Chinese micro-drama whirlwind takes the world

In recent years, Chinese micro-drama, a new type of video entertainment format, has gained popularity home and abroad. How’s the development of micro-drama in China? What are the tailwinds and headwinds as it expands globally? Let’s find out the answers with two insiders in this episode of China Trends.

Guests:
Ricky Ow
Board of Directors, Viddsee
Cassandra Yang
General Manager, RisingJoy 

Transcript

Yu Shuaishuai:

Hello and welcome to this episode of China Trends, I am your host Yu Shuaishuai. In recent years, the world has seen a booming market for short dramas. These short but intense series have gained a large following not only in China but also overseas. How is the development of China's short series? And what are the tailwinds and headwinds for its further development? Today, we will find the answers from our two guests.

Cassandra Yang:

Hello everyone, this is Cassandra Yang from Shanghai RisingJoy commercial consulting company.

Ricky Ow:

Hi I'm Ricky Ow, I'm from Viddsee. I sit on the board of Viddsee.

Yu Shuaishuai:

Can you give us a brief introduction of the Chinese short drama industry? Especially what position the Chinese short drama industry currently stands in the world?

Ricky Ow:

It rises from the changes in consumer behavior. I always believe if media adjusts consumer behavior, they are likely to win. The trend, obviously outside of China, is a lot more people watch TikTok, and now we call them TikTok generation. They are a younger, very mobile generation. They like to swipe left, they like to swipe up. I think that is a natural development from watching social media on TikTok, moving from vertical format, swiping up and left to watch micro-drama. I think that's a very natural development. And I think that development is gonna explode because younger audience wants something faster. They want instant gratification. They are different from the generation before. They are digital native. And so, this format itself has a strong appeal and I think has a long runway to the younger audience. 

Cassandra Yang:

Also in China, the development stage of short-form is not a new thing. It came from 3 or 4 years ago. At that time, it was just a minority of the content genre.Then, during 2020 to 2024, it's become bigger and bigger, and more and more people pay attention to it. Last year, China’s vertical micro-series had already achieved 2/3 of China’s box office. That was a significant growth in the domestic market. 

Yu Shuaishuai:

Currently, what is the trend of short dramas?

Ricky Ow:

I think the Chinese are the first to take advantage and created this trend of a vertical format drama. So, whether it's Hollywood or whether it's outside of China, in Southeast Asia, everybody is going horizontal. So, obviously, with TikTok and Douyin, the Chinese have a better understanding, have more data, as it happened in China first, more data on how this is working. This is the element, I think that it brings it out. The micro-series is really what I can call it a Chinese invention at this point of time. 

Yu Shuaishuai:

Some commentators argue that the rise of short drama has redefined storytelling. What do you think of this statement? What kinds of media transformation and evolution are behind it?

Ricky Ow:

That really comes from today's data-rich, that we get a lot of data. This data will be integrating with storytelling. One of the most important things of micro-series is that they are 2 minutes. They watched one episode, they watched two episodes. Do they continue to watch the next 30 episodes requires you to understand the consumer behavior and what trigger brings them from one episode to another. That's very, very important that data integrating with storytelling is the new definition. I think all forms of storytelling in the future will be very integrated with data, will be very integrated with the way storytelling is.

Yu Shuaishuai:

What kind of role would you expect AI (artificial intelligence) could perform in the development of short series?

Cassandra Yang:

Actually, today, we have already used AI to help creators work more efficiently on their work. Back to the script writer, for script writers, they can use AI to generate the basic storyline, and they may highlight or refine a story based on AI’s help. And also in the micro-series, we have already put in practice that using AI to do translation, and to do dubbing. Although the effects may be improved in the future, it is really cost-effective and improves efficiency. So, for the micro-series content creation, I believe AI will be a very strong and supportive helper for the storyteller, for the UGC, PGC. But eventually, it's human wisdom. 

Yu Shuaishuai:

What should the Chinese short series industry focus on to maintain its rapid growth overseas? And what are the challenges they are facing?

Cassandra Yang:

To maintain the rapid growth, we need to grow the pie big with international partners. We cannot do it only by ourselves, right? And we have the advantage, experience and know-how in China, and that cooperation and co-production, maybe is the best approach to maintain the rapid growth of China’s micro drama development. So, I think that is important to do localization.

Yu Shuaishuai:

In China's foreign trade landscape, we have this “new trio,” which is electric vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaics. There is another saying in China's cultural foreign trade, we also have this “new trio,” which is web novels, internet series and video games. What do you think of this cultural “new trio?” What does it reflect? 

Ricky Ow:

I really think that this is really great for China to be exporting this to the outside world. And I also want to see more of the outside world coming into China to form that crossover. I think it's really exciting to see young people from both sides of the camp coming together, united in creativity, united in storytelling, united in gaming, and that connection just makes the world a better place. I think more understanding, more interaction just make it. And that three elements that you mentioned or those three pushes that you mentioned are just good platforms for young people to interact together. I see a lot of successes in those areas.

Cassandra Yang:It's very happy to see that our Chinese culture and Chinese content products. Now we have the capability to impact on the market overseas. Market power is the best evidence to prove that we have the confidence and we have the capability to work with the talents out of China. And we have the cultural confidence to make our content impact on next generation of the world. 

Yu Shuaishuai:

Thank you for sharing your views with us. It's very insightful. That's all for today's China trends. Thank you for watching.