AI Creative Producer, Vertical Drama

ZING; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Zing is seeking an AI Creative Producer, Vertical Drama to own the creative and operational success of its AI-produced vertical drama slate.

This hybrid director/producer role requires setting visual storytelling direction, managing vendors, timelines, budgets, and delivery while ensuring episodes ship on time, on budget, and on brand.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in vertical/short-form drama production with real credits.
• Direct experience using AI creative tools in a production pipeline.
• Strong understanding of hooks, reversals, cliffhangers and fast-payoff storytelling.
• Proven experience managing external vendors and budgets.
• Excellent visual storytelling and project-management skills.
• Fluent English; Mandarin proficiency is a plus.
• Based in Los Angeles or able to work from LA.
• Portfolio or work sample of director reels or produced vertical series preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide creative direction for AI-powered vertical drama projects.
• Translate scripts into production-ready visuals and AI requirements.
• Oversee AI image/video generation, review style frames and notes on quality.
• Manage timelines, budgets, and vendor allocations across multiple productions.
• Coordinate briefs and ensure compliance with specs: 9:16, 1–3 min episodes.
• Supervise post-production: editing, sound, subtitles, final polish.
• Maintain consistency across episodes and series.
• Liaise with leadership and external AI production vendors.

Skills

Vertical/short-form production

AI production tools

Vendor management

Visual storytelling

Budget & timeline ownership

Multi-project management

Fluent English

Team coordination

Tools

Seedance

Runway

Kling

Midjourney

Frame.io

Airtable

Notion

Job description

We are a fast-growing digital entertainment company specializing in high-quality vertical miniseries and UGC ads for global audiences. Through innovative storytelling and audience-driven approaches, we aim to captivate mobile-first viewers with fast-paced, engaging, and emotionally compelling content. Our mission is to redefine short-form entertainment by integrating creativity, data-driven insights, and cross-cultural perspectives.

About the Role

The AI Creative Producer, Vertical Drama owns both the creative and operational success of Zing's AI-produced vertical drama slate, end to end. This is a hybrid director/producer role: you set the visual and storytelling direction for each series, and you also run the vendor relationships, timelines, budgets, and delivery process that get it made. You are the single point of accountability between Zing's leadership and its external AI production partners - translating scripts into production-ready creative direction, briefing and managing AI vendors, reviewing every stage of delivery for both creative quality and operational compliance, and making sure episodes ship on time, on budget, and on brand.

Responsibilities

• Creative Direction
• Lead AI-powered vertical short drama projects from script breakdown through final delivery.
• Translate scripts into production-ready visual plans: scene breakdowns, shot lists, character references, location references, style guides, and AI production requirements.
• Guide AI image and video generation; review style frames, character tests, motion tests, rough cuts, and final deliverables, and give clear, actionable notes on continuity, performance, composition, pacing, and tone.
• Strengthen episode-level hooks, cliffhangers, reversals, and emotional escalation for 1-3 minute vertical episodes.
• Maintain visual, character, and story consistency across episodes and series.
• Supervise post-production - editing, sound, music, subtitles, and final polish.
• Serve as the primary point of contact between Zing and external AI production vendors and partners.
• Own project timelines, budgets, and resource/vendor allocation across multiple concurrent productions.
• Communicate creative briefs, visual references, production standards, delivery timelines, and revision notes to vendors, and hold them to Zing's technical specs (9:16 format, 1-3 min episodes) and quality benchmarks.
• Manage legal and logistical documentation, including contracts, deliverables, and release forms.
• Identify production risks, bottlenecks, and vendor concerns; propose mitigations and elevate to leadership as needed.
• Enforce SOP compliance across all productions and proactively build relationships with new top-tier AI production vendors.
• Build repeatable AI production workflows: vendor briefing templates, character bibles, prompt guidelines, review checklists, and delivery specifications.
• Translate platform data, audience feedback, and ad performance learnings into creative and production improvements.
• Help define Zing's internal AI vertical drama production playbook and quality standards.
• Monitor emerging AI tools, trends, and vendor capabilities to keep Zing's workflows and partner network competitive.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• 3+ years of hands-on experience in vertical/short-form drama production - as a director, showrunner, creative producer, or producer - with real credits in the format (not adjacent film/TV only).
• Direct working experience using AI creative tools specifically for vertical drama production, e.g. Seedance, Runway, Kling, Midjourney, Flux, ComfyUI, Pika, Luma, or similar, in an actual production pipeline (not just personal experimentation).
• Strong understanding of vertical drama structure and mechanics: hooks, reversals, cliffhangers, emotional escalation, fast-payoff storytelling.
• Also Important
• Proven experience managing external vendors, production partners, or outsourced/remote production teams, ideally across several projects at once.
• Strong visual storytelling ability - framing, shot design, blocking, mood, performance direction, edit rhythm - paired with equally strong organizational and project-management skills.
• Comfortable owning budgets, timelines, contracts, and vendor accountability, not just creative notes.
• Strong taste in commercial, female-driven vertical drama genres: romance, fantasy, revenge, billionaire, werewolf, mafia, forbidden love, melodrama, or similar high-retention genres.
• Familiarity with production/workflow tools such as Airtable, Notion, or Frame.io.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfortable managing multiple stakeholders (leadership, vendors, AI artists) at once.
• Fluent English required; Mandarin proficiency is a strong plus for coordinating with overseas AI production partners.
• Must be based in or able to work from Los Angeles.
• A portfolio or work sample - director reels, vendor briefs, visual lookbooks, storyboards, or produced vertical series - is strongly preferred.