COL Group Launches COL AI Studios to Turn Microdrama Hits Into Full-Scale Entertainment Franchises
COL Group has launched COL AI Studios, a new entertainment vertical designed to help platforms, studios and brands develop, test and scale content well beyond traditional licensing deals. The announcement, reported by Variety on 14 August 2026, lands as the company's distribution network has grown to over 5,000 live-action titles — up from just over 1,000 when the network first launched.
The new division adds a development layer that can move proven intellectual property and original concepts into animation, short-form and long-form series, advertising, branded entertainment and live action, according to Variety. In plain terms: a microdrama that found an audience on a phone app could become an animated series, a live-action show, or a branded campaign — all from the same source material.
COL Group's library is built on thousands of commercially proven microdrama titles — short, episodic video stories designed for mobile viewing, typically running one to three minutes per episode. The company, founded in 2000 and described as a global digital content company, has positioned itself as the world's largest micro-drama reseller since launching its global content distribution division in 2025. Content is sourced from the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia and China, and the operation is backed by a roster exceeding 500 creative and production personnel based in Los Angeles, China and Southeast Asia.
The company's existing studio operations have already delivered more than 300 AI productions. One flagship project, "Love Missions Across the Galaxy," has grown into a three-season franchise with localized versions in more than 10 languages and reached number one in five overseas language markets. Several of COL Group's AI-native titles are now moving toward live-action development.
The global microdrama market is estimated at $26 billion, per Variety, and within that industry AI is primarily deployed for localization and dubbing — translating and re-voicing content so it plays in new territories. COL AI Studios appears aimed at pushing AI further upstream, into the creative development chain itself.
Timothy Oh, general manager of COL Group International, and CEO Ray Tong lead the business. Oh was appointed to his role as part of COL Group's Vertical 2.0 expansion earlier this year, which also included new U.S. and Asia partnerships heads.
The groundwork for COL AI Studios has been laid across several months. In January 2026, COL Group's Zhuhai-Macau Studio commenced full operations, targeting partnerships with broadcasters, streaming platforms and content producers across Greater China and the broader Asia-Pacific. At MIP London in February, the company presented an expanded microdrama distribution network carrying a slate of 1,700 premium series. In March, COL Group and Nasdaq-listed BeLive Holdings launched a "Microdrama Solution" at Hong Kong Filmart — featuring AI-powered subtitling and commerce features aimed at markets outside the U.S. and China — alongside a turnkey app solution called "Microdrama in a Box."
For viewers and platforms, the practical effect is a faster pipeline from a mobile-first hit to something that can run on a television screen, in a cinema, or as part of a brand campaign — with AI assisting at the development and localization stages rather than only at the translation step.
