✨ The Official Trailer | The Draft

Nell Ledbetter
Apr 5
3 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/11cb8e_688e65ac24c4452f9265bc13b610183a/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

I've been wanting to do this since before I released The Draft as an ebook.

But the truth is—I wasn't ready.

I hadn't locked into my branding yet. I was still learning how to use these new AI tools. At the time, this quality of AI production wasn't as advanced or accessible, which meant longer production and editing time—much of it spent compensating for its flaws and limitations.

With full plate of self-publishing responsibilities, I didn’t have the capacity to take on that extra layer. So, I pivoted—as I shared in my previous blog, THE VULTURE + AI EVOLUTION, where I chronicled my journey creating The Vulture.

A young woman in a blue jacket and ripped jeans, crouching in a protective ball, covering her head representing a main character in The Elevator series

While The Vulture was still very much a significant project, it was built around what was possible—not what I ultimately wanted to create. Still, I stretched those tools as far as I could to make something that was real and true to the spirit of The Elevator. And I'm proud of the outcome. But, it wasn't—and couldn't be—the trailer I originally hoped to design.

There are two major challenges working with AI: character and scene consistency, and action complexity.

My characters, my settings—everything comes from my imagination, created long before AI was anything more than speculative fiction itself. AI, at its core, is a pre-trained system built on existing code and image models. So asking it to recreate something entirely original—with specific characters, environments, and layered action—was like asking a five-year-old to paint a masterpiece.

And that doesn’t even account for the custom visuals I designed first in my own editing software. The choreography of action-heavy sequences. The nuance of expression. The emotional weight behind every moment. All the details that matter when visually translating scenes from this story.

But now—after refining my branding, gaining more experience with these tools, and with the technology itself evolving—I've finally arrived at this moment.

And this is exactly why I call it Visual Literature.

These are my words—brought to (virtual) life.

I'm telling you—this is what I pictured in my head when I wrote The Elevator.

Well...90% of it.

AI still has its limits, and there are some specific elements that don't perfectly align with the book—but that's more for me to notice than for you. Because the heart of the story is fully intact.

And frankly, I prefer it that way.

I don’t need 100% accuracy here. That belongs on set—with a cast, a crew, and cameras rolling.

But what has come through in this trailer—the tone, the atmosphere, the elevator, the women—these moments are exactly what I envisioned when I committed to writing this story.

And that’s incredibly affirming.

I've been a cinematic nerd my whole life, and that influence is deeply embedded in how I write. Years ago, I seriously considered turning The Elevator into a screenplay because of how vividly I see everything—and how much I want to see it as a film or series.

Down to the way my characters breathe. The cadence of their voices. The inflections in their tone. It was important that I capture every detail as it was envisioned.

But I recognized that this story needed to begin as a novel—which meant translating that vision not through camera directions or scene headings, but through prose.

And now—to take those written moments and see them reflected back with this level of visual clarity?

It’s surreal... and rewarding.

And this trailer is just a blink. A glimpse into a much larger journey.

I'm excited to share it with you. And even more excited for what’s ahead.

If you're currently reading The Draft, I'm itching to be a fly on the wall.

I'd love nothing more than to hear your thoughts about your experience following the lives of Monica, Zoey, Jilisa, Sheena—and the other beloved characters in this story.

And if you haven't started yet... might I have a minute of your time? 😉

Watch above—and decide if you’re ready to step inside...