TikTok Cinema: Inside AI Microdramas

An article examines MyMuse and similar apps producing AI-generated microdramas — short, vertical, cliffhanger-driven series that viewers pay for with coins or subscriptions — noting that 93% of subscribers were still watching an hour after signing up. It describes how generative AI lets a series be made in about two weeks versus 12 for live-action, while arguing the output recycles the same plots and faces and that platform control over distribution concentrates power despite promises of democratized filmmaking. It also cites China, where roughly 430,000 microdramas were released in the first eight months of 2026 with over 90% reporting some AI use.