Micro short dramas are a popular form of online audio-visual art. Under the active guidance of the competent departments of the industry and the self-regulation of the market, the creation and production of micro short dramas are becoming standardized and refined. The "Travel with Micro Short Dramas" creation plan proposed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has spawned a number of high-quality works, and the effect of enabling the deep integration of culture and tourism has initially emerged.

Poster of "My Way Home is Windy"

Take a stroll around Leshan, Sichuan, and look for the flavor of the micro-short drama "There's Wind on My Way Home"; check in at the filming location of the micro-short drama "Flying Youth" and experience the beautiful countryside... Right now, "traveling with micro-short dramas" has become a new trend in cultural tourism.

Micro short dramas are a popular form of online audio-visual art. After two years of extensive development, under the active guidance of the competent departments of the industry and the self-regulation of the market, the micro short drama industry is moving forward along the track of high-quality production. At the beginning of this year, the State Administration of Radio and Television launched the "Travel with Micro Short Dramas" creation plan. From June 1, the "Notice of the General Office of the State Administration of Radio and Television on Further Coordinating Development and Safety to Promote the Healthy and Prosperous Development of the Online Micro Short Drama Industry" was officially implemented. A number of micro short dramas have emerged, some of which have shown their high-quality characteristics in the preparation stage, and some have also brought tangible benefits to the cultural tourism industry of the filming location.

The industry is full of vitality, and many parties have joined the race

According to iResearch's "2023-2024 China Micro Drama Market Research Report", the domestic micro drama market size in 2023 will be 37.39 billion yuan, up 267.65% year-on-year from 10.17 billion yuan in 2022. The "China Internet Audiovisual Development Research Report (2024)" shows that users who frequently watch micro dramas account for 39.9%, and 31.9% of users have paid for micro drama content. Micro dramas are developing rapidly and are becoming one of the hottest tracks in the audio-visual field.

Recalling the original intention of developing micro-short dramas, Liu Yang, vice president and editor-in-chief of Kuaishou, said that around 2019, watching vertical short videos on mobile phones became a trend, and Kuaishou created the "Starry Short Drama" project to attract more professionals to participate in it based on the existing user creations. As of December 2023, the "Starry Short Drama" project has broadcast 326 micro-short dramas with over 100 million views. "The success of this project is related to our long-term cultivation in the field of micro-short dramas, but more importantly, it is the popularity of the micro-short drama market itself and the love of the majority of users for this new form of online audio-visual." Liu Yang said.

Dianzhong Technology is a company that started out as an online literature business. It currently produces 30-50 short short dramas every month. Their work mainly involves screening and converting millions of online literature works each year into videos. In the view of Li Jiang, the company's executive president, the most important thing about short short dramas is the "story", and the role of screenwriters in the creation is crucial. "When short short dramas first developed, we preferred to call them 'video storytelling sessions'. The audience of short short dramas based on online literature mainly expects the content products to be reflected in the emotional value provided by the short short dramas."

With the continuous expansion of the micro-short drama market, long video platforms, film and television production companies and radio and television media have also entered the micro-short drama market in the past two years. As a result, the creation level of micro-short dramas has been greatly improved, and a number of high-quality micro-short dramas that focus on narrative skills, form innovation and reflect current life have begun to appear.

He Tianping, associate professor of the Department of Audiovisual Communication, School of Journalism, Renmin University of China, believes that in the context of improving the quality and efficiency of the radio, television, network and audiovisual industries, the reason why micro-short dramas are so attractive to investors and practitioners is largely because they have the potential to produce more high-quality content with more intensive forces.

Improve regular management measures to promote high-quality content production

At the beginning of the rise of the micro-drama industry, some works were of poor quality. As the industry continues to grow, the competent authorities have successively introduced a series of regulatory policies and measures, which have played a positive guiding role in the development of the industry.

In November 2022, the State Administration of Radio and Television organized a special rectification campaign for mini-program-based online micro-dramas, and subsequently proposed measures to speed up the formulation of the "Detailed Rules for the Creation, Production and Content Review of Online Micro-Short Dramas" and other measures to improve the normalized management mechanism.

