https://restofworld.org/2023/what-is-reelshort/
"Kasey Esser, an actor and gym owner in Los Angeles, didn’t expect anyone to
see his new show. The 34-year-old played a werewolf in
Fated to My Forbidden
Alpha, released on ReelShort, a little-known Chinese-backed streaming app
available in the U.S. and many other countries. Each episode of Esser’s show is
a vertical video lasting less than three minutes, filled with cheesy lines and
a storyline about a love triangle between billionaire werewolves.
To Esser’s surprise,
Fated to My Forbidden Alpha took off. ReelShort
advertised clips of the series on TikTok, which have been viewed tens of
millions of times, including by some members at Esser’s gym. He’s received fan
messages from India, Brazil, Thailand, and Mexico. A fan sent him a T-shirt
printed with his photo. “I was totally, totally taken aback,” Esser told
Rest
of World.
The idea of a smartphone-friendly streaming service, with vertical videos and
short episodes, was popularized by Quibi. Founded by Hollywood legend Jeffrey
Katzenberg — with a diverse slate of big-name backers including The Walt Disney
Company, Goldman Sachs, and BBC Studios — Quibi’s high-profile launch in 2020
was swiftly followed by its much-publicized demise just six months later. But
ReelShort isn’t trying to copy Quibi; with cheap production costs and cliched
stories, it’s taking inspiration from a model that’s proved successful in
China. And it might be working: ReelShort was the top-downloaded iOS
entertainment app in the U.S. for three consecutive days in November, according
to app research firm Sensor Tower."
Via
Garbage Day: The traffic firehose isn’t coming back
https://www.garbageday.email/p/traffic-firehose-isnt-coming-back
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
