Shanghai aims to establish itself as a global hub for short-form dramas, capitalizing on the booming market that has seen substantial growth both domestically and internationally.

Discussions at the Micro-Drama Innovation and Development Forum, which took place during the 30th Shanghai TV Festival on June 25, highlighted the industry's transformative trends and future trajectory.

The burgeoning micro-drama sector has attracted considerable international attention, prompting several Shanghai-based production companies to produce concise, engaging content that emulates China's successful online economy model.

This strategic move coincides with increasing competitiveness within the short-form drama landscape. As of June last year, the user base in China alone reached 576 million, representing 52.4 percent of the country's total Internet users.

Konstantin Vladimirov, commercial director of Russia's Media Telecom, a subsidiary of the Russian streaming platform Wink, highlighted the international appeal of short dramas, noting that they are very popular in the international market because of their easily understandable content, fast rhythm, and tense plots, which can attract a lot of attention and trigger cross-cultural resonance.

Shanghai's infrastructure and strategic advantages position it to take a leading role in overseas production. Many film and television production bases in the city are adapting to the vertical format, leveraging their technological capabilities and comprehensive services to attract short-drama crews.

Yang Zhidong, general manager of the Shanghai branch of Ji’an Euro American Studio, said, "Shanghai has a good base for producing overseas short dramas. It has a wealth of bilingual film crews, foreign landscape locations, foreign actors, and English dubbing studios."

His studio aims to produce three to four overseas short dramas each month, with further expansion anticipated in the second half of the year.

The Huace Yangtze River Delta Overseas Short Drama Production Center, a major project in Shanghai, will concentrate on facilitating the global reach of short dramas.

According to diandian.com, a data analysis platform based in Shanghai, overseas short drama platforms generated a total revenue of 6.52 billion yuan ($909.68 million) last year, demonstrating the strong potential of the international market.

"The overseas market has experienced rapid growth, with a three-to-fourfold increase in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year," said Nan Yapeng, vice-president of Crazy Maple Studio, pointing to the increasing demand for localized dramas produced overseas.

Several overseas buyers have already demonstrated interest in Chinese short-form dramas, with Thailand's Mono having begun assessing Chinese short dramas for licensing.

Malaysia's Astro has also outlined plans to collaborate with China on filming 10 short dramas featuring actors from both countries.

Source: Shanghai Observer