Remember Quibi?

It was a short-form content studio and streaming service for smartphones that failed in spectacular fashion in 2020, so much so that its name became Hollywood slang: That’s a Quibi, as in a terrible idea.

Now, however, one of Hollywood’s most outsize personalities is giving the basic concept — a short-form studio and app — another shot. He thinks Quibi was a terrific idea, albeit with spotty execution and really bad timing.

And it needed the help of artificial intelligence.

Lloyd Braun, whose résumé includes stints running ABC Entertainment, the Yahoo Media Group and the WME talent agency, lifted the curtain Wednesday on what he and his partners are calling MicroCo. It’s the first Hollywood effort to capitalize on micro dramas, an addictive, bite-size entertainment genre that started in China a few years ago and has ballooned into a more than $7 billion business there, according to analysts.

Shot vertically for viewing on phones, micro dramas are soapy, scripted and serialized — video romance novels for the TikTok era. Shows available on ReelShort, a Chinese-backed app, have titles like “Selling My Virginity to the Mafia King” and “Pregnant by My Ex’s Professor Dad.” Production costs are minuscule by Hollywood standards, with Chinese companies spending as little as $15,000 for an entire season, analysts say. Episodes are a minute (or three) in length. Seasons stretch from 30 to 150 episodes.

Chinese micro drama apps have lately been gaining traction in the United States; millions of Americans have downloaded them, according to Sensor Tower, an analytics firm. Analysts estimate that the genre will be a $10 billion business outside China by 2027.

“This is a rare white space in entertainment: an emerging global format with no clear leader here in the U.S.,” Mr. Braun said in an interview, gesticulating wildly as is his custom. (He was once parodied on “Seinfeld.”)