Free
Try it free. Your first film is on us.
$0
Make my film free
- 1 film, up to 1 minute
- 20 ready characters
- Voices, music and sound effects
- 1080p download and subtitles
- The Discord community
- A small watermark
Turn your story into a hand‑drawn animated film.
Write what happens. We draw every shot, voice every character and score the music. No drawing, no editing, no AI look.
Your first film is free, up to 1 minute. Free account, no card.
The look
Lit like a film.
Drawn frame by frame.
Every shot is staged the way a director would: wide shots to set the scene, close-ups for what's said, over the shoulder when two people talk. The light follows the time of day, from the first sun through the curtains to the lamp at midnight.
All six shots come from one film, What If They Laugh?, made in Drawn Films. No AI images or AI video anywhere: every frame is drawn by our animation engine.
Lip sync
They really talk.
Every line is spoken in a voice made for that character, and the mouth follows each word as it's said. Close-ups feel alive, not stuck on.
- Mouth shapes from the voice itself. They follow its timing, letter by letter.
- A voice for every character, matched to their age and look. Tap to hear any of them before you choose.
- A close-up for every line, so viewers always see who's talking.
Where it started
From the creator of Ember&Shadow.
I started Ember&Shadow to tell small, honest stories about the voice in your head. Every film was drawn in code, frame by frame, with no AI images.
When one of them reached about a thousand people, two comments asked the same thing: how did you make this?
Drawn Films is my answer. It's the same engine, made simple enough that anyone with a story can use it. You write it. It gets drawn.
Ember&Shadow
Ember&Shadow
Why now
Simple animated stories are taking over YouTube.
New channels built on simple 2D animation are pulling millions of views. They don't look like AI, and they don't look like the same stick figures everyone else uses. That's the opening.
4.1M
views on its very first film, in three weeks
Day One Films
55M
views in its first year, from 39 films
StoryBox Animated
336K
views in 9 days on one film, from a channel with 4 videos and 4.9K subscribers
Last Soul
4.0M
views in 12 days on one story, from a channel with 43K subscribers
Ifverse
YouTube numbers on 19 Oct 2026. We're not connected to these channels.
How it works
From one sentence to a finished film.
No timeline, no keyframes, no editing software. Three steps, and every choice has a sensible default, so your first film takes minutes.
What If They Laugh? · your cast
EllaTeen girl · bright, warm voice
Her mindThought cloud · soft, echoey voice
MiaLittle sister · cheerful voiceCharacters
Make every character yours.
Start from 20 ready characters. On Creator, change their skin tone, hair and clothes. On Studio, describe someone new or dress anyone in new clothes, hair and hats. Try it here: every change shows instantly.
Zara
Warm voice
On Studio
Dress anyone for any scene.
New clothes, hair and hats for any character, ready-made or your own. Try it on Ella from What If They Laugh?
On Studio
Or describe someone new.
Type who you need. They're drawn in the same style, saved to My characters, and ready for every film after.
Shot 4
Edits
Change any shot by typing.
Say it like you'd tell a friend. Only that shot is redrawn, so a change takes seconds, and a remake only uses the minutes of the shots that changed.
Works for the whole film too: "make the ending happier", "add a dog".
Done for you
Everything a film needs, done for you.
The parts that usually take a team: the score, the sound, the first line, the upload. They're in every plan, free included. Point at one, or tap it.
-
Music for the feeling
Pick Sad, Hopeful, Funny or Motivational. The score is made to match, and it swells where your story does.
-
Sound effects
Everyday sounds are built in, and anything else is made for your story. Tap one: these three are from What If They Laugh?
-
A first line that hooks
Your film opens with a line written from the hooks working in your niche right now.
-
Your niche, remembered
Tell us what your channel is about once. Ideas, titles, thumbnails and hashtags all follow it.
-
Play any shot in seconds
Check a shot before you make the whole film. Move, delete or add shots with a tap.
-
Subtitles included
Every film downloads in 1080p with its subtitles file, ready to upload.
-
We'll tell you when it's ready
Close the tab while it draws. We'll send you a notification the moment your film is ready.
-
Coming next
Vertical Shorts and more languages are on the way.
