Robbie's Soap Scenes Are AI Microdramas — Co-Stars Not Told

By Daniel Rao

Margot Robbie left Neighbours in 2011, bar a return for the 2022 finale. That has not stopped her old soap scenes from getting a second career — recut by AI into vertical micro-episodes for phone screens, with her face front and centre. The twist, according to the people who shared those scenes with her, is that nobody asked them first.

The project comes from Fremantle, which owns Neighbours, and RoseBerry Media, a studio built for vertical drama. Announced in late September, it uses RoseBerry's RedSnapper software to scan the show's library of more than 9,300 episodes, pick the most engaging storylines, and reframe them vertically for its Epis platform. Human editors approve every stage, the companies say. The first batch — around 150 minutes of micro-episodes — follows Robbie's character, Donna Freedman, whom she played from 2008 to 2011.

That made commercial sense, obviously. Robbie is among the most famous people ever to walk down Ramsay Street, and her star power is the obvious reason to lead with her. What nobody appears to have done, according to Guardian Australia's reporting this week, is tell the other actors whose faces fill those same frames.

Photo: Margot Robbie at the 2011 Logie Awards, during her Neighbours years as Donna Freedman. Credit: Eva Rinaldi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. (File photo — not from the microdrama.)

"I was 13 when I signed"

Matthew Werkmeister, who played Zeke Kinski opposite Robbie, told Guardian Australia he had received no notification from Fremantle or RoseBerry Media about whether residuals would be paid to actors in the vertical series. His objection was not, he stressed, about money first. "Not from any money-making point of view, but from my image being used through AI and a platform I did not consent to," he said.

Then came the line that explains why this row is about more than one soap. "When I signed my original contracts, I was 13. In all honestly I can't remember exactly every line point, but AI and streaming platforms, let alone vertical streaming platforms, didn't exist and was not a consideration," he said. A child actor's contract, signed when he was 13, is now being asked to cover an AI product nobody in the room could have imagined.

Werkmeister dismissed the idea that the vertical format would introduce the classic soap to younger audiences and called the venture a "money grab for Fremantle". "They're just trying to dump their existing library to make a quick buck," he said. "I'd be intrigued to know if they reached out to the wonderful Margot Robbie, since her star power is likely a main motivator for this venture." Guardian Australia has contacted Robbie for comment.

We re-read the September announcement against this week's cast accounts: it names no performer consultation at all. The launch statements talk about archives, libraries, catalogues and commercial opportunities. They do not mention a single actor.

Paid "as normal" — but nobody told them

There is a wrinkle here that stops this from being a simple story of theft. Guardian Australia understands that residuals will be paid to writers and actors based on their agreements for the series, as per normal process. In other words, the money may well flow. The complaint is that the people earning it were not told by the companies selling their younger faces.

Fremantle, for its part, has defended the project, telling Guardian Australia it will only use "original, previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances" — RedSnapper, it said, "does not generate new scenes or performances, alter actors' faces or likenesses, or use synthetic voices". RoseBerry said it was aligned with Fremantle's response and had nothing further to add.

That distinction matters, and it is worth being precise about it. Nothing in the public reporting establishes that any particular performer's contract forbids this use, or that every performer has approved it. As TV Central's careful analysis of the row notes, the companies have not publicly detailed every editing or AI step used on the Robbie material, and it would be wrong to assume either that permission was withheld or that every performer has approved the new use. Archive licensing and performer participation are not the same question: a rights holder can license a programme library while the way old performances are edited, labelled and sold still raises separate contractual and ethical issues — especially across agreements signed at different times during a show that ran for four decades.

Sam Clark, who played Donna's partner Ringo Brown, has not commented directly. His agent, Mattie Webb, an LA-based manager with 27 years' experience, said Clark was waiting to hear from the US actors' union SAG-AFTRA before commenting. Webb's own summary of the week was bleakly funny: "All week I've been dealing with deepfake videos and AI. It's a whole new world." Former cast member Stefan Dennis, who played Paul Robinson, has also criticised the plan, calling it "unbelievably invasive, morally and legally wrong" in comments to the Herald Sun. The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has confirmed it is assisting Neighbours cast members and their representatives; its acting CEO, Adam Portellin, said anyone involved could contact the union "to ensure their work is not exploited without their knowledge, consent or fair compensation".

