Roy Price Once Led Amazon Studios. Now He’s Betting on User-Generated Microdramas
Former Amazon Studios chief Roy Price has launched Number One Best Website, a platform for user-generated vertical microdramas that also helps creators find collaborators and manage production. Price argues that its open, decentralised model could broaden the genre beyond the billionaire, mafia and werewolf stories common on established services, while using AI tools to make short-form production more viable.
The website, which does not yet have an app, lets viewers buy tokens to unlock episodes lasting one to several minutes; it takes a share of revenue while creators retain film and television rights if their intellectual property is sold. Teams using its standard agreements receive 70 per cent of revenue, with 30 per cent going to the platform, and the shows available at launch appeared to be AI-made. Price joins several other Hollywood figures pursuing vertical entertainment, though the sector’s long-term sustainability remains uncertain amid costly marketing and intense competition.
- Roy Price has launched a user-generated microdrama platform.
- N1BW combines video publishing, collaboration and revenue-sharing tools.
- AI and fierce competition shape the emerging vertical-video market.
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Vertical microdramas are short, phone-shaped video dramas, usually released in episodes that last a few minutes. Viewers often pay to unlock later episodes, and the format has grown through specialist services and social media.
Roy Price formerly led Amazon Studios, the film and television arm of Amazon. His new website lets creators publish dramas, find people to work with and organise production; viewers can use tokens to unlock episodes, while creators keep the rights to their stories.
The venture sits within a wider push by entertainment companies and Hollywood figures into short-form video. Its open model may give creators more room to try different stories, but platforms in the sector face competition and the challenge of attracting viewers.
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The case for
Supporters argue this represents genuine democratization of entertainment—the 70 per cent revenue split and IP retention offer meaningful improvements over exploitative studio contracts, whilst AI tools lower creative barriers for underrepresented creators. A decentralised platform outside traditional gatekeeping could enable diverse voices and stories that major services overlook, addressing real gaps in creative opportunity and cultural representation.
The case against
Critics contend that user-generated platforms struggle with sustainability, and most creators earn little despite favourable revenue terms, with earnings concentrated among a tiny percentage. The vertical entertainment sector already faces intense saturation, costly competition, and high marketing expenses; leading with AI-generated content risks undermining credibility, and without proven audience demand and viable economics, this may follow previous user-generated ventures that failed to deliver sustainable value.