"In May 2022, I was shooting a (short play) at the Xi'an shooting base with 30,000 to 50,000 yuan." "When it was first launched, the (user paid) recharge was 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. After 5 days, the recharge amount became It became 500,000, and after 10 days, the recharge became 2 million. From 0 to 2 million, it only took 10 days. "On April 15, in front of the camera of Jiupai News reporter, the short play production team" Lao Chen, the person in charge of Jingyue Culture, recalled when he first entered the short drama industry.
"Jingyue Culture" is an online short drama production company located in Wuhan. It writes on the introduction of the recruitment website that it specializes in novels, short plays and other businesses, and has created many short dramas with recharges exceeding 10 million, including The top-up sales of "Last Night I Miss You Like the Wind" exceeded 30 million yuan.
On the same day, Lao Chen, company producer Mr. Zhang and director Guoguo were interviewed by Jiupai News. They shared their respective industry experiences and opinions with Jiupai News. The three said that the short drama market is no longer what it used to be. Although the audience for short dramas has expanded and the amount of recharges has increased, as professional competitors enter the market and the audience's taste becomes higher, their investment cost for one drama has risen to 400,000. Around this time, not only movie cameras were used in the production, but special effects were also started to be used, which became "more and more complicated".
The filming scene of the short drama. Picture/Jiupai News Reporter Qin Ke Photographed by
[1] Theater: 80 episodes were filmed in eight days, and the crew worked 24 hours a day.
In 2017, short dramas took advantage of the short video trend to emerge. In 2022, as short dramas enter the fast lane of rapid growth, people from all walks of life are trying to pour in.
Mr. Zhang said that he is engaged in production, and the company's mainstream business before 2022 is promotional films, TVC (commercial television advertising), and some film and television production such as information flow advertising. "Beginning in June 2022, we have entered an era of short dramas. At that time, I saw that many vertical screen short dramas had very good traffic. I think this direction is an opportunity, and I want to try to get involved." Mr. Zhang added, He has been engaged in the field of live streaming traffic, so he pays special attention to traffic.
According to CCTV News, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will officially issue administrative licenses to online dramas including micro-short dramas starting from June 1, 2022. Since then, short dramas have entered a new era of "online registration" from the past.
Lao Chen said that the characteristics of short plays are short, flat and fast. From the confirmation of the script to the final launch, it can be completed in as little as one month. A short drama usually lasts from 80 to 120 episodes, but there are also different tracks, some with 50 episodes and some with 150 episodes. An episode lasts 1 to 2 minutes, and the 100-episode short drama will take about 2 hours to complete. "An 80-episode short drama only takes 7-8 days to shoot and about 15-20 days to edit."
"Fast" means that the payback time is compressed and the investment risk is low, but the price is high work intensity for practitioners.
"The longest time, I stayed (on the set) for 24 hours. When I got tired, I would find a place with few people to relax for a while." Mr. Zhang said that as a producer, he worked from pre-production to post-production Production must be followed up all the time. In addition, unlike long plays, short plays have a crew of more than a dozen people, and everyone often wears multiple hats. "I am the chief producer, but I also have to manage the scene, coach the actors on their moves, and even teach them how to act."
The short play shooting scene. Picture/photographed by Jiupai News reporter Yu Zhaochen
“It’s really one scene after another.” Director Guoguo said, “One of the most common phenomena in our crew is that there is no rest time. From the start of the filming to the end, all our staff members It’s all about taking time to have a bite to eat.”
Chen said that they usually start work at 9 a.m. and finish filming at 9-10 p.m., but most of the time they can’t finish filming as planned, and sometimes they even have to shoot until 12 p.m. . The transition will delay some time, because unlike Hengdian, Wuhan can shoot all the scenes in one place, and sometimes unexpected situations may occur to the actors.
Chen said that because of the need to control costs and reduce risks, "catch up on schedule" has become the norm for the crew. "In some shooting locations, we will find the presidential suite in a five-star hotel. The rent for a day is only five to six thousand. When the entire crew starts working in a day, there will be 30-40 people. If we shoot for an extra day, the venue rental, catering and accommodation fees, and An actor's salary costs a lot of money."
[2] Profit: 70% of the income comes from recharges. More and more companies choose to "go overseas"
"With a recharge of 30 million, our return can reach 2.1 million, but the premise is that the production, screenwriting, and filming of the entire drama are also We do it ourselves. After tax is deducted, it is almost 1.8-1.9 million. "Lao Chen said that nowadays, the short play market is not as profitable as outsiders imagine. The cost of producing a short play is about 400,000 yuan, and the return of more than 1 million yuan seems to be three or four times the cost, but Of the 10 short dramas, only about 3 are profitable, and the rest are "a tie if they are good, and a loss if they are bad."
He also said that under normal circumstances, the top-up amount of 30 million is considered a high amount in the industry. level, “The average recharge for a short drama on the market today is 3 million, so now many novices not only cannot make money, but also lose money. "
Lao Chen said, "3 million (recharge) can only get 200,000 (profit) back." If all dramas can only reach this level, the company will definitely lose money, so they must adjust their average to 500 ~ 6 million, "This is our passing line and stop loss line." However, if there is a "big market" (referring to the hit short drama), then its profit can equal or even exceed the loss, and the company can also win. This industry will continue to work.
