aTwist works with Bold & the Beautiful exec, Vigloo eyes more AI in microdramas
Microseries platform and studio aTwist (fka MicroCo) has commissioned a vertical drama from Bradley Bell, the exec behind long-running US daytime soap The Bold & the Beautiful.
Meanwhile, LA- and Seoul-based platform Vigloo is looking to increase its use of AI having used the tech to make a racing microdrama in just six weeks.
Production on aTwist’s Hollywood Starlet will take place at Sunset Las Palmas Studios in Hollywood, with the project launching on aTwist later this summer.
The series marks the first project in the rapidly growing microseries sector from Bell, head writer and executive producer on CBS’s The Bold & the Beautiful.
It will star Bella Mraz (Faceless), Eric Guilmette (You Belong With Me, Tails of Christmas) and Molly Anderson (We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together). Plot details have not yet been revealed.
Bell created the series through Red Flair Entertainment, the company he co-founded with his son Oliver Bell to develop vertical-format scripted content. Kristen Brancaccio is writing and directing, while Anthony Ferrari, Oliver Bell, Paxton Fuller and Graham Lawyer serve as executive producers. Guilmette is a coproducer.
The commission adds to aTwist’s growing slate of original microseries as the company expands its presence in the mobile-first content market.
Formerly known as MicroCo, aTwist was founded by CEO Jana Winograde, former president of Showtime; chief creative officer Susan Rovner, former chairman of NBCUniversal Content and president of Warner Bros Television; and executive chairman Lloyd Braun, former chairman of ABC Entertainment Group and chairman of WME.
The company recently struck a partnership with BET to develop and distribute microseries across both linear television and vertical platforms. It currently has more than 20 scripted, unscripted and animated projects in production, with additional titles in development.
The category has emerged as a significant growth area in the global content business, generating an estimated US$10bn annually.
Bell continues to serve as head writer and executive producer of The Bold & the Beautiful, which is entering its 39th year on air. He is also an owner of sister soap The Young & the Restless.
“Brad Bell is one of the most influential creative forces in daytime television and bringing him into the aTwist universe is a major moment for us,” said Rovner.
“The Bold & the Beautiful has defined storytelling for decades, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with him as he brings that legacy into a new format with Hollywood Starlet. We think fans are going to love seeing this world evolve in such a fun, fresh way.”
Final Lap: Love & Betrayal was produced in just six weeks
In related microdrama news, Vigloo has touted the use of AI-assisted production workflows to make “visually ambitious” racing drama Final Lap: Love & Betrayal, which it has produced in just six weeks and launched on Tuesday.
The 50-episode series is described as a racing-inspired romance-revenge series made at a fraction of typical racing drama’s budgets.
Final Lap originated from Today I Divorce My Superstar Husband, a Korean original and one of Vigloo’s top global performers. The story was first adapted for Western audiences then reimagined again as a racing-centred romance and revenge drama.
“Final Lap started as one of our top-performing stories across markets,” said CEO Neil Choi. “With AI, we didn’t just localise it but we rebuilt it into a completely new genre that would have been impossible to produce otherwise. AI enables us to not only move faster but to bring high-cost genres to shortform storytelling at scale.”
The project is part of Vigloo’s push to expand its AI titles and significantly grow the proportion of its library created with AI. Currently, Vigloo has around 400 titles, with 30 of them AI animation, as well as a growing AI live-action slate.
