Possibly an absence of AI characters is what Quibi acquired fallacious. At the very least, that’s what one startup seems to consider.
My Drama is a brand new brief collection app with over 30 reveals, with a majority of them following a cleaning soap opera format so as 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 firms 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 mum or dad firm additionally operates a studying app referred to as My Ardour, primarily recognized 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 powerful observe report with its merchandise, producing $90 million in annual recurring income (ARR) throughout all its choices.
Imagine it or not, the brief drama app market has taken off, a lot to Quibi’s dismay. Latest app retailer knowledge reveals 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 crowd market resulting from its sturdy library of IP. Because of My Ardour’s hundreds of books already printed on the studying app, My Drama has a wealth of content material to adapt into movies. Plus, My Ardour has a longtime fanbase who will possible be desirous to see their favourite character come to life.
By the top of the 12 months, My Drama plans to launch 100 titles.
The corporate’s subsequent guess 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 interact 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 number of chapters of the collection, the viewer is prompted to talk with the character. They will additionally ask the characters to ship pictures. (My Drama doesn’t permit NSFW content material.)
Throughout a demo shared with TechCrunch, Nesvit and Kasianov walked us by way of what an interplay with Hayden would seem like. 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, reminiscent of inquiring concerning the rival gang he’s aiming to defeat.
On the high of the display 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 the moment in beta. With the brand new app, customers can have extra personalised 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 price 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 fascinating 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. Based on Holywater, the compensation for being an AI companion can exceed their common actor wage.
Nesvit defined, “The fee system consists of a set 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 thirty 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 facets of scriptwriting, localization, and voice appearing. Notably, the corporate hires lots of 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, Secure Diffusion, OpenAI, and Meta’s Llama 3.
As many media firms declare, Holywater emphasizes the time and prices saved by way of the usage of AI. For instance, when filming a home hearth, the corporate solely spent round $100 utilizing AI to create the video, in comparison with the roughly $8,000 it will have price with out it. The usage of AI permits My Drama to supply content material in only one week.
“Our aim by the top of the 12 months is to drop the prices to at the very least 40% by utilizing 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 manner, 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 flexibility for customers to voice chat with characters.
My Drama is accessible on the internet and on iOS and Android units. Whereas a number of episodes are free to observe, the app places the vast majority of the episodes behind a paywall. Customers should buy one in all 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.