Digital startup Snips — which mines TV and film libraries to turn existing content into short-form, vertical (or “microseries”) fare — has sealed new deals with Banijay Rights and BIG Media to adapt some of their series and movies into minute-long episodes. Banijay Rights is the global distribution arm of Banijay Entertainment (“Big Brother,” “MasterChef”), while BIG Media is an unscripted producer (“Inside the CIA: Secrets & Spies,” “Truthseekers”). Titles that will be adapted into vertical microseries under this deal include “Big Brother,” “The Fall” (starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan), “Flowers” (starring Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt), “Gracepoint” (starring David Tennant), “Gunpowder” (starring Kit Harington), “Humans” (starring Gemma Chan and Colin Morgan), “MasterChef,” “Merlin” (starring Colin Morgan and Bradley James) and “Two Weeks to Live.” This reps the first major content deals for Snips, which is based in Tel Aviv.
The company said it will announce additional content partners in the months to come. The company currently has more than 250 titles available, with a goal toward producing “dozens” per week and “thousands of titles” per year. In the case of these TV series and films, Snips will edit them down (utilizing AI via its own proprietary “AI Film Director” program) into around 60 micro-episodes per title.
Those episodes will last between 45 seconds and two minutes and feature much of the same storyline — but edited down, with each episode ending on some sort of cliffhanger. Banijay and BIG Media retain ownership of the series IP, and Snips will share revenue (which comes from users on Snips’ vertical platform) with those distribution partners. Producing originals would put it in competition with the very studios it depends on.
Studios remain the storytellers, and Snips remains the platform that carries their work to mobile.”
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