Short-form drama app My Drama takes on Character.AI challenge with new AI companions

Perhaps the lack of AI characters is what Quibi got wrong. At least that’s what one startup seems to think.

My Drama is a new short-form series app that offers more than 30 shows, most of which are in a soap opera format to draw viewers in. The app is now launching an AI-powered chatbot so viewers can get to know the characters in-depth, bringing it closer to competition from companies like Character.AI, a chatbot startup backed by a16z.

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

Since its launch in April, My Drama has quickly gained popularity, boasting 1 million users and $3 million in revenue. Holywater has a solid 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. The latest app store data shows that in the first quarter of 2024, 66 short-form drama apps (ReelShort, DramaBox, and others) achieved a record revenue of $146 million in global consumer spending, according to app analytics firm Appfigures.

Holywater believes My Drama stands out in an increasingly popular market thanks to its solid 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 films. Plus, My Passion has an established fan base that will likely want to see their favorite character come to life.

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

The company’s next step will be to introduce AI characters that will be able to interact with viewers to create an immersive story experience.

Upon launching My Drama, users will have the opportunity to play as two fictional characters: Jaxon, the billionaire love interest from “Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast,” and Hayden, the heir to a powerful mafia family from “Love in the Captivity of a Mafia Boss.”

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

In a demo shared with TechCrunch, Nesvit and Kasianov showed us what it would be like to interact with Hayden. The app guides you through building a relationship with him and earning his trust (he’s a fearsome mafia boss, after all). He’ll quiz you on events in the series, like asking about the rival gang he’s trying to take down.

At the top of the screen is a meter that measures your position in Hayden’s Trust Meter. The company explains that this gamification tactic is intended to increase engagement on the platform.

AI companions will also be available through the standalone My Imagination app, which is currently in beta. With the new app, users can have more personalized conversations with characters. In the future, they’ll 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-life 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 are willing to give a company permission to use their likeness as an AI companion. However, it’s somewhat reassuring that they’re being paid fairly for it. According to Holywater, the compensation for being an AI companion can exceed their regular 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 on the chat, actors can now earn up to $10,000 per month. The more users they attract to the chat, the higher their royalties will be.”

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

As many media companies claim, Holywater is touting the time and cost savings it is making by using AI. For example, when filming a house fire, the company spent only about $100 using AI to create the video, compared to about $8,000 it would have cost without it. Using AI enables My Drama to produce content in just one week.

“Our goal by the end of the year is to reduce costs by at least 40% through the use of artificial intelligence,” Nesvit said.

Additionally, the company plans to further develop the AI-powered chatbot feature by adding the ability for new scenes to appear after users interact with the characters, allowing them to act as co-creators of the show in a sense.

It will also launch video and voice chat features in the future. Character.AI recently introduced voice chat for users with characters.

My Drama is available online, on iOS, and on Android devices. While a few episodes are free to watch, the app makes most episodes available for a fee. Users must purchase one of the coin packs, which range from $2.99 ​​to $19.99 per week, to unlock premium titles, watch without ads, and get early access to content.