity instead of erasing it. That is the world I'm building. If you believe that too, there is work to do.
Actors deserve a future too. And if no one else is going to build it?
Actors deserve a future too. And if no one else is going to build it?
Fine. I'll do it myself.
Fine. I'll do it myself.
Michael Bouchard is a professional actor of 20 years, playwright, poet, and AI architect. He writes about AI, performance, and the future of acting at michaelcbouchard.com. You can find his Contracts app at ShowBusiness.actor.
Michael Bouchard is a professional actor of 20 years, playwright, poet, and AI architect. He writes about AI, performance, and the future of acting at michaelcbouchard.com. You can find his Contracts app at ShowBusiness.actor.