Canela Media Launches AI-Generated Microdrama App Zully in Spanish and English

Canela Media launched Zully, a new app dedicated to microdramas in both Spanish and English, at its upfronts presentation to advertisers in New York. The announcement came during a luncheon event held Monday afternoon at a restaurant across the street from Radio City Music Hall, the same day NBCUniversal presented at the landmark venue and announced a Bravo vertical video initiative coming to Peacock.

Canela Media claims a monthly audience of 60 million active users across AVOD, FAST, social media and YouTube.

Isabel Rafferty-Zavala founded Canela Media in 2019 and runs the company as CEO. ” Canela Media has been operating for seven years as of the 2026 announcement. Rafferty-Zavala added that the company has spent years deeply understanding how audiences express culture, move across platforms, and connect with stories.

U.S. Hispanic market, where younger, diverse viewers are shaping what drama looks like for everyone. The market for micro-series is valued at $11 billion.

Serialized vertical video series with episodes lasting just a few minutes first established itself in Asia but has drawn significant investment in the United States in recent years. Fox has invested in the micro-series market. Canela Media is producing its microdramas primarily with artificial intelligence.

Its main hub of production is in Mexico, and the microdrama operation is aiming to generate as many as 30 series per month. Zully is launching as a 100% scripted, fully owned-and-operated platform. Zully series will be free and ad-supported.

Unlike some competitors that mix scripted and unscripted content or rely on third-party material, Canela Media is building an entirely in-house library. A clip from the series Pride of the Rancho was shown at Canela Media’s upfront. Pride of the Rancho is described as a cross between a Jane Austen romance and Yellowstone.

The live-action scenes in Pride of the Rancho were entirely AI-generated. Deadline reported that while AI-generated content can present challenges for traditional studios bound by guild agreements, an emerging outlet like Canela Media faces fewer such constraints. The company does not operate linear TV networks and does not hold expensive sports rights.

Rafferty-Zavala said the company’s focus on younger, culturally fluent audiences should help Zully grow. A subscription tier remains a possibility for the platform in the future.