AI micro-dramas are shaking up Chinese entertainment

In the animated series “Orange Cat Taoist Priest: Fighting the Zombie King”, a tabby in a flowing robe uses magical amulets and laser lassos to battle a pack of vicious, undead kittens. These feline adventures come in dozens of two-minute episodes, or micro-dramas—a form of entertainment that mashes traditional TV shows with scrollable social-media posts. AI-animated soap operas featuring talking cats may sound niche but have become all the rage in China. The Taoist master cat has attracted half a million views.

China’s entertainment industry has been shaken by micro-form. Total time spent watching longer dramas fell by 15% year on year in January while viewing time on Red Fruit, a micro-drama app owned by ByteDance, the Chinese firm behind TikTok, more than doubled.

The business model is based on aggressively cutting costs. The live-action versions use amateurs and bare-bones sets, but they are being undercut by new AI-animation tools. The proliferation of these in the past year has enabled production costs to be cut by up to 90%, reckon analysts at HSBC, a bank. Industry insiders say the volume of live-action micro-drama filmed in some regions has shrunk by 80% while actors’ already meagre pay has been cut by half. One producer says that in early April he knew of only a few non-AI-animated micro-dramas being shot in China.

But the AI type faces headwinds. Since April 1st regulators have required that all animated micro-series not already approved for streaming be removed from online platforms. New series, they say, must file for approval before being released online.

The model’s other problems are also becoming clearer. One is excessive competition. China has produced so many AI micro-dramas that, despite their shoestring budgets, fewer and fewer get sufficient views to make money. Another problem is the very nature of this entertainment. It is hard for people to form sentimental attachments to micro-drama characters; as viewers, they are less loyal.

China’s tech giants are trying to adapt. One of them, Alibaba, has launched a new season of a long-form animated series called “The Demon Hunter”. It has more than 10m followers. In the epic battle for eyeballs, longer dramas may still stand a chance. ■

Subscribers can sign up to Drum Tower, our new weekly newsletter, to understand what the world makes of China—and what China makes of the world.