Looking back from the node of 2024 to 2025, short dramas have advanced from "the marginal testing ground of the film and television industry" to "a new strategic highland of the cultural industry". When the four waves of content refinement, industrial collaboration, technological penetration, and global communication converge, this emerging form, which was born only five years ago, is writing a new paradigm of cultural narrative that belongs to this era.
On the other side of the Chinese micro-short drama industry sweeping the entertainment market with a "hurricane" momentum, problems such as homogeneous themes, vulgar content, and rough production have also been exposed. With the implementation of the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Online Micro-Short Dramas and Implementing the Creation and Promotion Plan" by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the industry has ushered in a key turning point of "development first and then standardization". Entering 2025, how can the micro-short drama industry achieve the transformation from "barbaric growth" to "intensive cultivation"? As a representative of traditional film and television giants, what industry trends does Huace Film and Television's exploration path reflect? How do the leading long-play film and television companies view the road to the high-quality development of short dramas?
Zhao Yifang, Chairman of Huace Group, speaks at the China Radio and Television Masterpiece Creation Conference
Zhao Yifang, Chairman of the Micro Drama Committee of China Television Association and Chairman of Huace Group, accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper. Zhao Yifang took the example of "Da Li Village Superman" produced by Huace. This short drama, based on the prototype of Guizhou's "Village Superman", deeply integrates sports spirit with rural revitalization through on-site shooting and dialect interpretation. She emphasized, "Quality is not highbrow, and main theme content can also create traffic miracles. Micro dramas are completing the cognitive upgrade from 'cultural fast-moving consumer goods' to 'value carriers'."
"We are now facing not only MCN organizations, but also a complex ecosystem including film and television companies, media groups, and local governments." Zhao Yifang said that Huace creatively proposed the strategy of "grafting the genes of long dramas onto the form of short dramas" during its entry into the industry, and derived the IP of "Where the Wind Goes" into " My Way Home Is Windy ", which combined "long drama emotional precipitation + short drama fragment narrative". The short drama has been played 190 million times on the Douyin platform. In addition to the subject matter of short dramas and high-quality production, she pays special attention to the importance of talent training for the healthy ecology of the industry. "Previously, newcomers could not do long dramas for three years. They were all editors, reviewers, and assistants. Now they can start doing short dramas very quickly."
In this industry transformation, the entry of leading long-running TV series and film and television companies has brought about a key variable. Huace has introduced the industrial standards of long-running TV series into short-running TV series, and has also invested high-quality production into the short-running TV series business, which will undoubtedly improve the overall level of the industry and find a suitable position in this pie.
【dialogue】
The brevity and solidity of short plays are a two-way process of change.
The Paper: What is the development trend of short dramas in 2024? Compared with 2023, how have the content and forms of short dramas changed? Especially after the frequent introduction of regulatory policies and official encouragement this year.
Zhao Yifang: In May last year, the China Television Artists Association established a micro-drama professional committee, and I served as the chairman. The committee members include representatives from various institutions such as the leading institutions in the micro-drama industry, universities, media groups, radio and television stations, video broadcasting platforms, and film and television production institutions. In this process, I personally visited many micro-drama institutions, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Russia, and many countries in the Middle East to investigate the current development status of the micro-drama industry abroad.
I think there will be several major trends in the development of China's short drama industry in 2024:
The first is that the development speed is very rapid, and the number has increased a lot. The second is the quality of content creation. From the initial extensive and even mixed industry to today's typological, high-quality, diversified, main-theme, and mainstream value ecology, micro-short dramas have steadily moved forward on the iterative development path from inferior products to high-quality products. Since the new regulations on micro-short drama management of the General Administration were officially implemented in June last year, the industry has responded enthusiastically. The new regulations ensure the quality of content from the source and avoid the spread of vulgar and harmful content. The effect is immediate, and a number of excellent micro-short dramas such as "Da Li Village Superman" have emerged.
Poster of "Da Li Village Superman"
"Da Li Village Superman" is a high-quality short play jointly created by Migu and Huace Short Play Team under the guidance of the Propaganda Department of Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, directly facing the popular stories of Guizhou's "Village Superman". Our team experienced life in the "Village Superman" and filmed on-site. The team's creativity is very strong, which verifies that the synonym of high-quality is not highbrow, and traffic and word of mouth can achieve two-way running. This is also connected with our experience of long dramas. We deeply realize that micro-short dramas can only develop sustainably in the long run if they take the path of high quality and high-quality.
In addition, the industry is rapidly developing towards maturity . We have completed the transformation from extensive development to mature and high-quality development in a very short period of time. Various parties including traditional film and television institutions, media, TV stations, local cultural tourism and other government agencies have entered the market. From script production, shooting and production, investment and distribution, publicity and broadcasting, to international communication, a large number of professional institutions and platforms have emerged in each link, and the maturity is second to none in the world.
