Google TV is going long on short dramas.
The tech giant’s streaming platform is adding a number of microdrama apps to its central hub and has made innovations to make it easier for viewers to find and watch microdramas. The evolution of the format and Google TV’s initiative was the focus of the “Strictly Business Live” conversation hosted March 14 at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Kate Aurthur, managing editor of Variety, interviewed Juanjo Duran, global head of media and entertainment content partnerships for Google, and producer Tommy Harper, founder and CEO of the and AI-powered startup VeYou, which produces microdramas.
Duran asserted that Google TV’s service can function as an app for microdrama producers who have not invested in their own tech and streaming architecture.
“We have the Google TV app on mobile, which is a place where you engage with content. You have your watch list based on the streaming services that you are subscribing and all of that,” Duran said. “That’s the place where you rent and buy movies. And what we’re doing now is we are making episodes from most of our most major [microdrama] partners available in the app. We’re super-excited about it. It’s a tremendous way for us to showcase to the audience. It’s also an entry point in the industry for partners like Tommy and many other producers that want to get in the space but perhaps don’t want to go with the hassle of managing and creating an app.”
Harper, who is a veteran producer of big budget films including “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” detailed why he became intrigued with the potential of microdramas.
“I think it’s a place to actually find talent and find IP. I’m having these conversations now with studio partners and different people. What’s interesting is, if I go make a movie, I’m paying more for a script that I’m paying to produce a microdrama. So I think it’s a chance for every creator to to go make something on their own,” Harper said. “For our platform, we don’t have to produce it in-house. We want to, in a sense, be like HBO mashed up with TikTok. We want to elevate the content and put it on our platform.”
Talent scouting has become one of Harper’s favorite aspects of running VeYou.
“A few of my directors, for instance, I found on YouTube. I’ve seen their shorts on YouTube. I reach out on Instagram or whatever. I DM them,” Harper said. “They reach back, we do a Zoom and then the writing stories now and one just directed one for us two weeks ago. So I’m looking for creators everywhere. They’re going to have a shot.”
Aurthur asked Duran and Harper the question that is posed to everyone involved with microdramas. How is this different from Quibi, the short-form content service that flamed out spectacularly in 2020?
“I think the main mistake [Quibi made] was treating the content the same way, just in a different viewing ratio or aspect. Just thinking the same thing is going to work and I’m going to consume it on a vertical way,” Duran said, pointing to recent announcements from Disney and NBCUniversal that microdrama formats are coming to Disney+ and Peacock. “In the correlation with YouTube we’re not treating this as just the same media and just the same consumption habits. You need to understand that this is potentially a different animal.”
(Pictured: Variety‘s Kate Aurthur, VeYou’s Tommy Harper and Google’s Juanjo Duran at Variety‘s Next Generation Entertainment Podcast Brunch presented by Google TV, held March 14 at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.)
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, iHeartMedia, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.
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