Possibly a scarcity of AI characters is what Quibi bought incorrect. At the least, that’s what one startup seems to consider.
My Drama is a brand new brief collection app with greater than 30 exhibits, with a majority of them following a cleaning soap opera format with a view to hook viewers. The app is now launching an AI-powered chatbot for viewers to get to know the characters in depth, bringing it in nearer competitors with corporations like Character.AI, the a16z-backed chatbot startup.
The brief drama app was developed by Holywater, a Ukraine-based media tech startup based by Bogdan Nesvit (CEO) and Anatolii Kasianov (CTO). The mother or father firm additionally operates a studying app referred to as My Ardour, primarily identified for its romance titles.
Since its launch in April, My Drama has quickly gained traction, boasting 1 million customers and $3 million in income. Holywater has a robust observe report with its merchandise, producing $90 million in annual recurring income (ARR) throughout all its choices.
Consider it or not, the brief drama app market has taken off, a lot to Quibi’s dismay. Current app retailer information exhibits that in the course of the first quarter of 2024, 66 brief drama apps (ReelShort, DramaBox, and extra) achieved report income of $146 million in world shopper spending, per app intelligence agency Appfigures.
Holywater believes My Drama stands out among the many more and more crowded market resulting from its sturdy library of IP. Due to My Ardour’s hundreds of books already revealed on the studying app, My Drama has a wealth of content material to adapt into movies. Plus, My Ardour has a longtime fanbase that may probably be wanting to see their favourite characters come to life.
By the tip of the yr, My Drama plans to launch 100 titles.
The corporate’s subsequent wager will introduce AI characters that may work together with viewers, creating an immersive storytelling expertise.
Upon launch, My Drama customers could have the chance to have interaction with two fictional characters: Jaxon, the billionaire love curiosity from “The Shy Magnificence and the Billionaire Beast,” and Hayden, the inheritor of a formidable mafia household in “Love Captive to a Mafia Boss.”
After watching a couple of chapters of the collection, the viewer is prompted to talk with the character. They’ll additionally ask the characters to ship photos. (My Drama doesn’t enable NSFW content material.)
Throughout a demo shared with TechCrunch, Nesvit and Kasianov walked us via what an interplay with Hayden would appear to be. The app guides you to construct a relationship with him and earn his belief (he’s a scary mafia boss, in spite of everything). He’ll quiz you on the occasions within the collection, comparable to inquiring concerning the rival gang he’s aiming to defeat.
On the prime of the display screen is a meter measuring your rating on Hayden’s belief meter. The corporate explains this gamification tactic goals to extend engagement on the platform.
The AI companions can even be accessible through a standalone app referred to as My Creativeness, which is at present in beta. With the brand new app, customers can have extra customized conversations with the characters. Additional down the road, they’ll even be capable of create their very own characters, which is Character.AI’s specialty.
It’s value noting that the characters Jaxon and Hayden are portrayed by actual human actors Nazar Grabar and Bodgan Ruban. At a time when actors are involved about AI’s affect on the business, it’s attention-grabbing that two actors are prepared to offer an organization permission to make use of their likeness to be an AI companion. Nevertheless, it’s considerably reassuring to know that they’re being pretty compensated for it. In line with Holywater, the compensation for being an AI companion can exceed their common actor wage.
Nesvit defined, “The fee system consists of a hard and fast fee plus extra royalties. Relying on the variety of customers and the time they spend within the chat, actors can now earn as much as $10,000 per 30 days. The extra customers they entice to the chat, the upper their royalty fee.”
The human writers and producers at My Drama leverage AI for some elements of scriptwriting, localization and voice performing. Notably, the corporate hires a whole bunch of actors to movie content material, all of whom have consented to the usage of their likenesses for voice sampling and video era. My Drama makes use of a number of AI fashions, together with ElevenLabs, Steady Diffusion, OpenAI and Meta’s Llama 3.
As many media corporations declare, Holywater emphasizes the time and prices saved via the usage of AI. For instance, when filming a home fireplace, the corporate solely spent round $100 utilizing AI to create the video, in comparison with the roughly $8,000 it will have value with out it. Using AI allows My Drama to supply content material in only one week.
“Our aim by the tip of the yr is to drop the prices to no less than 40% through the use of AI,” mentioned Nesvit.
Moreover, the corporate plans to additional iterate on the AI chatbot characteristic, including a functionality the place new scenes seem after customers work together with characters, which, in a approach, permits them to behave because the co-creator for the collection.
It’ll additionally launch video and voice chatting capabilities someday sooner or later. Character.AI just lately launched the power for customers to voice chat with characters.
My Drama is obtainable on the net and on iOS and Android units. Whereas a couple of episodes are free to observe, the app places the vast majority of the episodes behind a paywall. Customers should buy certainly one of its coin packs, which vary from $2.99 to $19.99 per week, to unlock premium titles, ad-free viewing and early entry to content material.