Storycraft in the Age of AI: Narratology, Structure and the Human Voice
About this Video
Sundance Institute's Story Forum: Exploring Art and Innovation is a space to learn, collaborate, and join the conversation; inviting thoughtful dialogue about the artist-first tools and technologies supporting visual storytelling today.
AI is entering storytelling, but the real question is not whether machines can generate scenes. It’s whether we can use AI to help humans build better stories: more coherent, more original, and more emotionally honest. This panel explores how narratology (the study of story structure, meaning, and form) can guide human-centered AI tools toward new plot structures for the modern age, beyond inherited templates like the Hero’s Journey. This session will examine how creators can keep the moving parts of a story legible, stress-test decisions, and discover new shapes without flattening the original voice.
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Joseph Couch
Co-founder and CTO, Othelia
Joseph Couch is the Sydney based Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Othelia, where he builds systems for working with complex stories and expansive storyworlds. His work spans long-form narrative design and interactive storytelling across film, new media, and games. He has advised leading studios and production companies on creative development and collaborated with interactive teams on narrative experiences. He has presented his ideas at prominent venues, including the Sydney Opera House.
Mike S. Ryan
Independent Producer, Professor of Narratology, Emerson College
Mike S. Ryan has produced 30 plus independent features including award winning features for such directors as Todd Solondz, Kelly Richard, Hal Hartley and Bela Tarr.
Junebug is one of the lowest budgeted films to receive a Oscar nomination (Amy Adams' first). His films have played all of the top international festivals including winning awards at the Spirits and Gotham's. Mike’s most recent film is The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire by Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, which started in competition at Rotterdam 2024 and went on to play TIFF and NYFF and theaters in the US in 2025. It won Best Experimental Film in 2024 by the National Society of Film Critics.
Mike is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and he is an Associate Professor at Emerson College where he teaches Producing and Narratology. He is both a US and Irish Citizen.
Alicia Van Couvering
Moderator | Producer, ADULTS, TINY FURNITURE
Alicia Van Couvering is an independent producer whose credits include FX’s Adults, Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture, Jon Watts' Cop Car, Joe Swanberg's Drinking Buddies, Gimlet Media's inaugural scripted podcast, Homecoming, and its television adaptation, as well as numerous short films and commercials.
Formerly an executive with Nick Kroll's Good at Business, Lord Miller Productions, Epic Magazine, and Annapurna Pictures, she is also a contributing editor to Filmmaker Magazine, a nominee for the Independent Spirit Award for Producer of the Year and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.