- Holywater’s My Drama app offers over 30 soap opera-style shows.
- An AI-powered chatbot allows viewers to interact with fictional characters.
- Launched in April, the app has gained 1 million users and $3 million in revenue.
- Holywater also runs My Passion, a successful reading app with a large content library.
- My Drama attracts an existing fanbase by adapting My Passion books into films.
- AI-generated characters, portrayed by real actors, allow for deeper user engagement.
- AI models are used to reduce production costs and accelerate content creation.
- My Drama plans to release 100 titles and expand AI interactions by year-end.
- The app monetizes through coin packs for premium access and ad-free viewing.
Main AI News:
Holywater, a Ukraine-based media tech startup, is disrupting the short drama app industry with My Drama, its latest offering. The app features over 30 shows, most following a soap opera format to keep audiences hooked. To deepen viewer engagement, Holywater is introducing an AI-powered chatbot that allows users to interact with characters, competing with companies like Character.AI.
Since its April launch, My Drama has attracted 1 million users and generated $3 million in revenue. Holywater, founded by Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov, also runs My Passion, a popular reading app for romance titles. The company is poised for further growth with $90 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) across all its products.
While Quibi struggled, the short drama app market is thriving. In the first quarter of 2024, 66 apps generated $146 million in global consumer spending, according to Appfigures. Holywater believes My Drama stands out with its robust content library, adapting thousands of books from My Passion into films, attracting an established fanbase.
By year’s end, My Drama plans to release 100 titles and introduce AI characters that viewers can chat with, starting with Jaxon, the billionaire from “The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast,” and Hayden, a mafia heir from “Love Captive to a Mafia Boss.” The app, which does not allow NSFW content, lets users request images from these characters.
A standalone app, My Imagination, is in beta. It allows for deeper, more personalized interactions with AI characters. Users will eventually be able to create their own characters, much like Character.AI’s offerings.
Interestingly, the AI characters Jaxon and Hayden are portrayed by real actors Nazar Grabar and Bodgan Ruban, who are compensated at rates higher than their typical salaries. Holywater employs AI models from ElevenLabs, Stable Diffusion, OpenAI, and Meta’s Llama 3 to cut production costs for scriptwriting and voice acting. For instance, an AI-generated house fire scene costs just $100 compared to the usual $8,000.
Holywater further aims to enhance the AI chatbot feature, allowing users to unlock new scenes through character interactions. Video and voice chat capabilities are also being developed. My Drama is available on iOS, Android, and the web, with most episodes behind a paywall. Users can buy coin packs ranging from $2.99 to $19.99 per week for premium access and ad-free viewing.
Conclusion:
The success of My Drama reflects a significant shift in the media landscape, where AI-powered storytelling is creating new opportunities for content engagement. Holywater’s ability to leverage AI for cost efficiency and personalized viewer experiences gives it a competitive edge in the booming short drama app market. This trend, fueled by consumer demand for interactive and immersive content, highlights how AI integration will likely become a standard practice in media production, offering substantial cost savings and faster turnaround times. As more companies adopt similar approaches, the media and entertainment sector will see increased competition, with new players like Holywater challenging established platforms by offering innovative, AI-driven user experiences.
