micro-short dramas need to be classified and reviewed for filing.
There are two core information points. First, all micro-short plays that have not completed the filing must be completed before May 31, including second-run dramas; second, short plays must be classified, filed, and reviewed. From June 1, all micro-short plays that have not been reviewed and reviewed must be completed. Registered micro-short plays may not be disseminated online.
Public information shows that relevant departments have launched a new review system specifically for micro-short dramas. "Key micro-short dramas" with a total investment of 1 million or more are registered and reviewed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television; those with a total investment of 300,000 yuan (inclusive) to 1 million yuan The Provincial Administration of Radio, Film and Television is responsible for "ordinary micro-short dramas"; "other micro-short dramas" with a value of less than 300,000 are directly linked to the platform.
This is undoubtedly a big news for the micro-short drama industry. poisonous eyes immediately checked the past policies and latest notices of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and Hainan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and other provinces. At the same time, it also contacted the production company Many industry practitioners, including filmmakers, directors, and screenwriters, jointly discussed the impact of this new regulation on the industry. In conversations with many practitioners, they tried to find a long-term development path that is more suitable for micro-short dramas.
Comprehensive interpretation of the registration of short plays
The registration of short plays is not a new thing. As early as the end of 2022, when the General Administration carried out regular management of micro-short dramas, relevant matters were mentioned. However, at that time, micro-short dramas were still in a period of "barbaric growth". There are still some short drama companies that use various means to avoid filing. This phenomenon has been exacerbated especially after the popularity of mini program short dramas.
However, this new regulation clearly states that not only the micro-short dramas that are broadcast, but also the micro-short dramas that attract traffic and are pushed "must hold an "Online Drama Distribution License" or complete the corresponding online registration procedures. Before going online, The "Online Drama Distribution License" number or program registration number must be marked on the title header according to the corresponding format requirements."
The new regulations also provide corresponding solutions to the large number of micro-short dramas that still exist and are broadcast online without registration. Before May 31, each platform must submit information about micro-short dramas that have been broadcast online without registration to the local provincial radio and television authorities for registration. Starting from June 1, micro-short dramas that have not been reviewed and registered are not allowed to be disseminated online.
Currently, Jiangsu and Hainan have internally tested the micro-short drama registration system and synchronized information with relevant local companies. It is worth noting that the registration of micro-short dramas has also begun to be classified according to the total investment amount.
Looking at the relevant policies of Hainan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and other provinces, we can find that in the past three years, the registration and review of micro-short dramas basically followed the procedures, first obtaining the "Radio and Television Program Production and Operation License", and then in the key drama registration system Provide materials to complete the filing. In this process, all micro-short plays are performed in a unified manner regardless of their magnitude.
But this time things are completely different.
Taking the Hainan Provincial Radio and Television Notice as an example, micro-short dramas are currently divided into three categories based on total investment. The first category is "key micro-short dramas", which refers to those that need to meet one of the five major conditions for application (total investment of 1 million yuan or more, special themes, long and short video platform investment promotion, or recommended broadcast on the first screen of each terminal homepage) Projects that are submitted and voluntarily apply as key micro-short dramas). These micro-short dramas are still filed and reviewed according to the application plan and completed films, and are ultimately managed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television for unified filing and public disclosure.
The second category is "ordinary short dramas", and the classification standard is 300,000. Micro-short drama projects with a total investment amount between 300,000 yuan (inclusive) and 1 million yuan that are not recommended as key recommendations need to be reported by the production and operating agency on the "Online Audiovisual Program Registration System" of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and the provincial bureau will conduct planning and filing review and finished film review.
Those with a total investment of less than 300,000 yuan and which are not highly recommended are classified into the third category - "Other micro-short dramas". The online audio-visual platform where they are broadcast will conduct content inspection and copyright verification, and regularly report the audited drama information. Registered with the local provincial radio and television authorities.
To put it simply, the total investment amount is different and the responsible party is also different. The "key micro-short dramas" with the largest total investment are under the management of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the "ordinary micro-short dramas" are the responsibility of the Provincial State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and the smallest "other micro-short dramas" are directly linked to the broadcasting platform.
The way of classifying investments by investment amount can easily make some companies think of a "yin and yang contract".In response to this situation, the new regulations also emphasize that "you are not allowed to avoid scrutiny by increasing or reducing the amount of investment."
poisonous eyes learned from conversations with many micro-short drama practitioners that as micro-drama Competition in the short drama market is fierce, and the cost of today's vertical screen micro-short dramas has skyrocketed. Gone are the days when a drama cost hundreds of thousands, but now if you want to make a good film, "it costs at least three to five million."
means Said that these projects that may have been "self-examined and self-broadcast" through the platform in the past must now be directly filed and reviewed through the broadcast platform or the General Administration. If we take the production cost of popular short dramas as an example, the change in situation will be more intuitive. In terms of
mini program short dramas, "I Was a Stepmother in the 1980s", which cost close to one million, was able to go through the provincial radio and television filing review, and "Black Lotus's Handbook", which cost 2 million, went directly to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television; the long video platform produced The ten-minute micro-short drama has an investment of almost one million yuan. In other words, if according to the latest standards, projects of the same magnitude will need to be filed and reviewed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in the future.
"Other micro-short dramas" with a value of less than 3 million seem to be the most "lenient" in the review process, but they also add a lot of pressure to the platform. In fact, as early as the end of March, Du Mou had already noticed that the platform began to improve the registration process for mini program short dramas.
At the same time, the new regulations also emphasize that second-round dramas must also complete the filing review. Many short drama practitioners revealed to Dumu that it is a "basic practice" of some companies to use safe plots for the first round of dramas to be filed and reviewed, and to fill in "borderline content" for the second round of dramas. Judging from the fact that "second-round dramas" are also included in the scope of supervision, this new regulation has a big shock to the short drama industry.
