Short series app My Drama takes over Character.AI with its new AI companions

Perhaps Quibi got it wrong by lacking AI characters. At least that’s what one startup seems to believe.

My Drama is a new short-form series app with over 30 shows, most of which follow a soap opera format to keep viewers engaged. The app is now launching an AI-powered chatbot that allows viewers to get to know the characters in depth, putting it in closer competition with the likes of Character.AI, the a16z-backed chatbot startup.

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

Since its launch in April, My Drama has quickly gained popularity, with 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 of its offerings.

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

Holywater believes that My Drama stands out in an increasingly crowded market because of its robust library of IP. With thousands of My Passion books already published on the reading app, My Drama has a wealth of content to adapt into movies. What’s more, My Passion has an established fan base that is likely eager to see their favorite characters brought to life.

My Drama aims to release 100 titles by the end of the year.

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

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

After watching a few chapters of the series, the viewer is asked to chat with the character. They can also ask the characters to send pictures. (My Drama does not allow NSFW content.)

In a demo shared with TechCrunch, Nesvit and Kasianov showed us what interacting with Hayden would look like. The app guides you through building a relationship with him and earning his trust (he is a scary mob boss, after all). He’ll interrogate you about the events of the series, like asking questions about the rival gang he wants to take down.

At the top of the screen is a meter that measures your ranking on Hayden’s trust meter. The company explains that this gamification tactic is aimed at increasing engagement on the platform.

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

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

Nesvit explained: “The payment system consists of a flat 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.”

My Drama’s human writers and producers use AI for some aspects of scriptwriting, localization, and voice acting. Notably, the company hires hundreds of actors to film content, all of whom have given permission for their likenesses to be used for voice sampling and video generation. My Drama uses a variety of AI models, including ElevenLabs, Stable Diffusion, OpenAI, and Meta’s Llama 3.

Like many media companies, Holywater emphasizes the time and cost savings that are made by using AI. For example, when filming a house fire, the company spent only about $100 using AI to create the video, compared to the roughly $8,000 it would have cost without AI. Using AI allows My Drama to produce content in just one week.

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

In addition, the company plans to further expand the AI ​​chatbot feature and add a feature where new scenes appear after users interact with characters, allowing them to participate in creating the series.

It will also launch video and voice chat capabilities 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 places most episodes behind a paywall. Users must purchase one of the coin packs, which range from $2.99 ​​to $19.99 per week, to unlock premium titles, ad-free viewing, and early access to content.