Perhaps what Quibi missed was the charm of AI characters. One startup seems to think so. Enter My Drama, an innovative short series app boasting over 30 soap opera-style shows, designed to captivate viewers. Taking innovation a step further, the app is launching an AI-powered chatbot that allows viewers to interact deeply with characters, moving into the competitive space alongside companies like Character.AI.
Crafted by the Ukraine-based media tech startup Holywater, My Drama is the brainchild of Bogdan Nesvit (CEO) and Anatolii Kasianov (CTO). Holywater is also behind My Passion, a reading app celebrated for its romance novels. Since launching in April, My Drama has skyrocketed, amassing 1 million users and generating $3 million in revenue. Holywater’s impressive portfolio of products collectively brings in $90 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
The short drama app market has fascinated consumers, a fact underscored by recent data from Appfigures. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 66 short drama apps, including ReelShort and DramaBox, saw global consumer spending hit a record $146 million.
Holywater believes My Drama distinguishes itself in this crowded market due to its extensive IP library. With thousands of books already published under My Passion, My Drama has a treasure trove of content ready for film adaptation. Moreover, My Passion’s established fanbase is likely to flock to My Drama to see their beloved characters brought to life.
By year’s end, My Drama aims to release 100 titles, buoyed by this solid foundation. The company’s next big venture is introducing AI characters, offering viewers an immersive storytelling experience.
At launch, users can engage with two fictional personas: Jaxon, a billionaire from “The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast,” and Hayden, a mafia heir from “Love Captive to a Mafia Boss.” After watching a few chapters, viewers can chat with these characters, even requesting images (note: My Drama restricts NSFW content).
In a demonstration, Nesvit and Kasianov showcased interaction with Hayden, where users build a relationship and earn his trust by answering questions about the series. A trust meter at the screen’s top gauges this engagement, a gamification strategy aimed at boosting user interaction.
The AI characters will also be accessible via a standalone app called My Imagination, now in beta. This app will eventually allow users to create their own characters, taking a page from Character.AI’s handbook.
Interestingly, Jaxon and Hayden are portrayed by real actors, Nazar Grabar and Bodgan Ruban, who have agreed to lend their likeness to these AI companions. This comes at a time when actors are wary of AI’s impact on their industry, but the compensation for AI use can surpass their usual pay. According to Holywater, AI companions can earn actors up to $10,000 monthly, based on user engagement and conversation time.
The writers and producers at My Drama leverage various AI models, including ElevenLabs, Stable Diffusion, OpenAI, and Meta’s Llama 3, for scriptwriting, localization, and voice acting. This AI integration significantly reduces production costs and time. For example, creating a house fire video scene cost only $100 through AI, whereas traditional methods would have cost around $8,000. This efficiency enables My Drama to produce new content within a week.
Nesvit noted, “Our goal by the end of the year is to cut costs by at least 40% using AI.”
Looking forward, My Drama plans to enhance its AI chatbot feature, adding new scenes triggered by user interactions, making viewers co-creators of the series. They also aim to introduce video and voice chatting capabilities, following the recent trends in the industry.
My Drama is available on the web and on iOS and Android. While some episodes are free, most are behind a paywall, accessible via coin packs ranging from $2.99 to $19.99 per week, offering premium titles, ad-free viewing, and early content access.
