watchpartyHero - Flower Press Interactive

Watch Party AI App

An AI-Enabled App to Bring Back the Family Movie Night

The Challenge

Family movie nights have historically been a cherished way to unite loved ones. However, the landscape has become increasingly complicated by competing individual devices, a plethora of streaming services, and the challenges of group decision-making. With 95% of US households accessing multiple streaming services and 88% struggling to find content that satisfies everyone, the simple joy of coming together for a movie can feel out of reach. Is there a solution that can restore this family tradition?

The Outcome

Watch Party AI is an app that simplifies content selection and group decision-making for family movie nights. Watch Party AI generates tailored movie recommendations across various streaming platforms by allowing each participant to input their mood and preferences. Each family member can select their favorites. The app addresses conflicting preferences by merging individual tastes into hybrid suggestions. Watch Party AI employs an intelligent tournament-style voting process, making the selection journey quick and enjoyable. Once a title is chosen, the app will guide users on how to watch it—whether through subscription, rental, or purchase. This solution enhances the movie selection experience and reinforces family bonds through shared cinematic experiences.

“Watch Party AI is like GPS for my family movie night. I know we’re always going to find something great to watch together.” – Catrina, Wife & Mom of 3

Our Approach

Watch Party AI represents an internal initiative by Flower Press Interactive to address a common dilemma families face. The rise of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) presented a unique opportunity to create this solution. Initial tests with ChatGPT revealed LLMs could excel at generating movie suggestions, but we quickly recognized that group decision-making dynamics introduce added complexity. Before development, we sought to understand the intricacies of family decision-making. Our collaboration with the Stanford GSB LISA Accelerator—a twelve-week intensive program—provided a foundational framework for our research and problem-solving efforts.

Through interviews with parents and children, we identified archetypes, power structures, and individuals’ roles in orchestrating family movie nights. Our insights showed that considering each participant’s preferences, providing hybrid suggestions, and incorporating group voting tools would facilitate consensus-building among families. We developed a prototype and conducted functional demonstrations. Then, we began building the app using React Native, NodeJS, and custom ChatGPT integrations, implementing a chess ranking algorithm for our tournament-style voting to intelligently prioritize titles based on user preferences.

Ongoing Growth

In the spring of 2025, we launched a closed product beta and are actively refining features to enhance user experience. We aim to launch Watch Party AI in the summer of 2025 publicly. As our internal project evolves alongside advancements in AI technology, Flower Press Interactive is committed to continuously updating and refining the app, exploring future features that will further enrich family movie nights and shared experiences.