On April 23 this year, a symposium on the creation of short short plays was held to further establish and improve institutional norms and create an environment for the high-quality development of short short plays. On May 17, the China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association issued a document showing that the relevant departments of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television have launched a special campaign to address the problems of high fees, opacity, inducement to pay, and difficulty in protecting rights in short short play charging.

On June 1 this year, the "Notice of the General Office of the State Administration of Radio and Television on Further Coordinating Development and Security to Promote the Healthy and Prosperous Development of the Online Micro-short Drama Industry" was officially implemented, clarifying that micro-short dramas are subject to classified and layered review, and micro-short dramas that have not been reviewed and registered shall not be disseminated online.

He Tianping said: "As an important part of the current online audio-visual industry, online short dramas should follow general review processes and value norms in terms of content compliance. The implementation of the "Notice" is an important step in guiding the short drama industry to mature and standardize." In addition, this is also an important measure to strengthen the responsibility of the platform. "As important entities in the short drama ecosystem, institutions and platforms are responsible for evaluating, checking and confirming content compliance." He Tianping said.

"Travel with short dramas" to promote the integration of culture and tourism

At the beginning of this year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television proposed the "Travel with Micro-Short Dramas" creation plan, guiding various places to combine local cultural and tourism resources, and in accordance with the requirements of "finding the right topics, telling good stories, and shooting high-quality products", add cultural and tourism elements, creativity, and plots to existing key micro-short drama projects, or develop new works through self-production, Sino-foreign joint production, etc.

The plan proposes that around eight creative directions, including the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, the origin of Chinese civilization and cultural heritage, "Made in China", "China Speed" and "China Power", 100 excellent micro-short dramas with the theme of "Traveling with Micro-short Dramas" will be created and broadcast in 2024, and a number of physical filming locations will be promoted to "go viral" following the popularity of micro-short dramas, creating a new trend of "checking in" to various places following the micro-short dramas.

As of April 23, two batches of 28 excellent short dramas have been selected into the recommended catalog of the National Radio and Television Administration's "Travel with Micro-Short Dramas" creation plan. Among them, 21 short dramas that have been broadcast have shown strong communication advantages, and the effect of enabling the deep integration of culture and tourism has begun to emerge.

Poster of "Flying Youth"

For example, "There's Wind on My Way Home" has been viewed 190 million times. The display of delicacies such as cross-legged beef in the play has attracted many netizens to travel to Leshan; "Flying Youth" extends the paragliding experience and other projects in the play outside the play. The filming location, Caocun Town, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, received nearly 200,000 tourists during the Spring Festival, an increase of more than 30% year-on-year; "Your Island Has Arrived" and "That Night of Reunion", which were filmed in Taohuayuan, Changde, Hunan and Pingtan, Fujian, were popular check-in spots. At the beginning of their creation, they worked closely with local cultural and tourism departments, and obtained support in terms of venues and group performances. After the programs were broadcast, each program received more than 100 million visits across the entire network.

Stills from "Your Island Has Arrived"

Li Jiang believes that the combination of short short plays and cultural tourism can release huge social and economic benefits. The key lies in using an attractive story to attract local tourism resources. "Cultural tourism refers to cultural tourism. It is not just about beautiful mountains and rivers. It relies more on the culture carried by a story and integrates beautiful scenery and food. Therefore, telling good stories with short short plays and driving the local tourism industry is a path that can continuously generate comprehensive benefits." Li Jiang said.

He Tianping believes that the "Travel with Micro Drama" creative plan integrates micro drama with the development of cultural tourism resources, which is an innovative measure to respond to the current call for the deep integration of culture and tourism. "In the future, there will be more possible forms of 'micro drama +', such as 'micro drama + technology', 'micro drama + real economy', 'micro drama + brand', etc., which will also bring more imagination to the development prospects of micro drama." He Tianping said.

(This article was originally published in the People's Daily on July 8, 2024, page 11. The original title was: Online short dramas enter the long track)