A secret billionaire, a forbidden alpha, a CEO with a dark past.
It sounds like tabloid fiction, but it's taking over smartphone screens around the world.
China's ultra-short dramas may only last a couple of minutes per episode, but they're generating a billion-dollar buzz across the globe.
So what makes these fast-paced, bite-sized videos so addictive, and why are they striking such a powerful chord with audiences worldwide.
Coming to you live from Beijing, this is Roundtable.
I'm He Yang. For today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Gao Zhenya in the studio.
First on today's show... From the double life of my billionaire husband to Never Divorce a Secret Billionaire Heiress, these ultra-short dramas might look like pure pulp, but they're actually rewriting the script for global entertainment.
Each episode runs merely one to two minutes, yet they're packed with high drama, wild twists, and cliffhangers.
Made for the smartphone generation. Born in China's booming mobile content scene, short dramas have grown into a cultural force at home and abroad.
In fact, the short video drama market in China has already surpassed the country's domestic film box office.
From boardroom betrayals to billionaire revenge fantasies, Chinese short dramas are making serious waves overseas.
So please bring us up to speed on how this genre is spreading internationally right now.
Yeah, so these dramas, when I was on the subway the other day, I noticed people were watching these, right?
And I knew what we were going to be talking about on the show.
So I started to pay attention when I was out in public to see if people were watching.
And, oh, yes, they are. These short dramas, though...
They're no longer just a local craze. They are shaking up the creative industry all around the world.
There was a 2024 short drama overseas marketing white paper by TikTok for Business that was cited by the Red Chain, which is a Chinese short drama production and distribution service provider.
And it talked about the global market and the fact that it's expected to hit $10 billion in 2025, with the broader short video market potentially exceeding $300 billion.
A few more numbers for you. By March of 2025, 237 short drama apps were active overseas.
That's a fourfold increase, almost a fourfold increase, from March of 2024 and a nearly 3% rise from February of 2025.
So you're seeing there that it's not only year-on-year growth, but it's month-by-month growth as well.
And, you know, the genres are the overbearing CEOs and the wealthy family grudges.
They can't seem to get along with each other.
The counterattack narratives, those resonate very well with people as well, particularly in North America and Japan and Korea and parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
So, yeah, everybody seems to be loving these.
It's so interesting that we used to think that, well, I used to think that, oh, these are pretty, these are common tropes that we see in the short video dramas here in China.
But somehow when you've got a different group of actors speaking a different language and then adapt to the destination countries, sort of, circumstances the the same kind of plot seems to work i think it's a human being thing i think i'm starting to realize that um in the states for example real short is a pretty successful case data from the analytics firm sensor tower uh this is from sherwood media it shows that real short that app is owned by col group by the way that's a beijing-based digital publisher And the content is produced by Crazy Maple Studio.
That's a joint venture between COL Group and Joey Gia, the CEO of Crazy Maple Studio.
Anyway, it launched in 2022. It averaged 11 million monthly active users in 2024.
That was a staggering 50-fold increase from the year prior, making it one of the largest short drama platforms in the world.
And it shows, for example, the one I was watching this morning, The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband.
Has over 470 million views. And then there's other examples as well.
Fated to my forbidden alpha and never divorce a secret billionaire heiress.
I mean, that's just good advice anyway. Those are consistently topping the charts.
I watched one episode of The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband this morning.
And I'll admit, I'll admit, before I turned this on, I thought, I don't get it.
You know, I really don't get it. These are only a minute and a half long.
How can you create a connection with the audience in a minute and a half or two minutes, right?
There's no plot development there. There's no character development there.
I don't get how this works. I watched the first episode.
So much happened in the first one minute and 30 seconds.
I mean, it's just straight to the point.
It's just straight to the point, straight to the drama.
And there's a cliffhanger right at the end of the minute and 30 mark or two minute mark, however long the episode is.
I get it. Do you get this, Junya? Of course.
I've been watching short dramas on Douyin for quite some time.
Oh, I did not know that about you. But I've been watching several different series.
When it comes to pay for the membership, I just stopped.
I prefer to do something else. Good call, my friend.
I just didn't expect it to become so phenomenal and even so popular around the world.
Because I remember last year, early last year, my friend, one of my friends, she's based in Hengdian, in that popular filmmaking place here in China.
And she's talking to me, she's telling me that we need to invest in this.
You're going to make big money out of this and it's low cost.
And now so much just happened. I don't think the market is for us anymore.
