The Pulse
Mansa tests demand for Black stories with AI microdrama, WIRED reports
Mansa has released a 30-episode AI-generated zombie series as part of a strategy to test audience interest in Black stories. Co-founder Nate Parker says the company hopes the results can help make a case for live-action productions.
Mansa is using a 30-episode AI-generated zombie drama to test whether audiences will support Black stories that could eventually become live-action productions. Co-founder Nate Parker told WIRED he hopes the approach will give studios evidence of demand before they commit to a live production.
The series, They Left Us to Die, premiered October 30 on the Mansa app and TikTok Minis. Its use of AI has also drawn criticism from viewers who question the absence of human acting roles at a company founded to support Black creative voices.
A test before live action
Set in South Los Angeles, the story follows emergency room nurse Imani Cross as she searches for a cure for her infected brother after authorities barricade the neighborhood during a zombie outbreak, WIRED reports. Mansa was founded by actors Parker and David Oyelowo.
Blex Media reports that the show uses digitally created characters and environments, without performances by live actors. Each episode nevertheless went through a human-led production process that included professional editors, according to the outlet.
Parker described the series as a way to build a story world and test it with audiences before committing to live-action production, Blex Media reported. He told WIRED that microdramas let the company monetize a story while tracking engagement to see whether it appeals to viewers.
“You get to track data around engagement and see if this is something the audience wants,” Parker said.
WIRED reports that Mansa has produced nine live-action microdramas and two that are fully AI-generated. The company declined to share data on how its AI series were performing.
Reaction to the series
The trailer received a mostly favorable reaction on Instagram after its October 29 release, according to WIRED. But as the first episode approached, some commenters questioned the decision to make a show without human roles and accused Mansa of abandoning its support for Black talent.
Actress Yvette Nicole Brown also posted a disapproving response, the outlet reported. Parker told WIRED he was not surprised by the backlash, acknowledging that AI brings to mind the real lives affected by the technology.
J. Christopher Hamilton, an associate professor of communications at Syracuse and an entertainment lawyer, told WIRED that people see the technology as taking opportunities away from them. He also predicted that AI microdramas would be a compelling business proposition for the industry, while saying that actors and storytellers would not disappear completely.
Representation in film
According to the 2026 UCLA Hollywood Diversity report, cited by WIRED, Black actors accounted for 6.5 percent of movie leads in 2025. The same report found that Black directors accounted for 3.3 percent of releases that year.
Parker told WIRED that he wants Mansa, which distributes diaspora-focused content, to demonstrate the value of moving from an idea to a script and then to market in weeks rather than the years a project might take through the Hollywood system.