In recent years, short dramas have captured the hearts of thousands of audiences with their brevity, brisk rhythm and other characteristics. What kind of sparks will be created when this new form of content meets the profound Lingnan culture?
On May 29, the "Hundred Plays, Thousands of Industries" co-creation plan was launched in Guangzhou. The plan will create and incubate 100 short plays with Guangdong elements in three years by customizing, selecting and producing a batch of plays, and empowering the high-quality development of Guangdong's thousands of industries.
The launch of the "Hundreds of Plays, Thousands of Industries" co-creation plan
According to the latest data from the China Online Audiovisual Development Research Report (2025), by December 2024, the number of users of short dramas in my country will reach 662 million, and the average daily usage time of independent short drama applications will reach 101 minutes. The output and output value of the rapidly growing short drama industry have even exceeded those of the film industry.
Why are micro-short dramas so attractive? Wang Xiao, director of the Guangdong Provincial Radio and Television Bureau, said, "First, micro-short dramas are based on life, and high-quality micro-short dramas are closer to life, higher than life, and return to life. Secondly, micro-short dramas have a brisk pace, diverse content, flexible production, wide dissemination, and extremely short cycles. It can be said that good micro-short dramas can provide people with positive emotional value, and can also provide a new carrier for brand dissemination and industrial integration."
This year, the Guangdong Provincial Radio and Television Bureau launched the "See Brands through Micro-Short Dramas" creation plan, hoping to showcase Guangdong's excellent brands, characteristic industries and regional culture through the creative expression of micro-short dramas, and promote the in-depth integration of "culture + industry". The "Hundred Dramas, Thousands of Industries" co-creation plan will further expand this model, unite thousands of industries, gather creative forces, and create a batch of high-quality micro-short dramas that have both artistry, communication power and commercial value.
"I hope that the 'Hundred Plays, Thousands of Industries' co-creation plan can adhere to the principle of content being king and tell good stories of the times; strengthen cross-border linkages and stimulate industry momentum; innovate communication paradigms and broaden the dimensions of influence," said Wang Xiao.
During the roundtable discussion, industry guests shared their insights on the future of "micro-short drama +".
Roundtable discussion: The future of "micro short drama +"
Last September, iQiyi announced its official entry into micro-short dramas, and launched hit works such as "Original Sin" and "It's Not Easy to Be a Lady in a Marquis's Mansion". In January this year, iQiyi launched the "1,000-part Micro-Drama Plan", once again expressing its determination to promote the transformation of micro-dramas into high-quality ones. Chen Hongjia, senior vice president of iQiyi, said that in order to stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of creators and drive the output of high-quality content, iQiyi adjusted its control and investment ratio and allocated more than 70% of its revenue to content producers. At the same time, iQiyi actively applies its own methodology accumulated in the field of long videos to micro-short dramas. In the future, it will launch the "Hong Kong Film 100 Micro-Drama Plan" and the "National Security and Public Security Micro-Drama Plan", and will also develop short dramas around Gu Long's IP.
As a traditional film company, Bona Film Group has many new plans in the development of short short dramas. Jiang Defu, CEO of Bona Film Group, said that Bona will use its own thinking in film and television creation for many years, hoping to improve the quality of short short dramas to some extent, and also hopes that the "Hundred Dramas, Thousands of Industries" co-creation plan can give young talents as many opportunities to exercise as possible and input them into the film and television field in the future.
Talking about the overseas spread of short dramas, Xiaowu Brothers CMO Huang Jiajun introduced that the overseas spread of domestic short dramas is very strong. In his opinion, the challenge faced by domestic short dramas going overseas is mainly how to combine local talents with traditional Chinese culture to create "unique" overseas content. To this end, he suggested that the "Hundred Dramas and Thousands of Lines" co-creation plan could combine Lingnan culture to create more short dramas with characteristics and highlights, "to bring out professionalism and high-quality content."
Chen Jiasheng, general manager of Shantao Culture and Technology, said that many viewers still have the impression that short dramas are full of twists and turns, but in recent years, more capable and thoughtful teams have joined the creation of short dramas. Brand placement is one of the trends in the development of short dramas. "Many live streaming influencers use their influencer traffic to shoot short dramas, which brings new traffic and new popularity, and provides advertisers and brands with new product promotion ideas." He believes that this is an idea for short dramas to monetize traffic and promote products.
The opening ceremony of the short dramas "Xian Jinfeng" and "I'm Three Years Older Than My Grandma" was held on site
On the day of the event, the first batch of short plays "Xianjinfeng" and "I am Three Years Older Than My Grandma" of the "Hundred Plays and Thousands of Lines" co-creation plan were officially launched. The two works were inspired by Zengcheng's "Xianjinfeng" lychees and the revolutionary history of the Dongjiang Column. They will tell the story of Lingnan through the new era carrier and convey the warmth of Lingnan culture.
