The platform is using AI to repurpose old films for mobile, but its first effort is an awkward fit for the format.
The platform is using AI to repurpose old films for mobile, but its first effort is an awkward fit for the format.
Most vertical video microdrama apps have been focused on putting out newly produced series meant to be watched on your phone. But Tattle TV thinks that people might also be interested in checking out bite-size pieces of cinematic history.
Though Tattle TV — a UK-based streaming platform created by filmmakers Philip McGoldrick and Marina Elderton — features a reality dating series about dog owners and a modern drama about a female MMA fighter, the company’s latest debut is a vertically oriented edit of Alfred Hitchcock’s silent film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog.
Similar to other microdrama apps, Tattle TV splits all of its content into short segments that can be purchased individually using an in-app currency (Tattle Coins) that you buy using actual money. The platform also offers monthly and yearly subscriptions for $3.99 and $29.99, respectively, and Reward Coins — which are essentially the same as regular Tattle Coins — can be obtained by “engaging with fun activities” like watching advertisements.
Tattle TV’s content library is relatively scant right now, and its vertical spin on The Lodger is only available in the US (where the film is part of the public domain) due to licensing restrictions. But in a recent interview with Deadline, Elderton said that the company has plans to flesh out its catalog by obtaining the rights to other British classics like Monty Python and The Crystal Maze.
“Repurposing recognizable shows would be such an interesting introduction to what a vertical is,” Elderton explained. “There is a huge proportion of the British population who don’t know what verticals are and if we can access those audiences as well as verticals fans then that is a bit of a goldmine.”
Watching The Lodger on Tattle TV is a rather odd experience because there are many elements of the movie, like its original aspect ratio, that simply weren’t designed for the vertical format. While you can still get the gist of the story thanks to intertitle cards, many actors are essentially cropped out of the film in order to keep your focus on main characters Daisy Bunting (June Tripp) and Jonathan Drew / The Lodger (Ivor Novello). Tattle TV’s version of The Lodger is also scored with music that sounds more like the ominous stuff you hear in trailers for contemporary thrillers as opposed to the type of music silent films are typically accompanied by.
Tattle TV’s format and interstitial ads make it hard to get lost in The Lodger’s fantasy. But McGoldrick is confident that, because the company is “an early adopter of cutting-edge AI tools,” it’s in a prime position to quickly produce more vertical editions of classic movies and shows that people will be interested in watching. The company probably can crank out a few more of these things if it can secure the right permissions, but as they currently exist, it’s a little hard to imagine these verticals capturing people’s imaginations.
