Broadcaster Steve Penk has been recording his signature wind-up calls for over 30 years, most notably in 1998, when he managed to get then-Prime Minister Tony Blair on the line.
Now, he’s bringing the calls to a new audience with the help of artificial intelligence.
Penk has teamed up with ITV Studios and Abadi Films to create Steve Penk’s Animal Radio FM. The show, which is available to watch on YouTube and TikTok, is set in a pirate radio station run by animals. All of the calls are with real people in real situations.
“I have always had the idea in the back of my mind about animating the calls, as I’ve always felt that animation would bring a whole new level of comedy, but cost has always been the thing that has stopped this from happening because traditional animation is expensive and extremely time-consuming,” Penk tells TVBEurope.
“My original wind-up calls were audio only; when people listened to them, they created their own images in their mind of what the caller looked like, the location they were in etc. It really was theatre of the mind. But now AI has created new and amazing visuals.”
After an approach by Mike Beale from ITV Studios, who was looking to explore new areas of content using AI, Penk was introduced to James Abadi from Abadi Films. “James and I hadn’t met or worked together, but I have to say, it’s been a total joy working with him. We share a similar passion for ideas and attention to detail; it’s a real thrill working on this project.”
With Abadi on board, work began to turn the calls into video. Abadi worked on several different ideas, creating imagery and test sequences.
“One involved a Wolf of Wall Street-inspired call centre manned by apes in suits and patrolled by female humans,” he explains. “But pretty quickly the concept of a pirate radio station on top of a crumbling tower block, run by animals winding up humans seemed completely obvious. I couldn’t believe nobody had done it! When the concept was locked, I worked on the style to create a hybrid AI-feel animation setup. I wanted to create something different, weird and fun.
“Once the concept, characters and environment were locked, scene iterations depended on various factors. The pipeline became more streamlined as I progressed.”
Having spent the last few years using AI to create content, Abadi opted to employ agentic AI platform Omnigen to design, create and track all the iterations. “It really is an amazing AI platform that allows full control and creation of absolutely anything. I made everything through it, from the animation to the music,” he explains.
“I was well aware of what we could do with a good idea, new platforms and not such a high budget!”
Penk says he was “blown away” by the quality of the AI-created videos. “Every day is a learning process, as we discover more and more things the AI can do,” he adds. “It works so well with the wind-up calls, and the cast of characters we’ve created are already developing their own personality; this will only grow as we create more videos and shorts.
“I have a vast library of audio we can use and lots of ideas of how [the show] can grow as an ITV Studios entertainment brand,” concludes Penk. “I’m loving every minute of creating the world of Steve Penk’s Animal Radio FM.”
The show is available to watch on YouTube here.
