South Korean Micro Drama Firm Vigloo Bets Big on AI for Content Production
Company cuts production time by two-thirds and costs by 80% using AI, but faces intense competition from China.
Vigloo, a South Korean micro drama production company, has significantly increased its investment in artificial intelligence this year, believing that automation can fundamentally transform content creation.
The company is now allocating approximately 30 per cent of its budget to AI-driven workflows, a change that has already yielded substantial results. Vigloo can now produce a show in as little as one month, compared to the previous three months, and at one-fifth of the original cost.
This increased efficiency not only allows Vigloo to release a greater volume of shows but also enables experimentation with a wider array of genres and styles. The firm is even beginning to delegate core tasks, such as scriptwriting, to AI agents, with human producers then reviewing the output.
Despite these advancements, Vigloo feels considerable pressure. The competition from China's extensive micro drama industry is intensifying, as the country is heavily investing in AI-driven content, according to Neil Choi, the company’s CEO.
China has been a pioneer in the creation of micro dramas, also referred to as vertical dramas. This emerging entertainment format is often described as “TV for the TikTok generation.” These shows, similar to soap operas, are divided into dozens of episodes, each lasting only one or two minutes, and typically conclude with a cliff-hanger to maintain viewer engagement.
