BREAKING NEWS: Beloved virtual influencer John Pork has been found dead, and the prime suspect is none other than Timmy Cheese.

If that sentence leaves you scratching your head, you're not alone. Yet somehow, this bizarre narrative has captivated millions on TikTok this week.​

The saga of Timmy Cheese and John Pork is exactly the kind of content critics dismissively label "AI slop" — cheap, algorithmically-optimized "brain rot" designed purely for virality.

But here's my challenge to you: Spend 30 minutes crawling into the Timmy Cheese rabbit hole. Click through these strange, chaotic videos, and you'll quickly realize something remarkable beneath the absurdity.

An new generation of creators - mostly Gen Alpha - is quietly exploring the craft of storytelling using a suite of AI-powered tools.

The New Studio System: CapCut, TikTok, and $20 Classes

This new generation of storytellers is producing this viral content directly in CapCut, TikTok’s integrated editing app. While we talk about how incredible outputs from Runway or Google’s Veo 2 can be in the right person’s hands, these new creators are generating AI-first stories with the best tool available to them right now. Anyone with smartphone can go from a quirky idea to viral sensation in just minutes.

Even more fascinating: creators like galabool_68 (lol) are not only mastering these tools, they’re monetizing their skills by offering paid classes directly through TikTok and other platforms. For $20, aspiring viral hitmakers can learn how to hook an audience, edit for maximum impact, and leverage AI features to boost views.

While we’re not sure exactly how good this class is, it’s clearly a micro-entrepreneurial wave reshaping how skills are taught, learned, and valued.

What These Creators Are Really Learning

Beneath the absurdity of AI-generated meme culture lies a surprisingly rigorous crash course in storytelling.

Creators mastering these bite-sized narratives must learn to craft emotional hooks in mere seconds, maintain audience attention through rapid-fire pacing, sharp tonal shifts, and cliffhanger endings. And by constantly experimenting with the latest AI voice filters, AI image & video tools along with clever sound design, they're essentially building miniature movie studios on their phones.

Perhaps most importantly, the feedback loop on platforms like TikTok offers immediate insights into audience engagement. Creators instantly see what's working and what's not, adjusting their approach in real time.

This is exactly the sort of process I talked about in my recent presentation at NATPE on “Micro-Studios and The Speed-To-IP Revolution”. I encourage y’all to check out my slides on that talk to get a better understanding of how this could completely change Hollywood going forward.

The Line Between 'AI Slop' and Storytelling is Blurring Fast

Right now, this sort of "AI slop" might feel disposable, silly, even a little embarrassing. But dismissing it outright ignores a meaningful cultural shift that's underway. These viral oddities aren't random noise—they’re glimpses into the future of storytelling, one that's quicker, scrappier, and far more accessible.

As AI tools rapidly evolve, expect increasingly sophisticated narratives to emerge from exactly these kinds of experiments. The generation raised on CapCut edits and Timmy Cheese memes isn't just passively scrolling; they're actively training to become tomorrow’s media creators.

Still skeptical? Totally understandable. I'm not suggesting this content will win Oscars anytime soon. But every creative should recognize that a major shift is happening right before our eyes.

Dive in yourself, and you might find what you dismissed as mere "AI slop" is actually an exciting new storytelling frontier.

-Gavin