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Premium series / AI hybrid
CROOKS
流氓大厨
Singapore, 2008. With his failing Italian restaurant on the brink, chef Ah Yuan hands the kitchen to Ah Cheng, a tattooed ex-convict with a ruined past and an extraordinary palate, who rebuilds it with a crew of ex-cons cooking Italian zi char fusion.
As the restaurant recovers, Shuang Xi uncovers the truth. Ah Cheng is not her uncle's hire but her biological father, an addict whose relapse killed her mother.
Unable to explain himself, he cooks for her instead, dishes carrying her childhood, and finds the second chance he wants is not redemption as a chef but his daughter's forgiveness.
format
PREMIUM SERIES
LEAD cast
Christopher Lee
Production model
AI hybrid
A cook. A past. A city that does not forget.
CROOKS is designed as a character-led premium series where the world can grow as quickly as the story demands.
The production begins with a grounded lead performance and cinematic live-action capture. The surrounding locations are then expanded through BYKAI’s hybrid pipeline, allowing the series to move through a richer range of spaces while preserving continuity, tone, and the physical truth of the actor in frame.
It is a demonstration of the BYKAI thesis at series scale: technology should make the world larger without making the performance feel smaller.
BEHIND THE IMAGE
Three layers. One believable frame.
01 / PERFORMANCE
The actor remains the anchor.
Expression, movement, wardrobe, and physical interaction beginning in live action.
02 / WORLD
The alley grows beyond the set.
Environment work expanding geography, atmosphere, depth, and production value.
03 / FINISH
Everything returns to one image.
Composite, grade, and final review bringing live and generated material into a single visual language.
A REGIONAL STORY CAN CARRY GLOBAL VISUAL AMBITION.
CROOKS is both a story and a working production case for a different kind of studio.
The series explores the tension between local identity and international scale, utilizing a hybrid production model that pairs intimate character drama with expansive, tech-driven world-building. It is a blueprint for how modern independent studios can compete on a global stage without losing their regional soul.