Trend research
Know what to make before you make it.
It analyses the trending videos in your niche, takes all the factors into account, and suggests the gap where you can make your 2D animated video.
Trending now last 60 days
A gap we'd try example
YouTube numbers on 19 Oct 2026. × = views compared with that channel's usual video. We're not connected to these channels.
- Beating their usual views. It looks for the videos doing better than their channel normally does, not just the biggest ones.
- Ideas with the proof attached. Each idea shows the videos it's based on, so you can see why it should work.
- Packaged for your niche. Titles and thumbnails follow what's winning there right now.
Every film comes packaged for YouTube.
3 titles, 3 thumbnails, a description with chapters and trending hashtags, based on the videos beating their channel's average in your niche right now. Here's a set for What If They Laugh?: the thumbnails are drawn by our engine from the film's own shots, so the faces always match.
-
What If They Laugh? | An Animated Short FilmDrawn Films · title and thumbnail 1 of 3
-
I Was Too Scared to Read My Poem Out Loud | Animated StoryDrawn Films · title and thumbnail 2 of 3
-
The Voice in My Head Said "What If They Laugh?" (Animated Short)Drawn Films · title and thumbnail 3 of 3
A set of 3, made for YouTube's Test & Compare: upload all three and YouTube keeps the winner. Want other words, a new colour or a different shot? Redraw them for free, in about a second.
Description
Ella writes poems but has only ever read them to her cat. When she has to read one out in class, the voice in her head asks just one thing: what if they laugh?
0:00 The News
0:12 Her Poems
0:28 Her Turn
0:48 Nobody Comes
0:56 Mia Knows It
1:23 Reading Anyway
2:00 That Night
Pricing
Start free. Upgrade when your channel grows.
Creator
For creators posting every week.
/month
Launch price, locked in for as long as you stay
Start with Creator- minutes of film a month
- No watermark
- Recolour the ready characters
- 3 titles, 3 thumbnails and hashtags for every film
- Run as many channels as you like; they share your minutes
- Post on YouTube and earn money
- Your films can win Film of the Week
Studio
For serious creators building a channel that lasts.
/month
Launch price, locked in for as long as you stay
Start with Studio- minutes of film a month
- Everything in Creator
- Create your own characters
- Customise anyone's clothes, hair and hats
- Run as many channels as you like; they share your minutes
- A faster queue
Launch offer: 50% off your first month with the code COPYME, on any plan (on a yearly plan, off one month's share of the year). Unused monthly minutes carry over to the next month. Yearly plans get all 12 months of minutes at once. Need more? Top up any time. Cancel whenever you like and keep every film you made.
Questions
Can I earn money from these films on YouTube?
Yes. You own every film you make. On Creator and Studio there's no watermark, so you can post your films and monetise them. YouTube decides who joins its Partner Program, and original stories in your own words are exactly what it's looking for.
Is this AI video?
No. AI helps write the shots and speak the voices, but the film itself is drawn frame by frame by our animation engine. It never uses AI images or AI video, which is why your characters look the same in every shot.
Do I need to know how to draw, animate or edit?
No. You write the story. We draw every shot, add the voices, music and sound effects, and give you a finished video. There's no timeline and nothing to edit unless you want to.
How long does a film take?
You see the first shots within seconds. After you press Make my video, a 3-minute film takes about one to two minutes, and we send you a notification when it's ready.
Can I run more than one channel?
Yes. Creator and Studio let you run as many channels as you like. Each one keeps its own niche and ideas, and they share your minutes.
What counts as a minute?
Minutes of finished film. A 3-minute film uses 3 minutes, and a remake uses only the length of the shots it redrew. A film that fails to render never uses minutes. On a monthly plan, unused minutes carry over to the next month only. On a yearly plan you get all 12 months' minutes at once.
Do thumbnails cost extra?
No. Your thumbnails are drawn by our animation engine from your film's own shots, in about a second each. Want other words, a new colour or a different shot? Redraw them as often as you like, free.
Which languages work?
English for now. More languages are coming soon.
Can I cancel any time?
Yes. Cancel from your account whenever you like. You keep every film you made.
Your first film is one sentence away.
Free, up to 1 minute. Free account, no card.