If Ai is the future of entertainment, who gets to decide what stories get told? In Part 2, Ali Albazaz dives into the future of Hollywood, why audiences—not executives—should be the ultimate gatekeepers, and how AI could unlock the next billion-dollar franchise. From A/B testing movies to building the next great entertainment company, this conversation explores where storytelling is headed and why the biggest disruption to Hollywood may still be ahead.

Instagram: @vertically_challenged_pod_jtss

TikTok: @vertically_challenged_jt

YouTube: @vertically_challenged_pod_jtss

Reddit: @vert_challenge_pod

Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Ai is changing entertainment faster than anyone expected—and Ali Albazaz is one of the people leading the charge. In Part 1, the CEO of Inkit, Galatea, Candy Jar, and the upcoming AI studio Ironblood explains how data-driven storytelling is helping discover the next generation of creators, why Hollywood's traditional gatekeepers are failing, and how his company became the largest American microdrama platform. Plus, we get an inside look at how they're using AI to make premium content without sacrificing creativity.

Instagram: @vertically_challenged_pod_jtss

TikTok: @vertically_challenged_jt

YouTube: @vertically_challenged_pod_jtss

Reddit: @vert_challenge_pod

Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

This week, Jay and Tony try (and immediately fail) to avoid talking about AI, accidentally invent a drinking game, and then dive headfirst into one of the biggest questions facing vertical dramas: what happens next? Is the industry evolving into premium TV made for your phone, or is it doubling down on dopamine-driven, paywall-powered storytelling? Along the way they debate why "hot priests" are suddenly everywhere, whether TikTok is about to blow up the entire business model, and why Hollywood might be making the same mistakes all over again. Equal parts industry analysis, comedy, and two friends arguing over wildly questionable analogies.

Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Kai and Federico stick around to explain how creators might actually make money when AI starts eating the old entertainment model for breakfast. They break down Anamana's creator incubator, revenue-sharing approach, and vision for a world where one person with a laptop can operate like a tiny, deranged studio. Jay and Tony push on the uncomfortable stuff too. What happens to actors? What happens to traditional production? And what happens when storytelling becomes faster, cheaper, and available to basically anyone with an idea and questionable sleep habits?

Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Jay and Tony sit down with Kai and Federico from Anamana, an AI-native storytelling platform trying to drag entertainment into its next weird and potentially awesome era. They talk AI-generated microdramas, fan fiction turning into real shows, creators building worlds without waiting for permission, and why Hollywood may be dramatically underestimating how fast this is all moving. It is part tech conversation, part existential crisis, and part warning shot to anyone still pretending a studio lot is the center of the universe.

Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Jay returns from a microdrama conference in Mallorca, Spain with tales of Hollywood's fading influence. He and Tony get into the global vertical drama boom, America's fading grip on entertainment, AI demos that somehow still need a human to stand next to them and apologize, and a K-pop dance reenactment that Jay refused to do. Meanwhile, Tony does what Tony does best and turns a serious conversation about the future of media into passport trauma, conference weirdness, and the haunting image of a baguette-filled canoe.

Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Part 2 In Part 2, Jay and Tony venture with Tommy into the wonderfully unhinged business of vertical drama, because apparently producing billion-dollar franchises was not stressful enough. Tommy breaks down why he launched VU, what Hollywood veterans still do not understand about verticals, how budgets, marketing, influencers, AI, and audience behavior are reshaping the game, and why the next great entertainment opportunity may not come from a studio lot, but from a phone screen, a ruthless hook, and several thousand very dramatic seconds of content. Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Jay and Tony sit down with Tommy Harper, a guy who somehow went from wrangling extras as a PA on Showgirls to producing Top Gun: Maverick, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, Wednesday, and basically half the movies that make the rest of us feel professionally inadequate. In Part 1, Tommy walks through the accidental, slightly insane path from PA-ing alongside Hollywood legends to building a career with Tim Burton, J.J. Abrams, and Tom Cruise, while explaining what actually matters when things gets expensive, the stakes get stupid, and how a random article on a train in Spain sent him down the vertical drama rabbit hole. Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Jay and Tony continue their conversation with Eddie Yoon as they dive into AI actors, infinity contracts, dead celebrity licensing, fake movie trailers, and the very real possibility that Hollywood may eventually decide physical reality is simply too expensive. They debate whether AI actually democratizes creativity or just hands the keys to a new class of gatekeepers wearing Patagonia vests. Eddie breaks down why every studio is already quietly building AI systems, what happens when machines learn your taste better than you do, and why "creative instinct" may soon be something you license. Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com

Jay ventured to the LA Vertical Market so Tony didn't have to. From AI panic to talks on data-driven storytelling to debates over how to properly carry a woman out of a room, the guys unpack the weird, fascinating, slightly dystopian future of micro dramas. Along the way, they get into China's production of tens of thousands of AI titles a month, the fact that comedy somehow still works, and a world worshiping new technology even though nobody can explain who owns anything anymore. Equal parts industry therapy session and cynical autopsy. Contact: [email protected]

The Jay and Tony Show: www.jayandtonyshow.com