Venture capitalists and start-ups convened at the Conrad Beijing hotel in mid-December, looking to exploit the latest phenomenon in Chinese media: the mini soap opera.
Clips run just 60 to 90 seconds and a series can span more than 50 episodes.
The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband, one of the industry’s biggest hits of 2023, takes all of 100 seconds to tell the story of a woman who was forced into a marriage with a “loser and an ex-con” to pay her mother’s medical bill.
I see mini dramas becoming a dominant form of entertainment, potentially even outpacing the traditional film market in a few years
Spurred by advertising sales and spending by viewers, revenue in the mini-drama industry surged 35 per cent to 50.44 billion yuan (US$6.91 billion) last year, surpassing China’s cinema box office, according to a government-backed industry association.