Finally, the government has played a very good guiding role here . It is developing in the process of regulation and regulating in the process of development. The government must do this for emerging industries.
The Paper: What urgent issues need to be addressed in order for micro-short dramas to become high-quality products?
Zhao Yifang: To achieve high-quality short dramas, the government and the industry have done very effectively this year. I hope that they can continue to support the iterative development of our industry and attract more outstanding talents to join the short drama industry . I also hope that the competent authorities can introduce some supporting measures and policies. We producers ourselves must further improve our position, increase investment, focus on craftsmanship , maintain the original intention of high-quality creation and production for each short drama, and also pay attention to the establishment of a management and control system and the gathering of resources.
The Paper: In the process of creating short short plays, how does Huace respond to the audience's demand for "fast-paced" plots? How to maintain the depth of the story and the layering of the characters?
Zhao Yifang: Although micro-short dramas are "short, flat and fast" , solid scripts are still important. This is a long and constantly changing process of running in both directions . For example, our "National Beauty" is a fine product and also quite refreshing. The creation of long dramas can also incorporate elements of short dramas. Long dramas should also pay attention to reality and respond to the emotional needs of the audience. However, compared with short dramas, long dramas may have more depth in narrative methods and character development. Short dramas do not have those ups and downs, and the three-second pictures are not attractive and will be swiped away. Therefore, we have to adapt to the narrative rhythm of micro-short dramas that capture emotions and the overall application of creative techniques. According to the viewing habits of users on the short video platform, we use the strong topics and plots extracted at the beginning of each episode to grab the audience's attention, and then gradually unfold the story, so as to ensure that the audience can quickly immerse themselves in the story.
Poster of "National Beauty"
The Paper: In the production of short short plays, how do you think the relationship between content creation, platform rules and audience needs can be balanced? For example, how to cooperate with the platform to ensure that the work can be accurately recommended.
Zhao Yifang: For traditional long dramas, the audience looks for the content, while for short dramas, the content looks for the audience , and the content is accurately pushed to the target group with labels. On the one hand, we embrace this kind of precision marketing of content, and on the other hand, we are confident in our own content. Really good content can transcend crowd labels and time periods, and can be appreciated by men, women, young and old. Such works must also take into account content creation, platform rules and audience needs. We hope to create more nationwide blockbusters.
Leveraging long dramas and IP is a topic worth exploring
The Paper: There are more and more commercialization channels for short dramas. In addition to advertising and brand placement, has Huace considered other monetization methods (such as paid memberships, IP derivatives, etc.)?
Zhao Yifang: We are still exploring, so it is difficult to answer this question. We will also cooperate with brands, explore classic creations, and promote tourism development. But in general, Huace, as a short drama, definitely starts from the content, not from pure commerciality. We are still exploring how to combine content and business. In fact, the micro short drama + ecosystem is also constantly iterating and growing. Huace is open to various ways of realization.
The Paper: When did Huace decide to enter the micro-short drama industry?
Zhao Yifang: When short dramas started to emerge in the second half of 2023, we did some study and research and were very clear that we would enter the market unswervingly, but strategically we would learn first. Because short dramas and long dramas are two different content forms , business models, subject matter directions and production forms. However, they are mainly stories and characters, and the underlying logic is drama , so we must focus on cultural fast-moving consumer goods that the people love to see.
Over the past year, we have been exploring and integrating with long dramas . For example, My Way Home is a TV series IP, and we created a new short drama. The interaction is very effective. In the process of achieving high-quality production, Huace's main strategy is to integrate the long drama team with the short drama team, or to say that a long drama team drives the short drama. The second is that we learn from professional short drama teams and companies, and achieve win-win cooperation in learning.
Poster of "My Way Home is Windy"
The Paper: Looking at Huace's short drama projects, which themes and styles are widely welcomed by the audience? How does Huace view the market prospects of different types of short dramas? Can you share some successful short drama cases?
Zhao Yifang: We have tried many different types. For example, the short drama "My Way Home is Windy", which was derived from the IP of the long drama "Going to a Windy Place", has won the love and popularity of the audience with its compact plot, superb acting skills, and local culture and food. This step of exploration is of great significance to the subsequent development of the overall ecological value of IP. With reference to the long-term vitality and commercial value of foreign series IPs such as Disney , we are still only at a very shallow level in the development of many IPs. Micro short dramas have given us a good opportunity to extend various attempts. At the same time, cultural tourism micro short dramas are also an organic combination of economic value and social value.
We have also tried paid dramas. The paid boutique short drama "I'm Busy Farming in the Cold Palace" produced by Huace has been played more than 180 million times on the original Douyin platform. The drama presents a light love story that travels through time and space. This is a completely different content model, with great innovations in the creative ideas, distribution and promotion paths, and audience viewing habits . The audience's demand for cultural content has always existed. With the development of technology and the upgrade of software and hardware, there will be different viewing channels and viewing habits, and our content presentation forms must also be diversified accordingly.