It's been two years. Yeah. And I mentioned the States as an example and Japan's another example.
In 2024, short drama platforms like Drama Box and Top Short, they gained a lot of traction in the Japanese app store.
So, yeah, it's not just the States. It's not just China.
I watched a news report from Australia. They were talking about the short dramas.
They were also talking about, it's not really our topic today, but the pet mini dramas that we were discussing here on Roundtable.
That was covered by international media.
So it's not just the... It's not just the cuteness factor.
It's not just the new maybe thing. It's going to stick around for a long time, I think.
And there are plenty of reasons for that.
Maybe we'll get to those a bit later. Yes.
And you mentioned the pet dramas and they're AI generated.
Yeah, right. So that's going to be a big part of this discussion for the future of short dramas.
And it's really interesting to see that some of those industry practitioners in China who've witnessed this strong growth, they've taken their experience to, for example, America to make it work.
There's one Chinese filmmaker, Gao Feng, and he set up a very successful production company in the U.S. making only these short dramas.
And His part is basically the production aspect of this whole chain of events.
And he's made 45 short dramas last year with over $70 million in cumulative box office.
And that includes a hit that yields over 170 times its cost.
And a production company would call that a success.
Very much. For those in China, though, we witnessed how ultra short video dramas blew up and dominated our smartphone screens pretty much in the last five years or so.
Could you sort of walk us through how did China rise to the lead of short drama, this trend?
Well, you know, according to a report from ShopNex, a digital service provider in China.
Actually, the evolution of short dramas here in China spans three key stages.
Stage one, that is from 2018 to 2019, that is the exploration phase. short-form video creators, they just experimented with serialized storytelling.
That's like when a story is told through different episodes, right?
That's serialized storytelling. And then from 2020 to 2021, that is the commercial phase, which means micro dramas became a formal category under media regulations. and monetization such as paid viewership and ads began.
And the third phase is from 2022 to 2024, which is the boom phase, a surge of hit titles and platforms fueled unprecedented viewership and revenue, attracting talent, capital, and scrutiny, of course, as well.
Proving that it wasn't just some sort of experiment. right to see like oh maybe we can have a bit of success with this yeah so those were the three big stages and then um these numbers will will prove its success as well last year the market was worth about 50 billion yuan that's almost 7 billion dollars um the that marked about a 35 growth for the year and it outpaced as you mentioned the domestic box office i mean that in itself is a very impressive feat.
And the growth it highlights, doesn't it?
That short dramas, as I mentioned, they're not just an experiment.
They're a force in the entertainment industry.
Oh, yes, indeed. And let me provide you with more figures.
Short dramas have reached... 4.76 billion users in China, and that's covering over 52% of all Chinese internet users.
I was so shocked to see this number. I somehow thought despite the humongous number base in China, but So many people are watching short dramas.
And you know that people watch short videos all the time.
But these are what people love. And apparently those who watch short dramas, the number of them have surpassed user bases in China for online food delivery, web novels, we have a better name for that, internet literature, and ride hailing services.
Can you believe I can't believe that this is happening in China.
So, yeah, what I find really fascinating is how this format democratizes opportunity as well.
And then it gives people new jobs, creating new jobs and all that good stuff.
From heiresses in disguise to quarterbacks next door, these dramas are evolving, localizing, and striking emotional chords outside of China.
What's driving the boom in the international markets?
I think it's probably part of the same reason that they are becoming popular here in China is because of the fact that you can have the emotional release right you have that quick gratification like i said when i was watching episode one okay so let me quickly go through episode one well i can quickly go through it because it was only a minute and a half um the daughter starts off by saying dad i need to borrow fifty thousand dollars and her stepmom dad's new wife says No way can you give her that much.
You have to care about our family. Then the stepsister comes in and says, oh, you're such a loser asking for money like that.
And then she said, you know what? You can have the money if you marry this guy.
But he's in jail. So when he gets out of jail, you have to marry that loser.
And then the show ended, and I was like, oh my gosh, like 12 things happened in there, and everything was dramatic.
So they pack it all in, and it's very anxiety-inducing, and it's very gratifying, I think, for each viewer that watches.
That's one of the reasons. Oh, definitely.
And there are a lot of these reasons, I think, make us sort of share this... enjoyment of short dramas.
And there are a lot of things that overlap here in China for the Chinese users and international users.
And that emotional punch with a local flavor is what international Folks really love it.
And you have to make it market specific.
Like I mentioned, quarterbacks. In China, we don't know what that means.
