›
assessing market...
selecting model...
crafting story...

Everybody's faking it. Somebody needs to make it.
Two laid-off tech workers start a company. One can build. The other can sell. Neither knows what the hell they're doing.
As they try to vibe code their way to success, their failed filmmaker neighbor films their journey for a documentary — and for laughs on TikTok.

A WORKPLACE COMEDY…IN THIS ECONOMY?

Short form. Vertical friendly. Socially distributed.
In this world, everything is content. Same goes for the series. Main episodes are shot mockumentary style. Private chatbot conversations become the talking-head confessionals. Clips are written in and cut out for specific platforms, all the way down the value chain: YouTube to Instagram to X to TikTok to LinkedFuckingIn. The stories and characters follow the audience.

CHARACTERS

CAL used to crush at a job that doesn't exist anymore. He can email, he can research, and he can make pitch decks — just not better than a free-tier LLM. But "skills" are so 2020. All that matters to Cal is creativity and agency. Now that he's fired, he just needs to learn how to, you know, do that.
BEN can actually make stuff. His old company didn't want to let him go, but investors wanted to see headcount replaced by tokens. With Cal, he has a champion, a hypeman, and a fountain of ideas he'll never be able to finish. But at least he has a place on the sofa.
YARI makes movies. In theory. In practice, she's not making anything. Cal's next-door neighbor, she offers to film a documentary about their company, promising a riveting tale of their inevitable rise. She finds a lot more success posting their failures on TikTok behind their back.
SEASON ONE: Yari films Cal and Ben starting a company — beginning with them deciding which company to start.
episodes ›
ONE: THOUGHT LEADER After being fired from a tech giant, Cal and Ben hire their filmmaker neighbor Yari to shoot a promo for their company. But they don't know what that company is. Cal convinces Ben that they need to "Always Be Posting" to establish themselves as thought leaders. Without any refined thoughts, Cal and Ben accidentally record their argument over what to post — and send it to a chatbot. It comes back with a perfectly proportioned pile of slop, topped with Ben's single hot take. Ben refuses to post it. But while he's in the bathroom, Cal sends it into the world. It goes viral and by the time Ben comes back, they have an investor meeting scheduled.
TWO: PITCH Cal kills it in their zoom investor meeting. But wildly overpromises what the product can produce — leaving Ben on the hook to build a demo he has no idea how to build. Meanwhile, Yari lies to her husband about her new "paying" job. Desperate for a quick win, she posts a video of Cal and Ben on TikTok with the title "two idiots start a company".
THREE: PRODUCT Ben vibe codes a demo in an afternoon. Cal is ecstatic at how well it works and sends it to the investor, who asks for a roadmap. But he quickly learns it's not what they promised. After Yari's secret video gets more traction than anything she's ever posted, she gets a call from an actual paying client.
FOUR: ROADMAP Cal and Ben lock themselves in a room until the roadmap is finished, playing chatbots off each other and upgrading the deck until it's unrecognizable. In a fight, we learn Cal is funding the company through a settlement he got when he was hit by a UPS truck. Ben considers whether he needs to be independent, and find a truck of his own. Before things get out of hand, they get incredible news: a customer is interested in their product. Capturing all this on camera, Yari turns down the corporate gig to keep filming the doc. But keeps posting on TikTok.
FIVE: CUSTOMER Cal and Ben go to their first sales meeting, with Yari in tow to get footage. Everything is going perfectly until they learn the customer is only interested because of Yari's TikTok videos. Cal sees what she's been posting and fires Yari, who takes the corporate gig she turned down. Before they even leave the office, they get an email from the investor — who's seen the videos too, and is passing on their company.
SIX: ONE WAY UP With no prospects, Cal and Ben realize their only way forward is building on their TikTok traction. After failing to film themselves, they show up at Yari's corporate gig to beg her to come back, causing a scene. But instead of getting fired, Yari's client offers to fund a documentary about their company. With a fresh start for all of them, Cal and Ben go back to the drawing board. Then Ben gets a call from the investor offering him a real job.
SEASON TWO: With a real budget to film, Yari follows Cal and Ben as they hit the road to raise money, sell their new product, and hire talent.
creator · writer
Writer of tech horror comedy, HUMAN RESOURCE (15 festival selections · feature in development). Narrative consultant and writer for AI companies.
director · yari
SELAH AND THE SPADES (Sundance) · THE YOUNG WIFE (SXSW) · DAVE (FXX) · THE TWILIGHT ZONE (CBS).
message sent. stay tuned.