There are also brand-customized dramas. "21 and 31" and "The Man Who Keeps Time" have both joined hands with well-known skin care brands to achieve commercialization, combining the plot with content marketing. It is also a very interesting topic to convert the huge traffic brought by the stories in the drama into popularity of the brand and products .
The Paper: Has Huace tried to integrate or cross-border cooperate with traditional film and television works in the content of micro-short dramas? If so, what are the results?
Zhao Yifang: As early as the end of 2022, we keenly captured the emerging vitality of the micro-short drama market, and quickly considered how to use our advantages to enter this field, and decided to launch the "Long and Short IP Linkage" project .
In February last year, "My Way Home Has Wind" was on Douyin's "She Sees the Four Seasons" platform during its broadcast. It was on Douyin's hot list 9 times and on Douyin's entertainment list 12 times. The average number of views per episode exceeded 10 million, and the number of views of the feature film was 190 million. On December 23 last year, "My Way Home Has Wind" was broadcast on Dragon TV's prime time. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television released a list of recommended short dramas for the Spring Festival in 2025. The boutique short drama "In the Name of Love", which was adapted from the story of Huace Group's hit drama "In the Name of Family", was selected and broadcast on the Douyin platform on January 25. The feature film has been viewed more than 400 million times.
Short play "In the Name of Love"
Micro-short dramas break the "trio": long drama talent foundation, technological strength improvement, and global development
The Paper: In terms of short drama content creation, how does Huace help creators improve content quality through special support policies or resources? How do you evaluate and select potential creators and support their development in the field of short dramas?
Zhao Yifang: As a leading company, we are still very attractive to talents, so there are always some excellent newcomers coming to the company. Newcomers who used to work in a long drama team may not be able to do practical work for three years. They are just editors, reviewers, and assistants . Now they can start working on short dramas very quickly.
At the same time, we are also building a platform for talent aggregation and training. We are working with Communication University of China and Zhejiang Vocational College of Art to initiate the establishment of a micro-short drama industry-education integration community base through approval by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Education. It has brought together more than 100 short drama production companies and related industry teams.
I am the chairman of the Micro-Short Drama Committee, and cultivating talents is also the core work of the committee. The focus of our committee's work is eight words: serve everyone and produce more high-quality works . We have detailed plans for these.
The Paper: As competition in short dramas intensifies, how does Huace ensure the diversity and innovation of its content and avoid the serious problem of homogeneity?
Zhao Yifang: Because we are a leading company in long dramas, we enter the short drama market. First of all, starting from our own genes and organizational capability system, we are more focused on developing diversified, refined, and innovative themes, which allows us to produce fewer but better short dramas . We can't be like other short drama companies that start with hundreds of dramas. We plan more carefully, so the problem of homogeneity is not prominent. But in this regard, I think the industry still needs to increase its research and development efforts and increase its planning of themes. We still can't just shoot whatever we find. When planning with a stronger team, it is different from just doing whatever we catch. Since it is a big industry, the ecosystem must be built.
As a long-running drama company, Huace has been rooted in content for a long time, which gives us great advantages. However, we also have shortcomings, such as the fast pace, high efficiency, and cost control of short dramas.
The Paper: Has Huace considered promoting short dramas in overseas markets? If so, how can you adjust the content to meet different cultural and aesthetic needs to ensure success in the global market?
Zhao Yifang: Huace has been trying to broadcast domestic short dramas on overseas platforms such as YouTube since the end of 2023, and has achieved good viewing data. The cultural and aesthetic needs of each market are different, including the degree of acceptance of different themes, whether they are used to watching horizontally or vertically, and whether they prefer 1-2 minute short dramas or 3-5 minute short dramas. These all require refined operations. Therefore, we need talents who understand the local language and culture to join, combine the creativity of content creators, and create more localized high-quality content.
The Paper: How do you view the development trend of short dramas in 2025? Will there be new strategic adjustments in content, technology or platform cooperation? How can we respond to these trends and seize new opportunities?
Zhao Yifang: Content refinement is definitely a very clear direction. The second is the maturity of industrial development and a richer ecology. Third, I think there is a lot of room for technology and culture, because of the special form of micro-short dramas, many technological factors can be used, such as script creation, video generation, and technological dubbing. Huace has two self-developed large vertical models for the film and television industry. Fourth, short dramas are "born" with international attributes and easy to spread. Some Chinese companies are doing small programs to go overseas and localized creation, which is more like the previous online literature going overseas. Finally, the "Micro-short Drama +" action plan being implemented by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television empowers thousands of industries, which is very worth looking forward to.