Yeah, right. But in America, you know, these are really fit.
Football player. And really fit and physically attractive, maybe.
Typically. That's sort of the stereotypical view of them.
Anyway, so Junya, tell us about, you know, the key factors that's fueling the surge of short video dramas in international markets.
Yeah, I think besides this emotional punch, also it comes to the right people at the right time, because in places like the US, big productions such as Hollywood have nurtured many matured actors and producers who might be on the sideline, but now they have the chance to explore in this industry.
And also, you know, monetization that works, because short dramas have effectively cracked the code for global monetization.
And their strategy, you know, often involves a compelling trust at the end of each episode, and designed to hook viewers and encourage continuous watching.
So this viewing experience isn't always free.
So they employ a certain hybrid model and to just to make money. out of this episodes.
I'll go back to Real Short, again, that company, and use them as an example one more time.
They lean really hard into the topics like the domineering CEO, and then they refine the tropes of the billionaire story.
The reason why is because in the United States, they have their daytime dramas, right?
They have soap opera. They're called soap operas, and they're ridiculous.
Yeah. I mean, the storylines are just so over the top.
But people like them. But the problem, the issue with that is that those are full episodes, right?
When you want to watch it, you have to sit down for, I don't know how long an episode is, maybe 30, 40 minutes, something like that.
And that's a dedicated amount of time. They're borrowing those storylines, sticking with that over-the-top drama that resonates with people.
And they say that's part of the success for the United States market.
Also, they're using local actors. Hmm. they're using local accents, you know, the clothing is local, you know, all the things that would resonate with a local audience too.
They're doing that too. That's a powerful thing to remember, an important element to remember to the success because here in China, sometimes we talk about, oh, how can we make something made in China, popular overseas.
But if you just put the same video and translate it with subtitles, people don't enjoy it.
People want to see things. Well, sometimes they do, but rarely they do, I feel.
So if you can really localize the story and the whole thing, that would work.
And I want to offer you a Japanese example, because I find this to be really interesting.
You know, here in China, we are the domineering CEO is one super popular genre in online literature in short dramas and all kinds of entertainment fields.
But apparently, it doesn't really translate well directly into the Japanese culture.
Instead, local hits like having this beautiful female heiress who would tackle workplace bullying and swapping out the macho male lead that works and the local people really love it and that's um oh the uh beautiful female heiress she is undercover and working like an intern in that company and getting the really bad bullies, punishing them.
And that's what people want to see. So you kind of need to make plot twists that suit the local flavor, I suppose, is really important here.
And that's smart. It's like when a restaurant goes into a new market in a new country and adjusts the menu for local taste.
It's kind of like that. Yeah. And originally, like when we talked chatted about this discussion.
Steve and I, we were wondering, is it like we just sort of bring the Chinese culture plot or the script that works here in China and then just ship it over into Japan or America and get a whole new bunch of actors and act it out.
But it's not like that. For example, well, let's talk about the IP and data driven storytelling aspect of it, because for this video to work well, you kind of need you need a good story.
Yeah, well, these stories aren't always plucked from thin air, right?
Some of the successful series have come from tested IP, from web novels, I think you mentioned earlier on in our chat, and also interactive fiction with some built-in fan bases, right?
So the audience is kind of already there for some of these stories, and Then companies, they also analyze reader and viewer behavior to kind of optimize their plots, if you will, for that really big emotional payoff and also some further engagement with the audience as well.
Again, real short. Yeah, I use them as an example, again, because they're just a great success story.
They're strong scripts. They mainly come from popular web novels on different platforms.
They also use interactive novels as well.
And successful web novels are adapted into interactive stories on another platform, and there the readers choose the plot branches.
And that creates this kind of multiple storyline possibility and this multiple ending possibility, and it's a funnel model.
And that model helps to identify which plots will drive viewer engagements and payments And then if you have that knowledge, it's like data, right?
Yes. And then if you have that data, then you can increase your chance of making a hit when you adopt it or adapt it into a short drama.
And that's very different from what they do here in China, actually.
What you just cited, Steve, is mostly what happened in the America market.
But in China... the big established IPs, intellectual property franchises, they get turned into long videos.
Let's just say TV dramas. But for the ultra shorts, ah, I don't think they would work with something already established, but they would work with all these really popular and tried and tested and true plots.
And I actually I have to give it to the American producers.
I think they're putting more emphasis on a good story.
