Entertainment studio Cineverse has joined forces with Banyan Ventures, the venture arm of former ABC Entertainment Group and WME Chairman Lloyd Braun, on MicroCo, a native AI platform that will generate micro-dramas and micro-series — “serialized, short-form, mobile-first content” that has become a craze in China. Launching in 2026, the platform has drawn comparisons to Quibi, the short-form content company founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg in 2018 and shuttered two years later, burdened by production costs. MicroCo plans to use AI to keep costs down. The company is aiming for a “freemium” model combining some free access along with paid subscriptions.

Paying subscribers will be able to unlock additional content, and the platform may also run advertisements, The New York Times reports, noting that a consumer-facing name for the service has yet to be announced.

Micro-dramas are “an addictive, bite-size entertainment genre that started in China a few years ago and has ballooned into a more than $7 billion business there,” according to NYT, which describes them as “soapy, scripted and serialized — video romance novels for the TikTok era” that are shot vertically.

U.S. viewers have been downloading the content from Chinese apps, and analysts predict “the genre will be a $10 billion business outside China by 2027,” NYT reports.

The budgets are modest by traditional Hollywood standards, with Chinese companies typically spending only $15,000 for a season’s worth of shows, which can range from 30 to 150 episodes.

“The average person scrolls through hundreds of feet of content a day, but almost none of it is built to last,” Braun explains in an announcement that sets MicroCo’s goal as “merging the storytelling rigor of series television with the pace, energy, and intimacy of short-form.”

Cineverse Chairman and CEO Chris McGurk says the joint venture’s efforts will be “category defining,” citing “the opportunity to build an original IP engine with global monetization opportunities, to integrate brand partnerships, and support a robust creator economy flywheel.”

“Along with producing originals lasting one to three minutes an episode, MicroCo plans to connect with content creators and offer a new avenue for their videos,” Deadline writes, adding that “shows will span multiple genres, from romance to horror, both live action and animated.”

In addition to Braun and McGurk, MicroCo’s executive leadership includes Cineverse President and Chief Strategy Officer Erick Opeka. Former Showtime Networks president of entertainment Jana Winograde is named MicroCo CEO, with Susan Rovner — who previously served as chairman of entertainment content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming and as president of Warner Bros. Television — named chief creative officer of MicroCo.