Maybe a lack of AI characters is what Quibi got wrong. At least, that’s what one startup appears to believe. 

My Drama is a new short series app with more than 30 shows, with a majority of them following a soap opera format in order 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 closer competition with companies like Character.AI, the a16z-backed chatbot startup.

The short drama app was developed by Holywater, a Ukraine-based media tech startup founded by Bogdan Nesvit (CEO) and Anatolii Kasianov (CTO). The parent company also operates a reading app called My Passion, mainly known for its romance titles. 

Since its launch in April, My Drama has rapidly gained traction, boasting 1 million users and $3 million in revenue. Holywater has a strong track record with its products, generating $90 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) across all its offerings.

Believe it or not, the short drama app market has taken off, much to Quibi’s dismay. Recent app store data shows that during the first quarter of 2024, 66 short drama apps (ReelShort, DramaBox, and more) achieved record revenue of $146 million in global consumer spending, per app intelligence firm Appfigures.

Holywater believes My Drama stands out among the increasingly crowded market due to its robust library of IP. Thanks to My Passion’s thousands of books already published on the reading app, My Drama has a wealth of content to adapt into films. Plus, My Passion has an established fanbase that will likely be eager to see their favorite characters come to life.

By the end of the year, My Drama plans to release 100 titles. 

The company’s next bet will introduce AI characters that can interact with viewers, creating an immersive storytelling experience. 

Upon launch, My Drama users will have the opportunity to engage with two fictional characters: Jaxon, the billionaire love interest from “The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast,” and Hayden, the heir of a formidable mafia family in “Love Captive to a Mafia Boss.”   

After watching a few chapters of the series, the viewer is prompted to chat with the character. They can also ask the characters to send images. (My Drama doesn’t allow NSFW content.)

During a demo shared with TechCrunch, Nesvit and Kasianov walked us through what an interaction with Hayden would look like. The app guides you to build a relationship with him and earn his trust (he is a scary mafia boss, after all). He will quiz you on the events in the series, such as inquiring about the rival gang he is aiming to defeat.

At the top of the screen is a meter measuring your ranking on Hayden’s trust meter. The company explains this gamification tactic aims to increase engagement on the platform.

The AI companions will also be accessible via a standalone app called My Imagination, which is currently in beta. With the new app, users can have more personalized conversations with the characters. Further down the line, they’ll even be able to create their own characters, which is Character.AI’s specialty.

It’s worth noting that the characters Jaxon and Hayden are portrayed by real human actors Nazar Grabar and Bodgan Ruban. At a time when actors are concerned about AI’s impact on the industry, it’s interesting that two actors are willing to give a company permission to use their likeness to be an AI companion. However, it’s somewhat reassuring to know that they’re being fairly compensated for it. According to Holywater, the compensation for being an AI companion can exceed their regular actor salary. 

Nesvit explained, “The payment system consists of a fixed rate plus additional royalties. Depending on the number of users and the time they spend in the chat, actors can now earn up to $10,000 per month. The more users they attract to the chat, the higher their royalty payment.”

The human writers and producers at My Drama leverage AI for some aspects of scriptwriting, localization and voice acting. Notably, the company hires hundreds of actors to film content, all of whom have consented to the use of their likenesses for voice sampling and video generation. My Drama utilizes several AI models, including ElevenLabs, Stable Diffusion, OpenAI and Meta’s Llama 3.

As many media companies claim, Holywater emphasizes the time and costs saved through the use of AI. For example, when filming a house fire, the company only spent around $100 using AI to create the video, compared to the approximately $8,000 it would have cost without it. The use of AI enables My Drama to produce content in just one week.

“Our goal by the end of the year is to drop the costs to at least 40% by using AI,” said Nesvit.

Additionally, the company plans to further iterate on the AI chatbot feature, adding a capability where new scenes appear after users interact with characters, which, in a way, allows them to act as the co-creator for the series.

It’ll also launch video and voice chatting capabilities sometime in the future. Character.AI recently introduced the ability for users to voice chat with characters. 

My Drama is available on the web and on iOS and Android devices. While a few episodes are free to watch, the app puts the majority of the episodes behind a paywall. Users have to purchase one of its coin packs, which range from $2.99 to $19.99 per week, to unlock premium titles, ad-free viewing and early access to content.