According to 21st Century Business Herald, more than 80% of the recharge revenue of short dramas is used for streaming promotion, and the profit margin is only about 5% to 7%. Lao Chen said that streaming refers to short-form movies. After the drama is launched, traffic advertisements are placed on various platforms to increase the exposure of the short drama and attract users to watch and recharge. Tomato, Jiuzhou, and Dianzhong are the three major platforms in the short drama industry. The current mainstream advertising platforms are Douyin and Kuaishou. , Baidu.
Over 80% of the revenue from the short drama is used for platform advertising. Picture/21st Century Business Herald official account
Lao Chen said that after excluding the investment costs, the final profit will be equally divided between the platform, the sponsor, the script developer, and the producer. , because their company integrates content production and production, the revenue is relatively large, 70% of the revenue comes from recharges, and 20% of the revenue comes from the revenue from the free release of the short drama (such as advertising), and the remaining 10% comes from overseas. Lao Chen explained that short dramas usually stop having paying viewers after 3 months of being online. Then they will put the drama on the free market, and finally cooperate with the distribution company to export it overseas and target a group of people. Brand new audience. “We have done very well in overseas cooperation, and now several leading overseas platforms are willing to cooperate with us to distribute our dramas overseas. "
He added that there are two ways to go overseas. One is for overseas companies to simply translate their finished dramas, and the other is for overseas companies to adapt and remake their dramas. The latter will be more attractive to European and American audiences. "They put If the play is adapted locally and local actors are hired to act in it, one film can be sold for one or two million dollars. "Lao Chen said that this number may even be higher. Of course, its production cost is also high, about 300,000 US dollars. This is also one of the development directions they are considering.
According to the "Xinhua Daily Telegraph" report on April 1, the United States Data released by the digital analysis platform SensorTower shows that since 2023, more than 40 short drama applications have tested overseas markets, with a cumulative download volume of nearly 55 million times and in-app purchase revenue of US$170 million. The Chinese short drama overseas market is becoming increasingly popular. , going overseas is becoming an option for more short drama manufacturers.
Short drama platform themes and main markets. Data source: Guohai Securities. Picture/"National Radio and Television Think Tank" public account
[3] The future: short drama production will become high-quality. , the industry predicts that it will continue to be a major trend
Lao Chen said that he switched to short plays from the online literature industry. "Short plays were born out of online articles." However, short plays have developed too fast. "In two years, online articles have become 10 years of high-quality content has basically been used up. Today's scripts are all "original + adapted". "You can't just adapt, because the audience is already a little tired of it." "
director Guoguo also said that in the past, their paying audience was about 40-60 years old, but now the paying audience is getting younger and younger, and the audience for short plays is getting wider and wider. "If the audience doesn't like small local dramas, go there again." It suppresses their IQ and lowers their aesthetic taste."
In addition to the "roll" of the script, the production is also "rolled". Guoguo said that their shooting equipment was just an ordinary camera at the beginning, but now they have switched to a professional 4k movie camera. On the one hand, it is because the audience is concerned about the picture quality. Demands have become higher, and audiences prefer high-quality short plays. On the other hand, some professional film and television drama directors have now entered the short play industry, and competition has become greater. Companies want to produce high-quality dramas, and equipment upgrades are also an important part of improving their own strength.
Short play shooting scene. Picture/Photo by Jiupai News reporter Qin Ke.
Lao Chen said that the production of short plays "has begun to use special effects" and is developing in an increasingly high-end direction. However, in the face of changes in the industry, Lao Chen and Guo Guo hold different opinions on the future development of short dramas.
Lao Chen believes that short dramas still have great potential for development. With policy support, "short dramas + cultural tourism" may be an explorable option. On the other hand, the overseas market is vast, and going overseas will become the development direction of more short drama manufacturers.
Director Guo Guo is not optimistic about the future prospects of small production companies. She believes that the current short drama industry is in a "volume". At the same time, many production companies are moving towards controlling costs and cutting production, which has led to a decline in production levels. “The platform does not need too many production teams, it only needs a few that are suitable for them to shoot high-quality products and create big hits. Many production companies may be eliminated as a result. "
According to the "2023-2024 China Micro-Short Drama Market Research Report" released by iiMedia Consulting, the scale of China's online micro-short drama market has reached 37.39 billion yuan in 2023. From the 2023 China Film Market released by the National Film Administration Data shows that the total box office of Chinese movies during the same period was 54.915 billion yuan, and the volume of the short drama market was close to 70% of the film market.
iiMedia Consulting predicts that the size of the micro short drama market will reach 100.68 billion yuan in 2027. Business leader Wu Kelei said that they predict that the overseas micro-short drama market will exceed US$10 billion in 2027, and that Chinese micro-short dramas will become "the fifth cultural phenomenon in the world." This means that short dramas will continue to surge, and will not be limited to more than 10 billion US dollars. Domestic.
Jiupai News reporter Qin Ke Yu Zhaochen Liang Xia
editor Chen Wei
[Source: Jiupai News]
