ZEE5’s new AI feature turns movies and shows into scrollable Shorts to boost content discovery

Clips uses a swipe-led format to highlight selected moments from movies and shows, allowing viewers to sample content before moving to the full-length title.

AI technology powers content discovery

Developed by the ZEE5 and Google Cloud teams, Clips uses a combination of AI and machine-learning technologies to process long-form content and identify moments suited for short-form discovery.

The technology integrates Gemini Pro, Chirp multilingual model, Cloud Vision API and deep-learning models to analyse movies and shows and automatically create short, vertical videos from selected scenes.

The approach allows ZEE5 to generate short-form discovery content from its existing catalogue at scale, without creating separate short-form productions for each title.

Clips aims to drive full-length viewing

Beyond short-form consumption, ZEE5 is positioning Clips as an entry point to its wider content library. Viewers can watch a short excerpt and move directly to the corresponding full-length movie or show if the clip interests them.

According to the platform, early viewing behaviour indicates movement from Clips to full-length content, suggesting that short-form videos are helping audiences discover and subsequently engage with longer titles.

The development comes as streaming platforms increasingly use short-form formats to attract viewers and create new discovery pathways for their existing content libraries.

Tejkarran Singh Bajaj, Business Head - Zee 5 India and AI & Innovation, said, “At Zee 5, we are rethinking how audiences discover and engage with entertainment, and Clips is a direct reflection of that approach. Developed in collaboration with Google Cloud, it brings compelling moments from our long-form catalogue into a quick, swipe-led experience, giving audiences a new way to encounter stories they may not have actively searched for.

“This creates a more intuitive path from discovery to deeper consumption, while allowing us to unlock the potential of the content already available on Zee 5. It also reflects our larger ambition to combine bold product thinking with technology to make the Zee 5 experience more dynamic, personal and audience led”.

Pramod Prakash, Chief Technology Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., said, “Clips was built around a simple audience need: making it easier for viewers to discover stories they may not have actively searched for. The solution uses AI to identify engaging moments within long-form content and automatically transform them into short, vertical videos, creating a more intuitive entry point into the Zee 5 catalogue.

“Co-built with Google Cloud, it brings together Gemini models, the Chirp multilingual model, Speech-to-Text, Cloud Vision API and deep-learning models to process and package content for discovery at scale. The technology gives us a more intelligent way to connect individual moments with the larger stories they come from, while creating new pathways for audiences to explore the breadth of content available on Zee 5."

Amit Kumar, Managing Director, Digital Natives Business at Google Cloud India, said, “Our collaboration with Zee 5 on Clips is a great example of our deep partnership and it demonstrates how generative AI can drive measurable business value at scale. By leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced Gemini models, these joint AI innovations accelerate time-to-market for new platform features while continuously elevating the daily viewer experience”.