micro-short drama "Splashing the Sky with Wealth and Honor", who caught it? According to
data, the domestic micro-short drama market will reach 37.39 billion yuan in 2023, and the scale is still growing rapidly. A relevant "Report" released by dataeye, a micro-short drama research platform, predicts that the market size of micro-short dramas will reach 50 billion yuan in 2024, and is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan in 2027.
For a time, myths about getting rich in this industry were circulating everywhere. Topics such as "a couple earns more than 400 million a month from doing short plays" and "a short play writer earns 100,000 a month" have been on Weibo's hot searches. It's really It is difficult to distinguish between true and false. The outside world is also full of curiosity about this emerging industry. Red Star News talked to many industry practitioners in an attempt to uncover the fog of the micro-short drama industry. This issue focuses on micro-short drama writers to see if "writing micro-short dramas" is a new opportunity or a new trap for those who want to seek development in this emerging field. Is it a dream to earn 100,000 a month?
html It is not a dream to earn 100,000 yuan a month in March, but it is rare
"There must be top screenwriters in the industry. There are indeed those who earn 100,000 yuan a month, but they are really very few." Regarding this problem, Sichuan, a domestic company specializing in the incubation of micro-short drama scripts The answer from Du Xiaohua, the founder of Character Universe, is this.
Under the temptation of making wealth, everyone wants to get a share of the micro-short drama. Compared with high-cost "games" such as filming and streaming, more and more people are targeting "writing scripts" as a relatively low-threshold new opportunity to make money. Red Star News reporters also noticed that on various recruitment websites, there are many recruitment information for "micro-short drama screenwriters", with salaries ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 yuan.
It is understood that the fees or wages for micro-short drama screenwriters are mainly divided into two situations.
One is that short video directors are responsible for short play scripts, and the company will give them a fixed salary. Most of these screenwriters are directors and planners from mcn organizations, and adopt a salary structure of "basic salary + bonus". The basic salary is generally around 7,000 yuan, and bonuses are received every month based on the box office of mini-program dramas. "Bonuses are based on a ladder system." Yes, the bonus for a million box office is about 1,000 yuan, and the bonus for a 10 million box office is more than 10,000 yuan."
Another way, which is also the more mainstream method in the market, is the project cooperation system. The price of scripts fluctuates depending on the screenwriter’s qualifications. Novice screenwriters generally charge 8,000-12,000 yuan per film, screenwriters with previous online works charge between 20,000 and 40,000 yuan, and screenwriters with hits before will charge even higher. In addition, in addition to the cost of completing the project, after the project is launched, the screenwriter will also be given a certain share of the income based on the income, ranging from 5% to 3%.
In fact, there are new micro-short dramas on the market every day, and only a few can make profits, so there are also a few screenwriters who can get a share. So, what makes a hit? Industry insiders said that according to the amount of paid recharges for micro-short dramas, those with a recharge of more than 5 million yuan are generally considered small hits, and those with a recharge of more than 10 million yuan are considered big hits. Only those who have served as screenwriters of three or more hit short dramas can Recognized as a "hot scriptwriter".
Based on this salary model, it is indeed a small probability event to achieve "a monthly income of 100,000 yuan" by writing micro-short plays. Take Sichuan Character Universe Company as an example. According to Du Xiaohua, their company's part-time new screenwriters produce one or two scripts a month and earn about 15,000 yuan; mature screenwriters produce two or three scripts a month and earn about 50,000 yuan. Ten thousand yuan. In addition, many micro-short drama practitioners also said that the basic salary of most micro-short drama writers is around 4,000-6,000 yuan.
Where do micro-short drama screenwriters come from
However, the obvious advantage of being a micro-short drama screenwriter is that the entry barrier is low, the market is in a growth period, and there are relatively many opportunities. According to statistics, more than 800 short plays and mini-program dramas were launched in just seven days during the Spring Festival. You can imagine the number of scripts needed every month.
Du Hongjun, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Film and Literature Society and founder of the Screenwriters Gang, said that compared to professional screenwriters of TV series and movies, short-play screenwriters were initially more internet creators or amateurs. The entry barrier is low, which does give many people a chance in the short term. As a result, the public can see that on one side, editors of short drama platforms are "crying" to collect scripts online, while on the other side, financial practitioners, Internet writers, college students, etc. are "crossing over" to write short dramas.
