Bitsmedia/MuslimPro’s Qalbox premieres its first AI production for Ramadan, kicking off a new chapter in the 18-month-old streaming platform’s original production ambitions and paving the way for a future with AI as a powerful co-creator.
The 10 x 10-minute Qalbox Original, "Muhammad the Mercy for the Multiverse", as well as the 30 x 3-minute "Revelations of the Surahs" were produced in collaboration with Abbas Arslan’s Quranscape.
The series explores lessons from the Quran, delving into wisdom and reflection on historical narratives, Qalbox says.
The promo, "The Night Journey by Prophet Muhammad", started running in early February, and the series premieres globally on Qalbox on 10/11 March.
The series is a pivotal moment for Qalbox, a “true game-changer... a catalyst that transformed our vision into reality,” says Qalbox’s Singapore-based head, Junaidah Said Khan, who also describesthe AI production process as “an eye-opening experience” and “stepping into a new world of possibilities”.
“AI allowed us to explore these sacred narratives with a freshness and depth that might have been challenging through traditional means,” she says.
“For us, it’s like having a new member on our creative team who brings a fresh perspective and unparalleled efficiency,” Khan adds.
“This partnership between technology and creativity allows our young SVOD platform to dream bigger, pushing the boundaries to produce content that speaks directly to our global audience,” she says.
But the approach “isn’t just about using new tools; it’s about embracing a new way to share stories cherished for generations, making them accessible and relatable to today’s audience,” Khan says.
Speaking from his base in the U.S., Arslan, former executive producer at Coke Studio and Quranscape founder, says his dream was “to tell the story of the entire Quran in a video format”.
AI went a long way to solving the conceptual, cost and time barriers. Without AI, the project comes in at a mi...
Bitsmedia/MuslimPro’s Qalbox premieres its first AI production for Ramadan, kicking off a new chapter in the 18-month-old streaming platform’s original production ambitions and paving the way for a future with AI as a powerful co-creator.
The 10 x 10-minute Qalbox Original, "Muhammad the Mercy for the Multiverse", as well as the 30 x 3-minute "Revelations of the Surahs" were produced in collaboration with Abbas Arslan’s Quranscape.
The series explores lessons from the Quran, delving into wisdom and reflection on historical narratives, Qalbox says.
The promo, "The Night Journey by Prophet Muhammad", started running in early February, and the series premieres globally on Qalbox on 10/11 March.
The series is a pivotal moment for Qalbox, a “true game-changer... a catalyst that transformed our vision into reality,” says Qalbox’s Singapore-based head, Junaidah Said Khan, who also describesthe AI production process as “an eye-opening experience” and “stepping into a new world of possibilities”.
“AI allowed us to explore these sacred narratives with a freshness and depth that might have been challenging through traditional means,” she says.
“For us, it’s like having a new member on our creative team who brings a fresh perspective and unparalleled efficiency,” Khan adds.
“This partnership between technology and creativity allows our young SVOD platform to dream bigger, pushing the boundaries to produce content that speaks directly to our global audience,” she says.
But the approach “isn’t just about using new tools; it’s about embracing a new way to share stories cherished for generations, making them accessible and relatable to today’s audience,” Khan says.
Speaking from his base in the U.S., Arslan, former executive producer at Coke Studio and Quranscape founder, says his dream was “to tell the story of the entire Quran in a video format”.
AI went a long way to solving the conceptual, cost and time barriers. Without AI, the project comes in at a minimum of US$10 million. With AI, the budget could be somewhere around US$250,000.
And then there’s the time. Without AI, the project could take five to seven years. AI cut that to months.
At the same time, AI demands different storytelling skills, abilities and understanding of the technology, which itself is still developing, Arslan says.
“AI is every good for certain kinds of story telling,” he adds. “We wrote what could be executed well.”