In my journey in exploring Chinese drama there is one connection I couldn’t miss making after being in touch with two very different formats which originate from the same place namely China. As I’ve mentioned before I came to Chinese drama and discovered this genre by accident in a way. However later on I also stumbled through another very interesting genre, micro-drama. The one thing that stuck with me, in this case, is that micro drama is completely the opposite of Chinese drama. I couldn’t stop myself from digging further.
So this is what this piece is about the observation on how different those two genres are and at the same time the way they shape today’s media and entertainment reality.
Same origin, different arrivals
While long form Chinese drama came to the west in an organic way, it got popular through fan generated content and people who are culturally curious, the story with micro drama also referred to as vertical drama is completely the opposite.
Micro drama was actually intentionally delivered to Western audiences carefully structured to be consumed in a particular way by a particular audience.
Before we go further I’d like to touch base on how they came to existence in general.
Long form chinese drama goes through a relentless production machine involving pre-production NRTA approvals of cast, script and content, politics navigation, hard schedules and heavy PR processes. As a product it is a fascinating combination of emotion and restraint interwoven with carefully narrated storytelling.
Micro-drama on the other side was born exactly to get away from this same system. Two platforms were out of regulation and short content found a new form to live. The initial productions were different, explicit and provocative to an extent which later on led to the removal of over 25000 episodes from platforms.
Of course, this regulatory gap was closed quickly but in quite a smart way. The opportunity that came with it, is now being leveraged worldwide and I must say with excellent results.
However, I wouldn’t miss the chance to make the observation, C-drama is now comfortably exported, while micro-drama was brought back through the process and then moves in the direction it is supposed to follow.
What is actually being exported?
The two formats can not be more different in terms of what actually they are preaching in a way.
Chinese drama is all about Chinese culture as the product. Being a foreign format is the attraction not the obstacle and the more authentic the better for the viewer. Western audiences are curious enough to learn about the culture, the language and even do additional research on history, books and sometimes study the language. For the sake of being completely honest, I do it all (including the Chinese).
Micro-dramas, on the other side, are westernized on purpose. They even went to reshoot in the US and adapted scripts and all to fit into the culture of the US market viewers. So right now it is a blend of Chinese narratives with some of the most popular Western tropes that are produced for the US consumers.
Speaking of audiences, we need to take a much closer look at who is watching because looking at demographics those overlap. In my opinion this is just on paper because their behaviour, and I can judge also by myself, is very different.
C-drama sticks with you in a way and the same happens with the viewers. People who discovered it appreciate it and stay with the story, emotion and even the actors most of the time.
In micro-drama there is almost anything to hold you once you buy that particular series. You just go to the next nice series and go along with it. Platforms usually will keep you with the next cliffhanger or the next suitable title to watch.
Two roads to success with different mechanics but achieving the goal slowly
Here is where I connect the dots in my article on those two formats. No verdict, just an observation on different dynamics placed side by side. I believe this is where we can see what those two different formats are actually building in the West.
Micro-drama is building infrastructure and at the same time is building strong ground to educate its audiences. Almost all of the infrastructure is Chinese-backed. The production may be in Los Angeles, Paris or anywhere across continents but the actual value is in Beijing and Shanghai. Considering the latest push of Bytedance with Seedance 2.5, the gap in my opinion is going to widen further, even though judging by the signals the western market is trying to catch up.
The education happens on Western turf by the standard ways of doing so – webinars, speakerships and collaborations. They know best how to leverage short content to educate audiences, I am sure of it. What it does though is placing the lightspot on the people behind the system, while the format remains impersonal.
Long-form c-drama on the other hand is building people and these people might actually be prone to migrate between platforms. What comes next is buying a subscription to WeTV to watch Overdo, rather than waiting for it to be released on Netflix. Subtitles are now great in there and you don’t really want the voiceover anyway, it robs half of the performance.
In a way, this is another push for ownership but of audience interest and migration. And we already know western users tend to churn between platforms per 6 months.
What remains to be seen is how those two will evolve on the markets they already are and which is the next one they choose. I know one thing for sure, Europe is quickly becoming an emerging 3rd market already and even though it is much smaller, it’ll add to the whole picture and we will see if the system repeats itself.
On a closing note…
The formats are here, the interest is real. Both are landing well on the Western markets and are already making a difference. What is already here and interesting to observe is how two completely different formats walk the same road from different directions.
Same origin, opposite corners, same strong impact.