With China’s ultrashorts market reaching saturation and authorities tightening their grip on the industry, producers are cranking out series to reel in audiences across the globe
Actors and producers work on the set of micro-drama Revenge After Divorce: The Secret Heiress(Photo by Jiuzhou Wenhua)
Your name is Joyce Powell. Three years ago, you married Tristan Beckett, one of the city’s hottest millionaires, who always suspected you only married him for his money. Humiliated and betrayed, you divorced Tristan and started a new life.
Enter Liam: charming, loving, and incredibly attractive, who cares nothing for money or status and loves you deeply. Unbeknown to all, you are a billionaire heiress. When Tristan discovers your secret identity, he reenters your life to try and win you back.
This is the plot of the 55-episode series Never Divorce a Secret Billionaire Heiress. The show has all the twists, templates and storytelling devices of a typical Chinese micro-drama, but is set in the US, performed by American actors, and targeted at English-speaking audiences.
Since last year, Chinese micro-drama producers have been churning out cheesy, feel-good micro-dramas for global audiences. Localized productions range from vampires and werewolves to popular tropes in Chinese online literature such as scorned revenge and Cinderella stories.
The trend has been largely driven by ReelShort, a short-video streaming app owned by Crazy Maple Studio, a company in northern California backed by Beijing-based digital publisher COL Group. Since 2017, COL Group has promoted Chinese web novels for the international market. Launched globally in August 2022, ReelShort has inspired over 90 Chinese companies to join the fray.
From Mr. Li to Sebastian
Fated to My Forbidden Alpha (2023), a 60-episode ultrashort on ReelShort, narrates a passionate werewolf romance between two star-crossed lovers, Selene Lovette and Alexender Kane, whose families are sworn rivals. This modern-day Romeo and Juliet tale has garnered over 100 million views on the platform.
Most micro-dramas on ReelShort consist of 60 to 80 episodes with the same payment model. The initial episodes are free, but users must pay for the rest. Watching the entire series Fated to My Forbidden Alpha costs about US$18. Another popular ReelShort show, the 83-episode modern-day romance Baby, Just Say Yes!, costs over US$50, which can buy a two-month subscription to Netflix ($23).
Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iiMedia Research, told NewsChina that ReelShort began localizing Chinese micro-dramas for the US market since late 2022. Stereotypical characters in Chinese dramas are often retooled, starting with their names. Mr. Li, a favorite name for depicting a CEO-type protagonist as it suggests “fierceness” in Chinese, becomes Sebastian or Jackson. Ms. Leng, often a frosty, distant character because Leng is a homonym for “cold” or “chill,” is recast as Selena or Ariane.
According to Sensor Tower statistics, as of February 2024, over 40 Chinesedeveloped micro-drama apps such as DramaBox, GoodShort, FlexTV, ShortTV and MoboReels have launched overseas, amassing more than 55 million worldwide downloads and more than US$170 million in revenue from premium packages and pay-per-views. ReelShort, the most popular, has racked up 28 million downloads and nearly US$80 million in global in-app purchase revenue.
“So far, Chinese micro-drama apps generate $10 million in revenue monthly. The current global market is roughly US$150 million. By the end of 2024, it is predicted to expand to US$15 billion. Long-term, the global ultrashorts market could reach US$10 billion in five years,” said Liu Jinlong, manager of micro-drama app ShortTV.
Statistics from Data.ai (formerly App Annie) show that as of October 31, 2023, users aged 45 and above account for the highest proportion (48 percent) on ReelShort, followed by users aged 25 to 44 (39 percent). Additionally, women show more interest in ReelShort, with over 70 percent of its US Android users being female.
“Creating micro-dramas is a timeand energy-consuming job that requires many talented people to work together. Chinese production teams are most competitive and experienced in this field,” said Chen Xiufeng, founder of Funcola, a Shanghai-based micro-drama production company.
Chinese micro-dramas are heavily influenced by popular web novels, which over the past two decades have gained a niche following overseas. Popular themes of Chinese internet fiction include Eastern-themed fantasy worlds (xuanhuan) and knight-errant adventures (wuxia) to Cinderella-like romances (bazong). The extensive catalog of web novels provide rich material for microdrama adaptations, while their overseas fandom lays a foundation for microdramas’ acceptance by global audiences.
As social media and short-video streaming platforms have popularized vertical-format content, micro-dramas are finding viewers short on time and attention spans worldwide.
Made for Export
For Chinese micro-drama producers, the overseas market mainly consists of two parts: the US, Europe and Australia; and the Southeast Asian market, with Thailand the main focus. The US market is the most robust overall.
“According to the internal data of various outbound micro drama apps, viewers in the US show the strongest willingness to spend,” Chen Xiufeng said.
“Return on investment in the US market has always been the highest, when
the budget, crew size and production period are kept almost identical. Outbound micro-dramas, which have learned from American TV production, are the fruit of globalization... We hope our content and model can find a place in a land and culture alongside Netflix and Disney,” Liu Jinlong told NewsChina.
Even though production costs for micro-dramas aimed at the US, Europe and Australia are much higher, app users in these regions show greater spending power and demand. While viewers in Southeast Asia are less willing to pay, production costs are much lower.