A $15 billion format meets a 40-year archive

Step back from Ramsay Street and the business logic is obvious. Microdramas — vertical serials built from episodes around a minute long, made for phones — originated in China and were estimated to be worth up to $15 billion (A$21.4 billion) globally last year, according to Guardian Australia. Fremantle's commercial chief, Jens Richter, framed the deal in exactly those terms: "Neighbours has an extraordinary legacy, with decades of memorable characters, stories and talent. Working with RoseBerry allows us to explore incredible archive in an entirely new way, bringing much-loved IP to new audiences while demonstrating how established television libraries can continue to evolve, find new relevance and importantly create new commercial opportunities."

RoseBerry's co-founder and chief executive, Guy Hameiri, called Neighbours "an iconic piece of television history and exactly the kind of premium entertainment IP we believe can thrive in the vertical format". He is not wrong about the format's appetite: an archive as deep as Neighbours' is a goldmine for a medium that eats storylines by the minute. The show itself ended in December 2025, after a revival on Amazon Freevee from 2023 to 2025, with a final storyline about demolishing Ramsay Street for a freeway. The street survived the freeway. It may not survive its own archive.

Photo: Margot Robbie at San Diego Comic-Con in 2015, years after leaving Ramsay Street for Hollywood. Credit: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. (File photo.)

The faces are not inventory

Here is the judgment, and it cuts against the easy version of this story. Fremantle almost certainly has the legal right to do this: it owns the programme, the archive is its asset, and the residuals system exists precisely so reuse pays the people in the frames. If the lawyers are right and the money flows "as normal", then nothing illegal has happened — and that is exactly what should bother you.

Because a system in which a performer's 13-year-old self can be fed through an AI reframe, sold on a platform that did not exist when they signed, and monetised under a contract that never contemplated it — all while the performer learns about it from a reporter — is a system working exactly as designed. The archive is Fremantle's property. The faces are not inventory, even if the contracts treat them that way. And every other long-running show with a deep library and a famous alum is watching this row to see whether "as normal" is good enough, or whether the next deal has to ask first.

The honest answer is that nobody knows yet, because the contracts were written for a world of reruns and DVD box sets, not algorithmic recuts. SAG-AFTRA's view, which Clark is waiting for, will matter far beyond one soap: American union rules increasingly set the template for AI reuse worldwide, and a union position here would echo into every archive deal after it. Until then, the project moves ahead, and the people who stood next to her in Ramsay Street wait to be told what happens to their own faces.

Your questions, answered

Did Margot Robbie agree to this? Guardian Australia has contacted Robbie for comment; no response has been reported. Her co-star Werkmeister says he would like to know whether Fremantle reached out to her, given her star power is the project's main draw.

Are the actors being paid? Guardian Australia understands residuals will be paid to writers and actors under their series agreements, as per normal process. The dispute is about consultation and consent, not only money — and about whether old contracts cover AI reformatting at all.

Could this happen to other old shows? Yes, and that is why unions are involved. Any long-running series with a deep archive and a famous former cast member is a candidate for the same treatment, which is why SAG-AFTRA's position and the MEAA's stance will be watched across the industry.

Is the microdrama AI-generated footage? No. Fremantle says the micro-episodes use only original, previously broadcast footage, dialogue and performances — RedSnapper's AI selects, scans and reframes existing scenes into vertical format, but does not generate new scenes or performances, alter actors' faces or likenesses, or use synthetic voices. Human editors approve every stage. The dispute is about consent and notification for reusing real performances, not about fake footage.

Sources: Guardian Australia's October 25 reporting on the cast reaction (via its syndicated text); BANG Premier and Variety (the September 30 announcement, RoseBerry/Fremantle statements, RedSnapper and Epis details); TV Central (performer-consent analysis, Stefan Dennis/Mediaweek, MEAA position); Wisevoter (library size, 150-minute figure, human-editor oversight). Quotes are as reported by those outlets.

Daniel Rao covers AI policy and accountability for TechPulse USA. He has reported on AI regulation in Australia, the EU and the US since 2024, and he still checks other people's arithmetic.

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