As interest in micro-dramas gradually picks up in the West, producers of the genre from China and Korea, the leading purveyors of short-form scripted, shared their expertise in Bali last week at APOS.<\/p>\n
Offering a research-based view on the micro-drama boom, APOS delegates heard from Professor Kenneth Kim of Hanyang University\u2019s Department of Culture Contents. Kim explored the evolution of the Korean business amid a surge in the popularity of the country\u2019s content globally over the last few years. As its popularity has soared, so too have production costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the rise in production costs, prominent directors have started to create short-form content,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n
Kim referenced the high-profile launch and failure of Quibi before taking a deep dive into the rise of short-form dramas in Asia, with series ranging from 50 to 100 episodes, generally under 3 minutes in length. The business model that has emerged in China, with other markets following suit, is to make the first few episodes available for free, with the remainder behind a paywall. \u201cDepending on the service, you may end up paying $20 to $50 for the entire series. In Korea, the average weekly subscription is about $20, while monthly is about $40. According to Kakao Ventures, the global short-form drama market is worth about $9.5 billion.\u201d The market is expected to rise to $56 billion by 2029, Kim said.<\/p>\n
KT Studio Genie, a division of leading Korean telco KT, has been active in the drama series space since 2020. Given the challenges of that sector in Korea amid rising production costs and digital shifts, the business has been expanding into different formats, including films and, most recently, micro-dramas.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery month, we are learning new things about micro-drama,\u201d said Chris Jung, CEO of KT Studio Genie at APOS. \u201cThis business is growing fast, and consumer behavior is evolving. A lot of young people enjoy those micro-dramas already.\u201d<\/p>\n
KT Studio Genie is focusing on a studio model, rather than a platform model, for its micro-drama business, which launched in March of this year. \u201cWe are the only studio in Korea thinking seriously about micro-dramas,\u201d Jung said. \u201cAs a long-form content-producing company, micro-drama is such a new world. It\u2019s a good content format for the digital medium. A lot of young people are not watching the traditional medium anymore. Micro-drama has a very different story structure, but we can learn from many other early adopters.\u201d<\/p>\n
To explore the world\u2019s most mature micro-drama market, China, APOS convened a panel that included Enoch Chen, COO of COL Group, and Zhou Yuan, founder and CEO of Content Republic, both of which are producing series and distributing them on owned-and-operated platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to tell good local stories in a micro-drama format,\u201d said Chen. \u201cIt\u2019s very different from long-form. Equally important, we need to understand our audiences. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve formed a production studio in L.A., so we have people who understand American culture and can tell a story that resonates with our target audience. The U.S. is our biggest market right now. The next one is Japan, and Southeast Asia is one of our fastest-growing markets.\u201d<\/p>\n
For marketing short-form, \u201cWe rely heavily on social media,\u201d Chen said, optimizing the accessible user data \u201cso we can find the paying users\u2014the ones that give us the highest value. If they don\u2019t watch or they exit, then we adjust the algorithm. It\u2019s a very fast iteration. Advertising is not like the traditional commercial you\u2019ll see on TV; it relies on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n
While subscription revenues from markets like the U.S. are significant, territories like Indonesia are more advertising-based, Chen said.<\/p>\n
Zhou, who has a background in traditional scripted production, began creating series for TikTok in China in 2023. Audiences, even within short-form, \u201care still looking for scripted-oriented formats,\u201d said Zhou. He founded Content Republic with a clear focus on digital-first series, launching a dedicated platform this year.<\/p>\n
On the road ahead for micro-dramas, Chen believes the market is sustainable. \u201cThere\u2019s huge success in China. We\u2019re seeing success in the U.S. We have positive ROI there and also positive ROI in Southeast Asia. By optimizing the product experience, the user experience and also finding the right content strategy for each local region, we believe the margins will get wider. Competition is fierce. Maybe consolidation will appear, but the market size is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
In China, there are 2 to 3 billion viewers of micro-dramas daily, Zhou noted. Having an integrated production and platform model is key, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Producers of micro-dramas from China and Korea, the leading purveyors of short-form scripted, shared their expertise in Bali last week at APOS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":22898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,70],"tags":[9249],"class_list":["post-22892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-micro-dramas","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n