At present, micro-short dramas, as an emerging literary and artistic form, are gradually becoming one of the important carriers of new popular literature and art. At the first "Starry Stars" Micro-Short Drama Industry Development Conference held recently, the "Starry Index" 2024 Micro-Short Drama Industry Insight Report was officially released. The "Starry Index", a micro-short drama dissemination and application evaluation system, was jointly constructed by the China Federation of Radio and Television Social Organizations and Xi'an Jiaotong University, in collaboration with academia and industry. The report shows that the penetration rate of micro-short drama users among netizens has reached 70%, which is close to the scale of the live broadcast audience. In terms of duration, micro-short dramas with a single episode duration of 3-10 minutes, especially 5-10 minutes, are most popular among users.

On January 8, 2025, the "Starry Sky" Micro Drama Industry Development Conference was held in Chengdu. Wang Wenbin, Dean of the School of Journalism and New Media at Xi'an Jiaotong University, released the 2024 "Starry Sky Index" Micro Drama Annual Industry Insight Report.

Nowadays, more and more video platforms, radio and television organizations, and traditional film and television companies are entering the micro-short drama market, and the creative ecology is becoming more diverse. For example, Tencent Video and iQiyi have directly added micro-short drama columns on the homepage of the website, while Mango TV and Youku have added short drama sections under the TV series column to provide direct access to the audience. Short video platforms have also chosen to increase content. In the second half of 2024 alone, the overall supply of native short dramas on the Douyin side increased by 117% month-on-month in the first half of the year. Behind the hot development trend of the industry, we need to strengthen our awareness of quality. In recent months, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has continuously issued management reminders, reiterating the management regulations for middle-aged and elderly themes, "dominant" micro-short dramas, and micro-short drama titles, and refining the creation guidelines.

From the initial stage to the current scale, how can micro-short dramas improve the quality of content without losing their morphological advantages? Lu Xiangao, leader of the "Star Index" expert group and vice president of the China News and Culture Promotion Association, believes that the first thing to do is to focus on the theme. Realistic themes need to be richer, and the refinement, grasp and expression of realistic themes need to be improved. We must abandon lazy thinking and avoid routine creations such as domineering, counterattack, and revenge that harm the expression of realistic themes; secondly, we must pay attention to the emotional implications of micro-short dramas. Micro-short dramas cannot just stay at emotional output. We should have feelings for our country, friendship for our friends, and interest in our personal lives. The expression of these diverse emotions should guide the audience to establish a correct world view, outlook on life and values; thirdly, the creative methods should be upright and innovative. Micro-short drama creators should boldly try new narrative methods, expression methods and shooting techniques. The core of the plot needs to be deep and powerful, avoid falling into creative clichés, and continuously promote the creation of micro-short dramas to be more diverse, rich and innovative; finally, all entities in the industrial chain should strengthen close cooperation. In the process of developing micro-short dramas into high-quality works, management departments, platforms, production organizations, research institutions and other parties all play important roles. Only when all parties work together and treat and make good use of the micro-short drama literary and artistic forms can the micro-short drama industry chain become healthier and more complete, and promote it to become a vital force for the prosperity of new popular literature and art.

From the release of the "Travel with Micro-Short Dramas" creation plan by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television at the beginning of 2024 to the implementation of the "Micro-Short Dramas +" action plan by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television at the beginning of this year, and the promotion of the integration of micro-short dramas with thousands of industries, the new industrial iteration model of "Micro-Short Dramas +" has given this track more room for imagination. It is reported that in 2025, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will further organize and implement the "Travel with Micro-Short Dramas" creation plan, continue to promote the "Learn Law with Micro-Short Dramas" and "See Brands in Micro-Short Dramas" creation plans, and launch "Learn Classics with Micro-Short Dramas", "Popularize Science with Micro-Short Dramas", "See Intangible Cultural Heritage in Micro-Short Dramas" and other creation plans, and achieve the launch of about 300 key micro-short dramas with leading roles and innovative value in subdivided fields. Multiple measures will help micro-short dramas move towards both high-quality and industrialized development.

(This article was published in the 4th edition of the Literary Gazette on January 22, 2025.)