For streaming platforms, getting viewers to discover a film or series is only half the battle. The bigger challenge is persuading them to press play. With audiences increasingly discovering entertainment through short-form feeds, OTT platforms are experimenting with bite-sized videos to capture attention before asking viewers to commit to a full-length title. The idea is not new. Disney+ Hotstar launched Quix in 2021 with short-format original shows, while Netflix introduced Moments in 2024, allowing users to save and share favourite scenes. Netflix subsequently expanded the feature to let users select the start and end points of clips. Now, ZEE5 is taking a different approach with Clips. Developed in collaboration with Google Cloud, it uses AI to identify engaging moments from long-form content and then turn them into vertical videos at scale.
Instead of relying solely on trailers and manually created promotional assets, platforms are now using AI to bring out multiple moments from a single title, giving different audiences different reasons to watch. A dramatic reveal, a comic exchange or a romantic scene could each become an entry point into the same film or series. For Harshit Arora, Founder and CEO of Growster, the appeal lies in the low commitment that short-form feeds demand from viewers. “You don't have to sit through a 30-minute episode to decide if you like it or not. You see a small clip with a hook, which the makers are very smartly crafting,” he says. Arora believes AI can identify moments that hold attention and personalise clips for different audiences. But the technology alone cannot guarantee that viewers will continue watching. “Whether that actually converts into long-form viewing will still depend on the storytelling and if the clip makes you curious enough to watch more,” he says.
Kartik Khanna, Founder of The Starter Labs and Co-founder of Zoo Media, adds to that, saying, “AI-generated clips can expand the ways in which audiences discover content without replacing traditional trailers. A trailer is typically a single communication designed to sell a title, while AI could turn one talking point into hundreds of clips built around different characters, emotions and moments, tailored to different audiences and viewing occasions. The opportunity is to create multiple entry points into a title rather than simply adding another marketing asset.”
The Bullet question
For ZEE5, Clips arrives alongside another short-form offering: Bullet, its micro drama initiative developed through a strategic partnership announced in June 2025. While Bullet focuses on fast-paced, vertical storytelling, Clips extracts moments from existing long-form titles to encourage viewers to explore the wider catalogue.
The distinction could allow the two products to play complementary roles. Bullet serves audiences seeking short, self-contained narratives, while Clips can act as a gateway to films and series. However, ZEE5 will need to establish how the offerings work together without competing for the same audience attention. The difference also matters in a market where micro dramas are designed to deliver stories in short, episodic installments, whereas clips from longer titles must create enough curiosity to encourage viewers to commit to a much bigger narrative. Khanna cautions that OTT platforms must avoid making clips feel like advertisements for a show. Instead, they should offer something worth watching in their own right: a funny scene, a relatable character, a powerful line or a cliffhanger that viewers want to share.
Syed Aqib, Brand Strategist at 3Minds, believes platforms must also master the art of the unresolved loop to compete with micro dramas. Standard highlight Reels may not be enough; clips need to function as emotional cliffhangers that leave viewers wanting answers, with the full episode offering the payoff. The challenge is to make the transition from clip to title seamless. As Khanna points out, the real measure of success should not be how many people watch a clip, but how many move from it to the full show.
A new canvas for brands?
The opportunity extends beyond discovery to content marketing and advertising. If AI can generate multiple clips from a single title, OTT platforms could rethink how they promote entertainment and potentially create new formats for advertisers.
Venu Madhav, General Manager at Boopin, believes short-form video is becoming an important discovery tool as viewers spend more time scrolling through digital feeds. “AI-generated clips can make this even more useful by helping platforms show the right moments to different viewers and give them a quick sense of what they might enjoy,” he says.
Madhav sees the shift as an opportunity to move some marketing activity towards native, micro-narratives within apps. He also points to the potential for ‘premium, bite-sized ad formats and shoppable integrations’. Aqib sees an opportunity for hyper-contextual advertising, where brands could associate themselves with particular emotional states, character archetypes or cultural moments rather than relying solely on conventional pre-roll ads. A coffee brand, for instance, could align its message with a tense, late-night scene, creating a more contextually relevant advertising experience.
For brands, this could eventually mean associations with genres, characters or relevant cultural moments. However, these opportunities remain prospective. Platforms would need to establish how brand integrations work, how advertising is distinguished from editorial content and whether such formats deliver measurable value. Madhav argues that platforms need a “frictionless, single-click transition from the clip straight into premium long-form content”, turning casual scrollers into loyal subscribers.
Ultimately, ZEE5’s challenge is to make Clips more than a new way to package existing content. If AI-generated moments can move audiences from discovery to sustained viewing, Clips could become an important layer of OTT marketing and distribution. If they generate views without driving viewers towards full titles, they risk becoming just another format competing for a few seconds of attention.
