Meet the Creator Behind Leo Mas Renard and His AI Gay Love Story

What began as an experiment in AI-generated photography has developed into an online storytelling project, with a fictional gay character attracting thousands of followers and more than a million views for one episode of his romantic story.

Created in June 2026, Leo Mas Renard is a virtual character who appears in AI-generated photography, short videos and fictional stories. His creator has gradually expanded the project beyond individual images, developing characters, relationships and narratives that explore the possibilities of AI filmmaking.

One of those projects, Meeting You, follows the developing relationship between Leo and Sebastian. Its second episode attracted more than a million views in just three days, an unexpected response that encouraged its creator to continue exploring storytelling through AI.

In an exclusive interview with SoapLandTV, the creator behind Leo Mas Renard discusses how the project began, the creative decisions involved in producing the images and videos, why LGBTQ+ representation is important to him and what audiences can expect next.

For readers discovering Leo Mas Renard for the first time, how would you introduce yourself and your creative work?

Leo Mas Renard is a virtual character I created in June 2026, originally as a purely visual project. His imagery ranges from everyday, candid-style photography to more carefully composed editorial work.

More recently, the project has evolved into something I hadn't originally anticipated: storytelling. I've started creating short standalone vignettes and multipart fictional stories in which Leo, who is always portrayed as gay, takes on different roles and inhabits entirely different worlds.

What began as a photography-focused project is gradually becoming a way for me to explore characters, relationships, and storytelling through AI-generated visuals and video.

How did the Leo Mas Renard project begin, and what inspired you to create it?

Leo actually began as something of an escape, if I'm completely honest. I have another creative project in a different area of AI, and the constant negativity and occasional hostility surrounding AI-generated work can become overwhelming. I wanted somewhere I could continue experimenting, learning, and enjoying the technology without quite so much pressure.

The original idea was very simple: create a good-looking guy and make nice pictures of him. That was it! I had no particular expectations for growth, and certainly no plans to develop elaborate stories around him. I'd already done quite a bit of video work for my other project, but I wasn't planning to bring much of that into Leo's world. Then curiosity got the better of me. I started wondering what Leo would look like speaking, what his voice might sound like, and how he might interact with another character. I ran a few tests, really liked the results, and began imagining a little story. Even then, I thought it would be a one-off experiment. The first video had just one word of dialogue, right at the very end. But the reaction was extraordinary.

That encouraged me to create a second episode with more dialogue and character interaction. While working on it, I discovered something unexpected: I really enjoyed writing dialogue. It was challenging, but I loved trying to make the exchanges feel natural and give the characters distinct personalities. The response to that second episode was even greater than the first. Suddenly, this little project I'd created as an escape was opening up an entirely new creative direction. Those first episodes have since become the beginning of a series called Meeting You, and I'm now developing a couple of other stories alongside it.

What influences your music and creative style? Are there particular artists, sounds or experiences that inspire you?

I'm inspired by beautiful imagery, whether that's in film, television, or photography. Sometimes I'll see a particular shot and be struck by the lighting, the composition, the colours, or just the overall atmosphere. It doesn't necessarily have to be part of a film or photograph I particularly love. Sometimes it's simply one beautiful image that stays with me or even a view I see out in the world with beautiful light. That influence is mostly aesthetic, though. I tend to think of the storytelling as a separate part of the creative process.

For the stories, I usually start with a situation or a character dynamic that interests me and begin imagining what might happen. I particularly enjoy exploring the smaller moments between people: the things they say, the things they don't say, and how seemingly insignificant interactions can become meaningful. I don't think I have one particular filmmaker, photographer, or artist whose work I'm trying to emulate. My tastes are quite varied, and I'm still discovering what my own approach to storytelling looks like. I also like that Leo isn't confined to one setting or aesthetic. I can create something contemporary and intimate one day and explore an entirely different historical period the next. That freedom to experiment is probably one of my biggest sources of inspiration.

Can you take us behind the scenes of your creative process? How does a new song or idea come to life?

It depends quite a bit on whether I'm creating a photograph or a video.

For photography, I usually begin with a general idea of what I want the final image to look like. There'll often be one particular element that's especially clear in my mind, whether it's a location, an outfit, a pose, or even a specific expression. Rather than trying to describe every detail from the beginning, I'll start with a relatively simple prompt that focuses on that element. I want to see how the idea translates into an actual image before I start building out everything around it. From there, I gradually become more specific, refining the composition, lighting, colours, clothing, environment, expression, and all the little details that contribute to the final photograph. Sometimes seeing an early version helps me realise that something needs to change, or gives me a new idea for how to approach what I originally envisioned. It's a very iterative process, but one in which I'm constantly making creative decisions. A single post can involve dozens and dozens of generations before I'm happy with the results.

Once I've narrowed things down to five to ten candidates, I bring them into my photo editor and work on them individually. I find it much easier to choose the final image once I've seen how each candidate looks after editing.

Video is a little different, particularly now that I've started exploring fictional narratives. I've produced quite a bit of video for another creative project, so the technical side isn't entirely new to me, but writing and developing stories around Leo is something I'm still figuring out. For the shorter, standalone videos, the ideas tend to come to me quite randomly. I'll think of a situation or a scene I'd like to see Leo in, add it to a list in my notes app, and eventually get around to creating it. They don't necessarily need a story behind them. Sometimes I just want to see him doing something interesting!

