What‘s it like working in China’s micro-drama industry as producers and apps spread the ultrashort format abroad?
Since they first emerged in 2018, China’s micro-dramas (短剧) have become a billion-yuan industry domestically. Now, with tightened regulation and market saturation in China, many companies are taking their minutes-long vertical soap operas abroad.
ReelShort, a Chinese micro-drama streaming app, was downloaded over 7 million times in the US in 2023, and over 24 million times worldwide. Its shows feature scripts adapted from popular Chinese online novels with fast-paced narratives, cheesy rags-to-riches plots, and scandalous love triangles. The format has also attracted the attention of major news outlets.
But what’s it really like working in China’s micro-drama industry? And how are Chinese companies adapting their content for foreign audiences? In this podcast episode, host Aladin Farré talks to two insiders, one actor and one scriptwriter, who work on micro-dramas made in China for audiences abroad. TWOC editor Yang Tingting also discusses her latest in-depth article on micro-dramas and the industry’s working conditions and business models.
Aladin Farré is the founder and host of Middle Earth Podcast and a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.
Liu Jue is the co-managing editor of The World of Chinese Magazine. She has a Master of Arts in Communication from Middle Tennessee State University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Minzu University. She has been working for TWOC since 2012. She is interested in covering history, traditional culture, and Chinese language.
