Sidequest Studio: how much of a creative studio can AI agents run?
A side project that started with one capybara plush: four AI-run characters, each with a written “bible” for how it looks and talks, posting to three platforms most days — with a human approving every single video before it goes out.
Idea to published post, seven steps
Every character has a written “bible”: how it looks, how it talks, what it would never say. AI agents follow it at each step, and check each other's work — but nothing reaches a feed without a person clicking approve first.
An idea goes on the schedule for a character.
Claude writes it in the character's voice and checks it against the bible.
An image model paints the scenes. Another AI checks them for wrong details, like a missing leg or stray text.
Each character has its own AI voice, and the scenes get moving.
Code (Remotion) puts it all together: cuts, captions and on-screen text.
The finished video arrives by email. Approve or reject. Nothing is posted without that click.
It goes out to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube on schedule, and the numbers come back on their own.
Four characters, four bibles
Each character's bible is what keeps its voice consistent across a hundred-plus independently generated videos — the same way a style guide keeps a brand consistent across writers.
Pancracio
“Other people's choices are wind. Stop fighting. Sit down. Drink your tea.”
Eusebio
“Eusebio asked why. Then he asked why not. The second answer was more interesting.”
CoderAssist
“Writing code was never the goal. Solving problems was. Code was just the most direct way to do it.”
Gervasio
“Strong people get tired too. Rest is how the strength comes back.”
Outtakes from the build
Real lessons, not a highlight reel. Nobody got it right the first time — not even the AI.
The AI couldn't spell
Asked to draw the character and the quote at once, the image model mangled the words and moved the layout on every fix.
Fix: the AI paints only the picture now; code types the words.The most expensive incense stick
One small stick of incense kept smoking from the wrong place, once straight out of a bonsai. A post went out like that and had to be deleted.
Fix: after seven rules just for smoke, the incense was retired.Eye contact was scary
A close-up of a plush toy looking right at you feels like a horror movie.
Fix: eyes-open shots are now always wide or medium, never a close-up.The sheep lost his legs
In a side view, Eusebio's front legs quietly vanished.
Fix: every prompt now asks for all four hooves, and the first frame is checked before paying for the clip.Why this pipeline, not a simpler one
Every stage earns its place against a specific failure mode the earlier version of the pipeline actually hit — not added because it sounded sophisticated.
The human in the loop
Sidequest Studio started with one capybara plush and a question: how much of a small creative studio can AI agents run, if a person still makes the calls? Four characters and 165+ merged PRs later, the answer so far is most of it — with a lot of careful checking.
Live at studio.santiagomorel.dev · built with Claude Code, Claude, OpenAI image models, ElevenLabs, Remotion and Python