Making Creator Headlines · Page 6
VeYou Wanted to Be the HBO of Microdramas, Then Its Own Season Ended Early
· New York time
Film producer Tommy Harper is shutting down VeYou, the microdrama app he launched roughly six months ago with ambitions of becoming the HBO of the format. A message on the service said it would end November 6. Harper told Business Insider he would continue producing series. The app's short life illustrates the challenge of building a separate destination for brief serialized entertainment. Microdramas can encourage viewers to keep returning for the next episode, but a standalone service still has to attract an audience to its own app. A recognizable producer and an ambitious comparison do not remove the need to sustain the business. Harper's credits include Star Wars and Top Gun: Maverick, making his move into the phone-oriented format a notable bet on short episodes. The shutdown ends the app, not his stated plans to keep producing. It also leaves the larger question of how audiences will find and pay for microdramas to other services and creators. VeYou's intended comparison was to a premium television institution. Its actual run was more in keeping with the compact storytelling it carried. The final announcement offers a definitive ending in a genre that usually prefers to leave viewers waiting for the next installment.
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