The massive success of China’s mini dramas at home has prompted the industry to set its sights more squarely on the global market, with ever more studios exploring potential in North America, Southeast Asia and beyond.
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The productions going overseas include translated Chinese dramas and original ones made with local teams.
The push comes as Beijing urges more mainland productions to improve the quality of on-air content. A document released on Monday said more support would be given for “outstanding micro and short series to be broadcast on TV”.
What is a mini drama?
The dramas run just a few minutes per episode, and feature fast-paced storylines and frequent twists meant to capture eyeballs. A series can span more than 50 episodes, and many are filmed vertically for easier mobile phone viewing.
Themes and storylines commonly revolve around billionaires, romance, revenge or Cinderella-like rags-to-riches journeys. Social media apps Kuaishou, RedNote, Douyin and video-streaming platform Bilibili are some of the more popular platforms.
Mini dramas first emerged in China in 2018 after TikTok’s debut. Other platforms also rapidly drew young viewers accustomed to scrolling for trending videos.
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Their popularity took off during the coronavirus pandemic, with a string of titles going viral on short-video apps that offered a few episodes for free before charging users to unlock the rest.