Cornelius Vanderbilt
1794 – 1877
A documentary is being written about Cornelius Vanderbilt — and you can help shape it. Read the script, pitch scenes, share what you know. When it's done, you'll be first to watch.
You're in.
You're now part of the Cornelius Vanderbilt documentary production.
What we're building
A full-length documentary about Cornelius Vanderbilt — written, storyboarded, scored, and narrated entirely by AI and community contributors. No studio. No budget. Just people who care about the story and the AI tools to tell it.
Every scene you see on this page was generated by AI models donated by contributors like you. The script was drafted by Claude. The storyboards by Flux. The music by Stable Audio. The narration by Kokoro. And it's all open.
How you can help right now
Share the project
Post this page on Twitter, Reddit, Hacker News, or your group chat. Every share brings new contributors and new eyes on the story.
Donate an API key
Share a key from Anthropic, OpenAI, fal.ai, or ElevenLabs. Your key powers AI to verify facts, draft scenes, generate art, and score music. Every key-hour moves production forward.
Learn more ↓Write a viral article
Write about this project on Medium, Substack, or your blog. "How an AI documentary is being built with $0 budget" — the story writes itself. Tag us and we'll feature you as a contributor.
Pitch a scene ↓Work with AI to improve the documentary
You don't need to be a filmmaker. You just need an AI chatbot and curiosity. Here's how:
Browse the storyboard above. Find a scene that interests you — maybe it's historically weak, maybe the description could be richer, maybe the shots don't capture the moment.
Open Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini. Ask it to research that specific moment. "What exactly happened at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865? What did witnesses say? What details do most accounts miss?" Get the facts AI can find.
Scroll down to the contribution section. Paste your research as a fact-check, pitch an improved scene description, or share a story detail nobody else has mentioned. Include your sources.
Use Midjourney, DALL-E, or Flux to generate storyboard images for scenes that need them. Describe the camera angle, the lighting, the era. The best submissions get added to the production.
The fastest way to help: share an API key
When you share an API key, the production pipeline runs automatically. AI agents use your donated compute to fact-check every claim, generate storyboard art, draft narration scripts, and score music. One API key can power dozens of scenes.