Why I Built The Murk With AI — And What That Actually Looks Like On Day One

The Murk Report is a production diary documenting the real-time build of The Murk Audio LLC — an independent audio drama studio in Portland, Oregon. In Episode 1, founder James Williams covers the first 25 days: filing the LLC, securing the trademark, negotiating a studio contract, opening casting for Dead Signal, and what it actually means to use AI as a core operational tool — not hype, not magic, just preparation and execution.

The Murk makes audio drama. Noir, horror, sci-fi. Dead Signal drops August 15, 2026.

Follow the build: murk.audio

Transcript

Speaker 0:02

My name is James Williams. I'm a disabled veteran in Portland, Oregon, and I work a nine to five job in IT. And twenty five days ago I filed an LLC. This is The Murk Report, a podcast about building an independent audio drama studio from the ground up in public, with AI as a core part of how we operate. Not an AI hype show, not a business interview show, a production diary. Real decisions, real numbers, real stakes.

Speaker 0:41

The studio is called The Murk Audio LLC. We make audio drama noir horror sci-fi Pacific Northwest stories for an audience that wants exactly that three shows in development Dead Signal a 1951 Portland Noir Blackwood Manor Gothic Horror Signal Lost Serialized SciFi Dead Signal drops August 15th. I'm not a media industry insider. I didn't come up through a network or a studio. I came up through the military and then through IT. I have a nine to five, a Mac Mini, and a USB microphone. Oh, and the conviction that the tools exist right now to do this if you're willing to use them.

Speaker 1:40

The tools I'm talking about are AI, and I want to be specific about what that means, because it doesn't mean what most people think. I'm not using AI to write the scripts. The scripts are written by me with AI refinement. What I'm using AI for is operations, project management, legal research, casting coordination, press strategy, social media, financial tracking, the kind of infrastructure that would normally require a staff. I'm running it as one person with a day job. Here's what that looks like in practice. On May 5th, I got a call with a recording studio here in Portland called Digital One to negotiate a production contract. I had the brief ready, I knew exactly what I was asking for, a cost cap, specific credit terms, delivery format, payment methods, all four asks landed. I sent the follow-up confirmation email by 4:58 PM in the afternoon. That's what AI infrastructure looks like. Not magic, it's preparation and execution.

Speaker 2:55

Let me give you the first twenty five days. April 16, we filed the LLC, we got the EIN assigned, our domain was registered. That was $334 out the door. The next day on the seventeenth, we filed trademark, The Murk. Serial number 99772584 $700. April eighteenth, our banking went live. We secured social handles on every platform. Find us at The Murk everywhere. April twenty first, operating agreements were signed, studio tour was booked. April thirtieth, we retained our attorney, and the casting platforms went live. On may first, the first show name reveal on socials was Dead Signal, followed shortly by Blackwood Manor Out in the world for the first time. May 8th, casting posts published on Casting Call Club, press pitch to Willamette Week and Portland Monthly. As of this morning, 16 submissions (accurate at time of recording) for Dead Signal, 20 people are following the project, three days after posting with no audience and no track record. Current cash on hand, $1,995. $1,058 sitting in a separate account is personal money that I spent before our banking went live. Covered costs for domain, trademark, registered agent. It comes back when the cash flow allows it.

Speaker 4:52

Every major decision I make runs through what I call the advisory board. Six people who don't know they're in this room. Alex Bloomberg built Gimlet Media and Startup Podcast. He teaches me that vulnerability plus specific detail beats polish every time. Rob Walling, 16 years of weekly publishing without a network and without a viral moment. He teaches me that longevity beats launch. Christy Gressman built Nightvale Presents into the most recognizable name in independent audio fiction. She built what The Murk is trying to build. John Lee Dumas is an army veteran Entrepreneurs on Fire 4,000 episodes Discipline over inspiration. Joe Rogan not the format, the ownership principle. Built the show so no single platform can kill it. Alex Cooper Caller Daddy Build the community before you build the extensions. Don't build the network before you've built the show. The question I asked before every decision what would they say we're getting wrong?

Speaker 6:20

Here's what comes next. Dead Signal casting closes may sixteenth. Studio recording at Digital One is being scheduled for early June. August fifteenth, Dead Signal, Episode 1 drops. Episode 2 of this podcast happens when the cast is locked. Looks like the end of May. Episode three happens on August fifteenth, the day Dead Signal drops. This show exists to document everything between now and then. The decisions that work, the ones that don't. The real numbers at every stage. I have no idea if this works, that's why I'm recording it.