How LeyLine Pro Is Helping 9:16 Creators Greenlight Themselves

For generations, filmmaking has been shaped as much by access as by talent. Great scripts often stall not because they lack vision, but because they lack budgets, approvals, or institutional backing. LeyLine Pro was built in response to that bottleneck: a platform designed to help creators move from idea to finished video without stitching together a half-dozen disconnected AI tools-or waiting for permission to make their work.

Founded by screenwriter-turned-entrepreneur Qiushi Z. and co-founder Suzan Su LeyLine Pro brings the professional production pipeline into a single AI-powered workflow. Zhang, whose background spans screenwriting, film finance at HSBC and Citi, and cross-border productions through Enthuse Studios, built the company with a clear thesis: creators should be able to iterate like professionals, even without studio infrastructure behind them.

In the conversation below, Zhang explains why LeyLine Pro exists, what problem it solves for modern creators, and why she believes vertical storytelling is becoming one of the most important formats in media.

How and why did you get started with LeyLine Pro?

I moved to LA to write films. I did all the things you’re supposed to do-got meetings, found representation, pitched my heart out. And then I waited. And waited. That’s what nobody warns you about as a screenwriter: most of the job is waiting for someone else to say yes, and most of the time the yes never comes. Not because the work isn’t good enough-there just aren’t enough greenlights, budgets, or slots to go around.

I watched so many talented friends give up. Scripts that deserved to exist were sitting in drawers. I almost gave up too.

Then AI video generation got really good, and I saw a way out-not out of filmmaking, but out of the waiting. I thought, “What if you didn’t need anyone’s permission anymore?”

The problem was that the tools weren’t built for people like me. They were built for engineers. You could type a prompt and get something, but that’s not how you make a film. Films have scripts, shot breakdowns, character designs, storyboards, timelines — a real process.

So I called my co-founder, Suzan Su. We’d known each other for seven years, and she’d spent more than 20 years making productions happen at places like Warner Bros. and Huhu Studios. She knew how real productions get made.

We built the tool we wished we’d had: the same six-step pipeline professional studios use-Script → Breakdown → Assets → Keyframes → Video → Timeline-powered by AI so a single creator can run it without owning twelve subscriptions, hiring a crew, or waiting for someone else’s approval.

That’s the thesis: greenlight yourself.

What problem in video production made LeyLine Pro necessary?

Two related problems made LeyLine Pro necessary.

The first is fragmentation. Best-in-class script tools live in one place, image generation in another, video in another, voice in another, and editing somewhere else again. Creators end up paying hundreds of dollars a month across multiple subscriptions, while losing continuity and context every time they switch apps.

The second is format mismatch. Vertical storytelling has its own grammar-9:16 framing, fast hooks, mobile-native pacing, and episode structures built for retention. But most AI tools are still designed around cinematic horizontal output.

LeyLine Pro collapses that stack into a single workflow and treats vertical video as a first-class format, not as an afterthought.

If someone logs into LeyLine Pro for the first time, what can they realistically create in the first hour?

Realistically, in the first hour, someone can create a finished 30–60 second vertical scene: a script beat, four or five image keyframes, camera-motion video clips, and an assembled cut with voice.

That’s not a full episode yet-that usually takes a few more hours and some iteration-but it is enough to make something genuinely shareable.

The first-hour outcome we care about isn’t, “I generated a cool clip.” It’s, “Oh, this is actually producible.”

A lot of creators already use separate AI tools for writing, images, video, and editing. What makes LeyLine Pro different from stitching tools together manually?

Three things.

First, continuity. Character and style sheets carry across image and video generation inside the same project, so Episode 1, Frame 1 still feels visually coherent by Episode 3, Frame 47. When creators stitch tools together manually, they often have to re-prompt the same character every shot and lose consistency.

Second, the pipeline is format-aware. Everything is vertical-first. Creators don’t have to fight aspect ratios or crop horizontal renders into mobile compositions after the fact.

Third, it’s one bill with access to 50+ underlying models. Instead of juggling subscriptions, creators buy credits and choose the model that best fits the shot.

How does LeyLine Pro help creators move from idea to finished video faster without losing creative control?

The workflow is simple: script beats → scene breakdown → keyframes → video clips → assembly.

At every stage, the creator stays in editorial control. You approve the beats. You choose the keyframes. You decide which clips belong in the final cut.

We’re not trying to auto-generate a full episode and hand it back with a “good luck.” Speed comes from removing friction between steps-no endless exports, no app switching, no ratio juggling, no re-building continuity from scratch. But creative judgment still belongs to the human.