The narrative projects require a lot more thought, although the initial ideas can be just as spontaneous. Sometimes it's a particular setting that interests me, sometimes a character dynamic, or simply the thought of Leo in an entirely different situation. From there, I start thinking about who he is in that world, who he might interact with, and what kind of story could develop around them.

One thing I've decided is that Leo will always be gay, regardless of the story or the setting. As a gay creator, that's something that's important to me. But I don't necessarily want his sexuality to be the central focus of every narrative. Sometimes it will be, as with Meeting You, which follows the developing relationship between Leo and Sebastian. Other times, it might simply be one aspect of who he is, while the story explores something entirely different. I like the idea of creating stories in which gay characters can experience the same range of adventures, relationships, conflicts, and everyday moments as anyone else, without their sexuality always needing to be the point of the story.

As for the actual production process, I'm still finding my feet. I'm learning how to develop dialogue, structure scenes, and build longer narratives while also experimenting with pacing, sound design, colour grading, and editing. I already know how much I enjoy the visual side of creating videos, but discovering how to tell stories through them has been an unexpected and really exciting development.

Is there a particular song, moment or project you're especially proud of, and what makes it special to you?

I'd probably say the second episode of Meeting You. What's funny is that I hadn't even planned on making a second episode. After the first one became so popular, I was actually quite frightened of continuing. I worried that I wouldn't be able to recreate whatever had made that first video connect with people. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to continue the story regardless of whether the next episode performed as well. What makes that second episode particularly special to me, though, isn't just its reception. It's how much I pushed myself while making it.

I spent a lot more time working on the dialogue and the interactions between Leo and Sebastian, and I began learning more about sound design, editing, and colour grading. Looking back, I think that was the point when I really started seeing Leo as more than a visual project. It showed me how much I enjoyed the process of building a scene, shaping an interaction, and trying to make an audience feel something. That was a pretty significant discovery for me.

How have listeners responded to your work so far? Has anything about their reactions surprised you?

The response has genuinely astonished me. The second episode of Meeting You reached more than a million views in just three days and brought thousands of new followers to the project. I hadn't expected anything remotely like that, particularly for a story that began almost by accident. But what surprises me even more than the numbers is how quickly people have become invested in the characters. After just a couple of short episodes, viewers were asking what would happen next, when Leo and Sebastian would see each other again, and where they could watch the rest of the story. Some even seemed to think they were watching clips from an existing film or series! It's incredibly rewarding to see people respond to characters you've spent time and effort developing, especially when their interactions are relatively understated. I've also been pleasantly surprised by the response to Leo appearing in completely different situations. I recently shared a short video set in an entirely different time period, and the interest in that encouraged me to explore the idea of telling multiple, unrelated stories with Leo at their centre. I think that's one of the most exciting things about the project right now: discovering how much variety the audience is willing to embrace.

What has been your biggest challenge in developing Leo Mas Renard, and what have you learnt from the experience?

Without question, learning not to let the success of one piece of work dictate what I do next. When the first episode of Meeting You took off, I felt almost paralysed. It was completely unexpected. Initially, it performed like any other reel I'd shared, but then the views, likes, shares, and comments just kept accelerating. I hadn't planned a continuation. I didn't even have a fully developed story in mind, because the video had really been an experiment. Suddenly, there were all these people waiting to see what happened next, and I felt enormous pressure not to disappoint them. I didn't even begin working on the second episode until more than a month after the first had been published. Eventually, I had to accept that there was no guarantee the next episode would be received in the same way, and that I couldn't let that stop me from creating it. Ironically, the second episode ended up doing even better.

More recently, I released the third episode, which is quite different from the first two. It's almost entirely a text-message exchange between Leo and Sebastian, with just one brief spoken line. I knew going into it that something so understated might not generate the same excitement as the earlier episodes, but I wanted to tell that part of the story anyway. And I think that's where I've started to change my perspective. Not every video is going to reach a million people, nor does it need to. Some moments are quieter, some are sexier, some are more dramatic, and they all have a place in the larger story. I'm learning to appreciate each piece of work for what it is, rather than constantly measuring it against whatever came before. I think that's been my biggest lesson so far: enjoying the success when it happens, without allowing the expectation of repeating it to interfere with the creative process.

What can fans look forward to next, and where can new listeners find and support your work?

Right now, I'm continuing to develop Meeting You and exploring where Leo and Sebastian's story will take them. I'm also preparing another multipart story set in a completely different historical period, which will give me the opportunity to explore a very different side of Leo.

Alongside those longer projects, I'll continue creating photography and shorter standalone videos. I don't want everything to have to be part of a larger narrative. Sometimes it's fun to create something simply because I like the image or the idea. One thing I definitely don't want to do is limit Leo to a single type of character or story. There's a lot of creative freedom in being able to place him in different worlds and explore different sides of his personality.

For now, most of my work can be found on Instagram at @leo.mas.renard, where I share photography, short videos, and new episodes. I've also recently started sharing the narrative videos on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@LeoMasRenard), where viewers can follow the stories as they develop.

I'm still at the beginning of figuring out what this project can become, and I'm looking forward to discovering that alongside the people who've chosen to follow it.

Image credits: Leo Mas Renard. Images provided and approved for publication by the creator.