No Cameras, No Sets: How 'The Later Journey to the West' Cracked Primetime TV

On August 31, a 60-episode drama quietly slipped into Hunan Satellite TV's primetime lineup and landed on Mango TV. Nothing unusual—except there wasn't a single camera on set. Every frame of The Later Journey to the West was generated by AI, specifically the Seedance model. Within a week, it racked up over 150 million plays on Mango TV.

The People Behind the Pixels

The project began with two veterans tired of traditional film limitations. Director Li Dongshen spent years making documentaries—his Gansu Corridor scored a 9.7 on Douban—but ancient scenes were impossible to recreate realistically. So in 2025, he started dabbling with AI. When Seedance 2.0 arrived in February 2026, he saw a real path forward. "It's truly epoch-making," he says.

Mango TV didn't hesitate. The platform had been building AI tools since 2018, and its self-developed AIGC platform, Mango Lingchuang, already had several projects under its belt. The two sides submitted the project for approval within days.

From idea to primetime, the first season took just six months—three months of actual production. That speed was helped by a "review while broadcasting" policy, which lets the team incorporate feedback on the fly. As Lu Haibo, Mango TV's CTO, puts it, this approach keeps refining the content as it airs.

From Camera Logic to Single-Frame Logic

"The hardest part is removing the camera from your mind," Li says. In the AIGC era, directors no longer think about how to shoot a scene. They define what's in each frame and how it changes—then Seedance brings it to life. A team of about 100 people split into script, art, and generation groups. Costumes, lighting, set design—all folded into the AI workflow. Li describes himself as "more of a project manager, providing the initial spark and the final judgment." The other 98% of the team can jump in directly; anyone with an idea can turn it into a visual instantly.

The Cost Revolution

Here's where it gets wild. An action sequence that would cost 3–4 million yuan with real actors and sets? Or 2–3 million as traditional CG animation? With AI, a small team working for 10 days can pull it off for tens of thousands of yuan. Li calls the model a "partner," not a tool. "AIGC has independent thinking," he insists. That's why they didn't mix AI with traditional filmmaking—they rebuilt the process from scratch around AIGC.

Lu Haibo sees a bigger shift: "AI extends human capability, completing work that once relied heavily on equipment and labor. We're building a brand-new film and television industrial system."

Just the Beginning

Lu compares his team to a "small vanguard force." The goal? Move AIGC content from usable to high-quality to scalable—and lift China's entire film and TV industry in the process. When a camera-free drama lands in a satellite TV primetime slot at a fraction of the cost, the walls of traditional production have already started to crumble.

Key Points:

• The Later Journey to the West is China's first AI long drama on satellite TV, fully generated by Seedance.
• Production cost per episode dropped to tens of thousands of yuan, versus millions for traditional methods.
• The 100-person team abandoned camera logic for single-frame logic, with the director acting as project manager.
• A "review while broadcasting" policy allowed real-time feedback and faster iteration.
• The model is seen as a creative partner, not just a tool, signaling a shift in production relationships.