Well, I think it's just, I think that strategy of finding out what works is a good story is a really good idea, right?
You know, where you have those, do you have those in China?
I remember reading them as a kid, those kind of, we call them choose your own adventure books. where you get to page, I don't know, 30, and then it says, if you want to do this, turn to page 75.
But if you want to do this, then go to page 125.
Those are called choose your own adventure books.
That's kind of what they're doing here, isn't it?
Is that they're allowing the audience in the examples given to kind of show the the drama makers the plot that they would go for which is obviously going to be what they will watch too i think it's a great idea and that's the data that they can rely on to come up with content that they know uh internet users would very much enjoy and in china we've discuss this industry already rivals film, and we're seeing its ability to generate revenue, influence and the next generation of creative jobs.
What do the biggest opportunities lie next for growth and innovation both in China and abroad?
Well, one of the opportunities definitely is the cost-effective production with high returns.
According to Li Yikai, the general manager of global business at Netivox, a mobile advertising company, he writes that creating a short drama series can cost under $150,000.
Yet some shows are generating $2 million in weekly revenue.
Weekly. Yeah, weekly revenue just through... no micro transactions and in-app purchases.
So this high return on investment just make it an attractive venture for content creators.
It's also a different type of advertising, isn't it?
Because for marketers, these dramas, they offer a lot of different entry points for campaigns.
You've got series sponsorships, you've got integrated marketing, you've got cameo appearances, you've got interactive advertisements.
And they provide this focused engagement with a really valuable demographic, right?
Primarily female. These are the stats, middle class and young people.
And they get to that audience at a fraction of the cost of your traditional media buys.
And this allows for extensive brand visibility, right?
All the people who are watching these are going to be seeing these within the context of the story, within the storytelling itself.
Really smart. And we can actually still see continuous expansion of this global market, because having found success here in China and in Western countries, and now some short dramas are expanding rapidly into Southeast Asia.
And according to Li Yikai, he said that they are primed to expand further across the Middle East, Africa and India included.
Yeah, I remember when we first come across this topic a few years ago.
Sort of our reservation to a success at the time was if these episodes are so short and the plots are so corny, the acting's so bad, the production value is zero, and everything you see is just... poorly put together but it's got a powerful and compelling plot twist and you bet there's going to be a cliffhanger at the end of every one to two minutes at the end of that episode but it seems like this kind of short attention span inspired um lowbrow content it has global market appeal.
It has an appetite. People are gobbling this up like this is the most delicious food.
I think if you... This is just my opinion.
If you want to be successful with a drama, you can go in two different directions.
You can have a great storyline with great acting, great production, and great directing, which makes you say, wow, that was really impressive.
That is award worthy. Or the extreme opposite, where the story is so cheesy and over the top, the acting may not be Robert De Niro, right?
But it's part of the charm. I'm not sure if that works here in China, that kind of cheese factor, that cheesiness. but it definitely resonates with a Western audience because it's almost funny in a way, but it's still entertaining.
Have you ever seen a Colombian drama? They're fantastic, but they're so over-the-top and cheesy, but that's what makes them so very good.
Telenovela, I think those are the dramas from Mexico.
They have that same kind of reputation, but people just really enjoy watching that type of thing.
Is it almost like it's so bad it's good?
I don't want to use the word bad. Sorry to judge.
I don't mean to. It's just the first word that came to mind.
Yeah, I understand what you mean. And I think you may be right there.
And I remember when my mom was, you know, when I was a kid growing up, my mom used to read these romance novels and I would read them and I was like, oh.
Oh, this is super cheesy, mom. But there's an audience for that, right?
And, you know, I'm not saying the actors are terrible.
I'm not saying the production's terrible.
In fact, the production costs are going up.
And I think that's going to be what we see in the future here is that they're going to get more and more competitive.
Yeah, actually, my mom is watching some short dramas on Kuaishou.
The storylines, just what Stephen just talked about his mom, it's really cheesy, but she's quite interested in that story and she's been watching it all day.
She can spend on her phone. Also, I think it scratches the right niche and we don't want to admit it, but all of us, we have that little sore spot. in us somewhere.
One of the most popular ones here in China of these short video dramas that's been topping all the charts this year is, just listen to this, Steve.
Apparently, the female antagonist, protagonist, I mean, is a 50-year-old babysitter.
And she just caught the eye of a 20-year-old domineering, successful CEO.
And he's falling head over heels in love for her.
And that's the most popular one. And you know what? it scratches that little spot I mentioned.
