Digital Humans and the Story Behind Lil Miquela

a16z Podcast

a16z

Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve probably heard of ‘Lil Miquela. The 19 year-old Brazilian-American inﬂuencer has millions of followers and has partnered with the likes of Samsung and Prada. But despite capturing the hearts of many, she’s not real. But you probably haven’t heard her origin story. In this episode we take a trip back to 2016, to a world that looked much different to today, together with two of Miquela’s creators – Trevor McFedries and Isaac Bratzel – cofounder and Chief Design and Innovation Officer of Brud at the time. We learn what inspired the experiment and what early signs indicated that Miquela was not just a novel idea. In a world where spinning up an influencer, we learn what it took to capture mindshare, the pushback they’ve received, what a “scalable influencer” means, and what they think is to come.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	She was like you keep saying scalable celebrity but like what does that look like?
0:05.0	You've probably heard of Lom Michaela, also known as Michaela Susa,
0:10.0	a 19 year old Brazilian American influencer with millions of followers online.
0:14.9	She's partnered with the likes of Samsung and Prada, but she's also not real.
0:20.4	But here's the thing. And Michaela is not alone.
0:24.0	You might have also heard of the other digital influencers out there,
0:27.0	whether it be Knox Frost, Emma, or even Olympia Ohinians Dahl Qua Qua Qua.
0:45.2	Well, in today's conversation we get an inside look into the origin story behind Loma Kala, a virtual trailblazer created in 2016 by Brad. And we do so with Trevor McPhedries and Isaac Bratzel. Trevor was the co-founder and creative genius behind Brad, while Isaac was the chief design and innovation officer. So he was
0:49.8	actually in charge of creating the avatar and running the design and tech teams.
0:53.0	So we get to hear firsthand what inspired this experiment and also what early signs were
0:58.4	showing that Michaela was not just a novel idea but a character that people were
1:02.0	really resonating with, even writing
1:04.1	fan fiction about. And in an era where it's easier than ever to spin up a character,
1:08.5	where does it all go? When an influencer can truly look however you wanted to look, how do you decide?
1:15.2	How do you create a narrative that resonates?
1:17.4	How do you get past the uncanny valley and what are the ethics of all this?
1:21.0	We cover all this and more, and I'm truly so excited to have you listen to this conversation.
1:25.0	As a reminder, the content here is for informational purposes only.
1:29.0	Should not be taken as legal business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security
1:35.1	and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any A16S fund.
1:39.6	For more details please see A16Z.com slash disclosures. It's 2016.
1:58.0	2016. I just want to paint a picture for the listeners. Britain just voted to leave the EU.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from a16z, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of a16z and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.