Long-term improvement
"Tight time and heavy tasks" are the most direct reactions to the new regulations in the industry.
Different from long-form dramas, micro-short dramas follow the "high inventory horse racing" model (click to read: Three "traffic passwords" for short dramas to get rich), mass-produce content with extremely high efficiency, and then pass the streaming test Hot item.
Because of this, the new regulations have brought the most direct test to the short drama team, which has a relatively refined personnel structure: before the arrival of June, they need to complete a large number of the existing teams in less than two months. The reserved dramas are uniformly marked with the certificate number and registration number.
Since new dramas and second-run dramas must be fully registered, and the number of short dramas currently registered is huge and growing rapidly, the external pressure caused by the new regulations can also be foreseen. According to data from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the number of registered micro-short dramas throughout the year has increased from 398 in 2021 to 2,775 in 2022, a year-on-year increase of nearly 600%; in 2023, the number of registered micro-short dramas has reached 3,574 and 97,327 episodes.
"With so many stock dramas and second-run dramas to be reviewed, the production of new short plays will definitely slow down." Liu Kaiping, the producer of the short play, thinks so, and existing information directly points out that "a large number of stock dramas submitted for review will seriously affect the overall The audit efficiency is very low, especially in provinces where industry companies are concentrated, such as Hangzhou and Xi'an. "
But for other companies, the introduction of the new regulations makes them feel "unsatisfied". Xu Meng, founder and producer of Dameng Media, believes that the introduction of the new regulations means that short dramas will be treated in a "regular film and television" manner, and the corresponding filing and review will be a problem for film and television companies that have been operating according to the filing and review model. Said it was "a very natural thing".
Xu Meng also mentioned that factors such as longer accounting periods and review risks will indeed "increase communication and time costs", but it may also make the capital invested in short dramas more rational, and it will also accelerate the failure of some people who do not understand the content and only want to The capital that makes quick money will leave, and the remaining capital will invest in more valuable works, which will eventually "be close to the investment logic of normal film and television dramas." The lengthening of the
cycle will also have a considerable impact on the content itself. In Xu Meng's view, short plays that reflect current topics, social emotions and interesting jokes in a short, flat and quick way will be eliminated by the elongated cycle. By the time the short drama passes the registration review and goes online, these topics and content may have long been outdated. Especially now that the Internet is creating memes and hot spots faster and faster, it will become more difficult for short dramas to reap the "hot spot bonus".
Therefore, after the new regulations come, the most critical issue for practitioners is to find breakthrough points in content.
"Short plays should find selling points other than 'edge'." Many producers, directors, and screenwriters expressed this view to Poisonous Eyes. Like online dramas, script-killing and other content products, short dramas also experienced a brutal growth process in the early stages of development, creating "the ultimate sense of pleasure" for users through marginal content such as bloody violence or soft porn. However, after the release of the new regulations, Many creators said that this content idea may not work anymore.
short play screenwriter Zhou Zijie said frankly, "In fact, now both male and female channels have formed their own set of writing rules. The hooks and cool points in each episode are very industrial. The audience just likes to watch things that are fun and counter-routine. This is why It is inevitable to write some marginal content. Although it is difficult, this situation will change in the future. "
" Take mini-program short dramas as an example. I think they may become more and more formal in the future, and the scripts will also become more formal. "We will pay more attention to logic and need logic more." Li Xiao, a short play director with a background in long-running dramas, has a more positive attitude. He admitted that the short play script he was handed before was not actually a script in the strict sense. "More like Internet articles and jokes."
The audience's demand for entertainment has led to this change on the production side. Of course, the native relationship between short dramas and online articles also determines this. "But after the release of the new regulations, the future standards of mini program short dramas may become higher and higher." , but it is increasingly returning to the essence of the industry," Li Xiao said.
Liu Kaiping gave two ideas on how to find new and exciting points in content to meet user needs. The first is to accurately find the audience and subdivide the crowd to meet the corresponding needs. Liu Kaiping took the ten-minute horizontal screen micro-short drama produced by the platform as an example. He believed that the recent popularity of micro-short dramas on female channels was because the demand for "medium videos" of these female users was seen, and the implementation of the new regulations will inevitably affect the original Certain audience patterns have an impact, and entrants can tap into as many diverse user groups as possible and serve them.
The second is to "prescribe the right medicine" in terms of content. For example, "working workers" is a creative hot spot, so you can create a slow pace and focus on healing, so that the audience can relax and go on a "soul journey". This is also a "new and refreshing point" ", and it can also be combined with the General Administration's cultural tourism micro-short drama plan. "The current micro-short dramas are based on limited content space, so everyone can find their own enjoyment." Liu Kaiping believes.
From a producer's point of view, the press conference of the new regulations has made the product attributes of short dramas more obvious. Xu Meng believes that "the difference between short dramas and short videos will be greater in the future", while Liu Kaiping believes that "hot hits may be more It’s hard to escape, but there will be more and more high-quality products.”
Since its inception, micro-short dramas have had more mixed attributes than other forms. It is both content, merchandise, and possibly advertising. Rather than discussing the content itself, the current discussion around micro-short dramas is more focused on revenue, In terms of investment logic, platform layout, etc.
The introduction of the new regulations will indeed put pressure on the industry in the short term, but it is necessary for the development of an emerging content form. In the long run, the new regulations may have the opportunity to return micro-short dramas to the essence of content, get rid of the existing "advertising logic" and "e-commerce logic", improve the overall content level of the industry, and allow truly high-quality content to meet the needs of commercial revenue. while also meeting the needs of users.
micro-short dramas are gaining too much momentum and running too fast. What the industry needs now may be more time to grow.