And people these days, who has the time for a two hour film?
Sorry, filmmakers out there, you know, just think about this.
They just want something that they can really enjoy.
Apparently, when you're waiting on the subway platform, when you're going to the bathroom, when you're waiting for the elevator, and I used to think that people don't have the time to really enjoy content in that short, short time period.
But apparently that is good enough for people and they're enjoying it and they're clicking, spending the time.
And that's big money for these platforms and the distributors and production.
You talk about money and I mentioned it a minute ago.
This is one of the maybe challenges coming up though in the industry.
Really low cost, right? That's how these dramas got started.
The Average production standard for these dramas, though, it's increasing and it's increasing steadily.
There was a report from 36KR that said that some investors say top tier productions, they hit about three to five million yuan.
That's about four hundred and twenty thousand to seven hundred thousand dollars.
So high quality production alone, it's not enough to stand out.
You've got to have the strong plot. A strong IP is really helpful to have or maybe even essential for the future success of these stories.
But the market, no doubt, is booming right now.
But I wonder if this kind of booming market will continue, if this kind of high return will continue when you've got already here in China, we're seeing this as a problem when you've got everybody coming in wanting a slice of the pie.
And inevitably, well, one day... you're not going to be able to make that much of a return.
Yeah. So the sustainability, I mean, if you're talking about in-app purchases, that particular model relies on continuous user acquisition, right?
So that leads to escalating marketing costs.
The in-app advertising model, that needs a big user base to be profitable.
So hybrid models are still being explored.
Platform revenue sharing changes and increased competition in the ad market, diversifying their monetization, their channels there.
And then they're extending their IP value.
Those are all critical for profitability.
So there are hurdles, I think, but they're trying to figure out the best way that they can be as successful as they can.
Yeah, I think so. I think for me, I think the content matters the most.
So so far, the short dramas I came across, they're just kind of simple, the same, quite cliche topics.
And on the other hand, you know, we don't see big, big names, big actors or actresses join the production.
Yes, there is one short drama that was produced by Stephen Cho.
Zhou Qingzhi. Yes. Internationally, you know him for Kung Fu Hustle.
I've watched that one as well. It's called Jin Zhu Yu Ye or Take Me Home in English.
It's just not that short. Every episode, five minutes.
It's not short drama. Oh my gosh, five minutes.
It's too long. But was the content good?
It's okay, but okay. It's just you know, it didn't make a big deal, right?
You didn't maybe you guys didn't hear hear of it so one of the challenges for the writers and one of the hooks for the audience is that if you and I read this on an article on on see CNBC they're talking about you know at the end of a TV drama episode You've got to have a cliffhanger moment, right? but that's at the end of a 40-minute episode and Here, you've got to have a cliffhanger moment every minute and 30 seconds or every two minutes.
So this is a challenge. It's a different style of writing for the writers who are doing this.
But it's a fun project. I can imagine it's quite fun to write for as well.
How cheesy and over the top can we possibly be?
Yeah, and also we've seen so many repetitive stories.
It's almost like people don't care that much about the content.
But also I wonder with such... cheesy acting and everything, would this be actually very easy for AI to replace?
Because you're not expecting Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis kind of acting, and I think if the AI gets a little bit better, then for AI to generate this one- to two-minute... episode, it might be what people want, because I don't think they're looking for soul searching plots, either.
They just want something fast, impactful, and maybe outrageous.
And one last figure I'd like to leave for you before we go on to the next topic discussion today is that, yes, we've talked about multiple ways how these platforms and production companies make money.
And yeah, right now it seems like there's another development that is They're going to make it free for you.
ByteDance, that huge company behind Toutiao here in China, Douyin here in China, or TikTok outside of China, it has its own short video, short drama platform called Hongguo.
And hear this, it has... nearly Yoku's number of monthly active users with over 199 million in just May.
And that Yoku is a huge video platform in China.
So we're seeing that they're basically charging you zero amount of money.
And people just go on there, you can endure the ads.
And that's all you have to pay for and your time, basically.
And this is now a really compelling way of competing in this short drama video market.
And we can see as the traditional screen shrinks into our palms, the way we consume entertainment is being re engineered, re-engineered, faster, louder, and more emotionally charged.
Chinese short video dramas showcase not only innovation, but a global craving for instant gratification and constant stimulation.
But as drama becomes digestible in two-minute bursts, we have to ask, where are we training our brains to...
Go, and what are we training our brains to expect, and what might we be losing in this process?