"The number of short play screenwriters now is more than ten times that of two years ago." Liangchen, who started working as a short play screenwriter three years ago, said in an interview that when he first entered the industry, most short play screenwriters were doing Douyin , Kuaishou and other short videos, but now many novel authors, long-form drama and Internet screenwriters have also begun to write short drama scripts. But generally speaking, this industry is still dominated by part-time screenwriters. Du Xiaohua said that as far as their company is concerned, there are currently more than 300 screenwriters working with them. Most of them are Internet article writers who have transformed into micro-short drama screenwriters, and about 90% are part-time writers.
"The advantage of Internet article writers as screenwriters is that they have broad imaginations and are very good at integrating current hot topics and memes." Du Xiaohua said that the short play lasts more than one minute, and Internet article authors can cleverly set up reversals and twists. The hook can quickly catch the cool points. But the disadvantage is that in the past, the number of words written in online articles was usually hundreds of thousands, and often millions of words, but the number of words in each episode of micro-short dramas is about 300 to 500, and the full text is 30,000 to 50,000 words. "This huge difference in writing volume makes it difficult for them to control the rhythm of the plot, and at the same time they lack the description of the sense of picture."
"The sense of picture is very important, which is related to funding." Du Xiaohua said, for example, writing about men In a plot where the main character tears up the villain, whether dozens of people or a few people need to appear in the picture will directly affect the final filming cost. "In order to make up for these shortcomings, we also try to invite traditional screenwriters and online editors to work together to give the two directions the advantages Combining."
In terms of scripts, there are currently two main ways to create short drama scripts. One is that the screenwriter proposes and creates the script independently; the other is the customized mode, where the short drama platform or producer initiates topic selection and looks for screenwriters to create.
On March 14, 2024, Hengdian, Zhejiang, the micro-short drama crew was filming a costume-themed short drama
When creating a script with an independent proposition, they usually write the script of the first ten episodes, a complete outline and character biographies, and then the screenwriting team will continue Haitou. The so-called overseas investment means selling the script to short drama production teams or platforms such as Jiuzhou and Dianzhong.
Du Xiaohua introduced that independent propositions often require the screenwriting team to research and predict current and future hot topics, such as the recent popular Return of the Dragon King, Counterattack, etc. However, considering the aesthetic fatigue of the platform and the audience, screenwriters also need to be forward-looking. , try some innovative themes.
What kind of pitfalls will screenwriters encounter?
Currently, there are two main modes of contract payment for micro-short drama scripts: "334" and "37". "334" means that after the first 10 episodes of the text are approved, a 30% deposit is paid, 30% is paid on the 50th episode, and the remaining 40% is paid after the script is completed and revised and approved; "37" means 30% is paid on the 10th episode. , and then pay the 70% balance after completing the revision.
But no matter what the script creation mode is, after both parties determine their intention to cooperate, they need to go through trial drafts and draft pitches. Many screenwriters have experienced being cheated when they first entered the field of micro-short dramas.
Du Xiaohua recalled that trial drafts and pitches were equivalent to bidding. The screenwriter or screenwriting studio needed to submit the first ten episode scripts, complete outlines and character biographies. As a result, some small production companies or platforms, after receiving the scripts, either did not follow up, or killed them on the grounds of "inappropriateness". In short, they just refused to cooperate.
But it won’t be long before you see the killed content being photographed. Some will modify the background of the story or swap the characters of the male and female protagonists, but some will blatantly plagiarize without changing the names of the male and female protagonists. "It is more troublesome, because the cost of rights protection is relatively high, time-consuming, and often nothing happens." Du Xiaohua said .
In order to avoid similar problems, mature screenwriters and screenwriting studios will try their best to cooperate with large platforms and large production institutions, and will also charge a certain fee during the trial draft process.
The recently popular short drama "Promise Returns"
In fact, in the micro-short drama track where many screenwriters are pouring in and costs are rising in all aspects, "rolling the script" has become a problem faced by many script practitioners. . It is understood that rejection of scripts has become the norm, and 90% of scripts may be screened out in the first review. Although there are a large number of script submissions on the market, high-quality scripts are rare.
In Du Xiaohua's view, although micro-short dramas are a routine product, they are actually constantly being fine-tuned and becoming more inclusive. For example, in 2022, the unanimous opinion in the industry is not to do apocalyptic or period dramas because they are not sure about it and are afraid that no one will watch it. But now with the success of "I Was a Stepmother in the 1980s", there are already some on the market Similar dramas are being produced and broadcast.
“Content depends on the market, but instead of catering to it, content creators should try to stay ahead of the market.” Du Xiaohua concluded, “(After all) without sustained productivity of hits, the income of top screenwriters will also drop sharply. "Du Xiaohua said.
Red Star News reporter Qiu Junfeng editor Zeng Qi