The creator remains the director.

Where does the human creator still matter most in an AI-powered production workflow?

Three places, and I don’t think that changes.

First, taste. A model can generate four plausible shots, but choosing the one that actually serves the scene is human work.

Second, story structure. AI is still weak at long-form coherence, especially in vertical drama, where hook, escalation, and cliffhanger are almost mathematical.

Third, restraint. Generative tools make it cheap to create noise. The creators who break out will be the ones who know what not to make-who reject 95% of what’s possible and ship the 5% that really lands.

Do you see AI video becoming the new pitch deck for creators, filmmakers, and brands?

Yes-and on the brand side, it’s already happening.

Brands are increasingly using AI-generated concept films where they might previously have used mood reels or reference footage. The shift is from “here’s how I’d film it” to “here’s what it actually looks like.”

For filmmakers, AI pitch reels create a similar opportunity. Instead of relying only on a written treatment or slide deck, creators can show tone, pacing, and atmosphere before a production budget exists.

The creative pitch deck of 2026 looks a lot more like a 30-second AI-generated trailer than a 40-slide PDF.

How is LeyLine Pro thinking about vertical storytelling and the rise of 9:16 formats like microdramas, social video, and mobile-first series?

It’s the format we’re betting on.

Vertical drama became a multi-billion-dollar category in China, and platforms in the US and Europe are catching up quickly. But more importantly, the storytelling grammar is fundamentally different from traditional film. It requires faster cuts, character-centered vertical composition, stronger cold opens, and endings engineered for the next-episode click.

We’re building LeyLine’s entire production pipeline around that grammar.

That’s also why we launched the AI Micro Drama Masterclass: to help creators actually ship original vertical series, not just experiment with isolated clips.

What are creators making with LeyLine Pro that surprised you?

A few patterns have stood out.

Sci-fi microdramas are one. Creators are using AI to achieve production design they simply could not afford a few years ago. One creator built a six-episode mini-series set on an off-world colony using assets that might have required a six-figure budget in traditional production.

Period drama is another. Historical costuming, set dressing, and world-building are suddenly more accessible to solo creators.

And then there are trailer cuts-creators using LeyLine Pro to make 15-second vertical proof-of-concept trailers for projects they’re pitching elsewhere.

What surprised me most wasn’t the visuals. It was how many creators are using AI for the bottleneck steps of a real production workflow, not just for one-off experiments.

What is the big-picture impact you want LeyLine Pro to have?

I want vertical drama to become a place where talent matters more than budget.

Right now, real opportunity in the format is still gated by production capital. You usually need money, a team, or both to get something off the ground. AI changes that.

The big bet is that in a few years, not all breakout vertical creators will be studio-backed. Some of them will be solo creators or three-person teams who made and shipped their first series themselves.

We want LeyLine Pro to be the on-ramp: tools, mentorship, and eventually distribution.

What are the dates of your sprint? How can people join?

Summer Cohort 01 runs from June 9 to July 11, 2026.

The format includes six instructor-led sessions in Los Angeles, with Zoom access for remote participants, two production workshops, and a final showcase with an industry panel. The cohort is mentored by Zao Wang (Apollo Award-winning vertical drama director) and Austin Zartman (Apple TV).

Pricing is first-come, first-paid. The first 10 paid applicants lock in a founding-tier rate of $749, which includes 750 LeyLine credits. After that, the standard rate is $999.

Creators can apply at the AI Micro Drama Masterclass page. The team reviews applications within three business days, and enrollment closes when the cohort fills.

Final Thoughts

LeyLine Pro is built around a deceptively simple idea: creators shouldn’t have to wait for permission to make ambitious work. In an era when AI can dramatically lower the cost of iteration, the real advantage no longer belongs only to studios with the biggest budgets, but to creators with the clearest point of view and the willingness to keep refining until the work lands.

If that happens, AI won’t just change production. It will change who gets to participate.

Interested in joining the next wave of AI-native vertical storytellers? Visit the AI Micro Drama Masterclass page and scroll to the bottom to join the waitlist for the next cohort in July. You can also follow LeyLine Pro on LinkedIn for announcements about the second cohort and future updates. Use my code MEIKO100 for $100 off → https://leylinepro.ai/events/ai-micro-drama-masterclass

9:16 Vertical Intelligence is tracking the market signal layer behind the vertical drama economy and the AI Pipeline. Stay Vertical.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.