Microdramas are coming to North America, according to CNBC.
Blame it on TikTok, which incited the world’s addiction to vertical video, but short vertical drama revenues overtook motion pictures in China for the first time in 2024.
The BBC is all over this too.
Characteristics of microdramas:
- 90-120 seconds in length
- 20-100 episodes in total
- Vertical video orientation
- Low-cost of production
- Unknown actors
- Target audience: women between the ages of 25 to 35
- Lots of romantic comedy, vampire stories, tycoon stories
- Fast-paced, over-the-top storylines
- Twists or cliffhangers every minute.
The main mobile apps used to consume this content are: ReelShort, DramaBox and GoodShort.
In the CNBC report, Anne Chan, Co-Founder of AR Asia Production says:
“You cannot compare street food to Michelin. Is Michelin food going to take over street food? No, not a chance. But there is an appetite for street food. There is an appetite for Michelin dishes.”
But she forecasts:
“People keep saying, you know, ‘TV is dying.’ It’s not dying. It’s just moving to the verticals, moving to the fragmented viewing. So if people move, you have to move with them, otherwise you’ll be eliminated.”
My take: You could say that TikTok forced Meta to introduce Reels to Facebook and Instagram, and Google to introduce Shorts to YouTube. Does that mean the Chinese love of microdramas is guaranteed to play out in North America too? I hope not. (I did like six-second Vines though.)