Micro-drama apps mainly profit from pay-per-view and advertising revenues, adopting different pricing strategies according to region.
As Liu Jinlong told NewsChina, ShortTV charges US$0.30 per episode in the US and Europe. In the Philippines and Indonesia, episodes cost US$0.10 and have more ads. But Southeast Asian viewers can choose to watch ads to unlock free content. “This method encourages more users with weaker spending power to watch more shows, boosting their willingness to consume,” Liu said.
Companies stick to three ways of producing micro-dramas for export.
The first is to directly translate and dub Chinese micro-dramas. “Many on ShortTV are of this sort. Initially, we thought it might be difficult for Chinese micro-dramas to be well-accepted by Western markets. But it turns out our translated works have earned satisfying revenues on our app,” Liu said.
Alternatively, apps like ReelShort and GoodShort purchase the copyrights to popular Chinese web novels deemed suitable for the overseas market, then adapt them into screenplays. They are shot in places such as the US, Europe, Australia, Malaysia or Thailand with local crews that also handle post-production.
Finally, many simply shoot in China and cast foreign actors. Niu Jing has three projects for the US market in the works at Chinese studios. She told our reporter that Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang Province has many studios with Western-style sets and props created by micro-drama crews.
Though the effect is less convincing than shooting abroad, Chinese productions are much cheaper to make. Filming a micro-drama overseas costs at least US$150,000, Liu Jinlong with ShortTV said. Filming and producing a micro-drama on ReelShort can reach US$200,000. By comparison, filming in China costs about US$120,000, Niu Jing said, who is preparing to film her latest project in Shanghai.
Posters for Never Divorce a Secret Billionaire Heiress (top) and Fated to My Forbidden Alpha
Location Frustration
Li Feng, a producer in Sydney, Australia, is currently working on two romance ultrashorts and has collaborated with several top-tier Chinese micro-drama companies. Li told NewsChina that while dramas made for men or women are equally popular in China, the overseas market favors female-centric works, particularly romances. In English-speaking countries, Li said, men show little interest in micro-dramas intended for male viewers. Their plots include underdog tropes or scenarios where a man from a humble background marries into a wealthy, powerful family to their overall disdain. This character is called a zhuixu, which means “man who marries into the wife’ family.”
“Western audiences can’t grasp why a zhuixu would be neglected, despised or even bullied by his in-laws. They cannot understand the scenario in a traditional Chinese context. Even though zhuixu is a very popular theme in male-oriented Chinese micro-dramas, the West hasn’t shown any interest,” Li said.
Romance is a universally well-received genre, though audiences have varying preferences for characters and settings. In micro-dramas targeted at Western audiences, male protagonists are usually billionaires, CEOs and alpha males, or even vampires and werewolves, while women are often portrayed as very independent. In contrast, audiences in Southeast Asia have tastes closer to Chinese viewers, preferring tear-jerkers and sentimental love stories with plenty of plot twists, as well as inter-family conflicts.
Li observed that most Chinese producers’ understanding of Western themes and subjects remains superficial, with their shows simply built on Chinese cultural attitudes with a thin veneer of Western elements. He cites the prevalence of stories based on the Chinese literary classic Journey to the West, which follows the perilous pilgrimage of monk Tang Sanzang to obtain Buddhist texts along with fantastic characters such as the famed Monkey King.
“When they want to film a micro-drama adapted from this classic for overseas audiences, they might write a cheesy romance between a female Buddhist monk and the Monkey King. Perhaps overseas audiences may find it novel at first, but soon they may get fed up,” Li said.
“Creators should delve into the essential cores and elements of Western culture and better localize the stories within Western contexts,” Li stressed.
Liu Jinlong explained that Short TV employs Chinese screenwriters and editors who have studied in Western countries and are familiar with their markets. They collaborate with directors and screenwriters from other countries to tailor stories for overseas audiences. The entire process typically takes two to three months.
As a result, micro-dramas for export take significantly more time and money. “Since audiences overseas particularly pay attention to visual effects, we enlist professional film production teams with aims to achieve more satisfying visual quality akin to mainstream Western TV series,” Niu said.
According to Niu, costs can triple those for domestic productions due to higher salaries, while a two-week shoot abroad only takes one week at home.
“One reason is that foreign actors work only 8-12 hours a day, while Chinese actors for domestic shows would usually work 15 to 16-hour days,” Chen Xiufeng told NewsChina.
However, this difference is often due to inadequate budgeting. Actors on overseas productions often demand overtime pay for days over 12 hours. In addition, many producers overlook other expenses such as post-production fees, wear-and-tear on equipment and insurance.
“These hidden expenses are rarely included in most budgets for ultrashorts,” a Los Angeles-based Chinese producer told news outlet Xinsheng Pro, adding that project times almost always stretch beyond schedules. “There is never enough time and budget.”
Industry players remain uncertain whether micro-drama productions will be as lucrative abroad. “Everything concerning outbound micro-dramas is just getting off the ground. We are all feeling our way and moving forward,” Chen said.
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