Watch it for a while before going to bed, watch a few episodes while eating, and put your phone aside when doing homework. Huang Yue, who is studying in a university in Hunan, has watched more than 300 micro-short dramas. Before this year, she was very resistant to micro-short dramas, especially AI short dramas. It was not until she was attracted by an advertisement for micro-short dramas that she clicked on and watched one or two episodes, and then she realized that "it turns out that micro-short dramas are like this, and they are really good." Nowadays, micro-short dramas have entered into her fragmented time, and have also entered into the career choices of some young people.
These stories often last only a few minutes per episode, and are often presented in vertical screens, packing dense plots into small mobile phone screens. Some of them are performed by real people, and some use AI to generate pictures and dubbing. From relaxing moments in dormitories to creative endeavors in classrooms and labs, college students are becoming both audiences and storytellers.
At the 33rd China International Advertising Festival 2026 Micro-Short Drama (Short Video) Industry Innovation and Development Sharing Meeting held not long ago, "The first year of new regulations, value reshaping, and the high-quality development path of the micro-short drama industry" became the theme. Zhao Hui, director of the Short Video Working Committee of the China TV Drama Production Industry Association, released the "Research Report on the Innovation and Development of the AI Micro-Short Drama Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). The "Report" shows that as of May 2026, the number of domestic micro-short drama users has reached 851 million.
Recently, China Youth Daily and China Youth School Media conducted a questionnaire survey among young people, mainly college students, on topics related to micro-short dramas, and a total of 2,291 valid questionnaires were collected. The survey shows that 92.67% of the college students surveyed have watched micro-short dramas, of which 17.63% watch micro-short dramas almost every day. The main reasons why the interviewed college students watch micro-short dramas are that they are fast-paced, densely packed with exciting points, and relieve stress (55.49%). They are attracted by the subject matter (53.23%), the single episode is short and suitable for killing time (44.28%), there are many push notifications on the platform, and they can be watched easily (37.31%).
From focusing on speed to focusing on content, the short drama market is changing
From the live-action micro-short drama studio to the AI short drama studio, Bai Jieqiong, a 2026 doctoral student at the School of Drama, Film and Television at Communication University of China, has experienced several industry changes. She studied design overseas with a bachelor's degree and worked in space design for several years after graduation. In 2025, she turned to the micro-short drama industry and served as coordinator, producer and recorder. The crew shot scenes in Shanxi, and the local area sent dedicated personnel to connect with the venue to provide one-stop service. There are thirty or forty people in a crew, and the shooting period takes about one week.
Starting in May this year, Bai Jieqiong transferred to the AI short drama team. There are only 8 to 10 people in her team. They first "draw a list" to determine the four types of assets: characters, costumes, props, and scenes, and then produce them in episodes according to the scenes. A drama with 60 to more than 100 episodes, each lasting one or two minutes, was dismantled and advanced in this way.
The team has become smaller, but the work may not be easy. "It's more tiring than a real crew." She recalled that AI-generated scenes required repeated "drawing cards", and she occasionally had to stay up until three or four in the morning while waiting for the results, and then resumed work at 8:30 the next day. If the prompt word says "pale face", the video model will literally translate it into a pale face; if the description of the action is slightly contradictory, the picture will immediately go wrong. "You need to know how AI understands your words."
Technology is changing production processes, and audiences are forming new expectations. Zhao Yucheng, a student at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, watches AI short dramas every day. He feels that some of the current micro-short dramas have a high degree of completion in terms of scenes and service, and the look and feel is close to that of long dramas. But his novelty of the business-related AI short drama soon wore off: shopkeepers selling goods, good guys versus bad guys, and ultimately the villain got a bad ending. "There were too many homogeneous plots later on, and the plot was completely predictable, so I got a little tired of it."
Bai Jieqiong also encountered similar troubles on the set of the live-action micro-short drama. The themes of revenge, rebirth, and domination are concentrated together. "There are many teams filming similar scripts. There is no difference in the filming, but the actors are different." The survey shows that 37.59% of the respondents believe that the current micro-short dramas are "mixed in good and bad, with most of them being cool dramas", 35.75% of the respondents believe that "homogenization is serious and routines are obvious", and 20.54% of the respondents believe that "there are many excellent products, but the overall situation is getting better".
There are also works that make Zhao Yucheng see the difference. An AI short drama called "The Accident" once attracted Zhao Yucheng. In his opinion, the characters in this drama have natural expressions and emotional expressions that are close to real people, and the costumes and scene construction are also very careful. The creative team will produce and broadcast at the same time, and will also listen to fan feedback and adjust the plot direction. This made him feel that he had also participated in the production of micro-short dramas.
Market changes are also transmitted to the creative side. Huang Gangbo, a 2026 graduate of Zhejiang Gongshang University, has organized a team to devote himself to the creation of AI short dramas in 2024. The company now consists of about 40 young people and once produced about 10 micro short dramas a week. In his observation, there are more and more entrants and market competition is becoming more and more fierce. In July and August this year, the overseas market has also become crowded, and the revenue of a single micro-short drama is only one-twentieth of its peak period.
"The tastes of the audience are getting higher and higher." Huanggangbo found that the platform review has become more stringent, the audience has more choices, and the market has turned to give more opportunities to high-quality works. He and his team began to experiment with historical knowledge AI videos. “These in-depth contents can now reap more financial rewards from the platform.”
Zhao Hui said: "The production threshold is lowering, but the competition threshold is continuing to rise. 'It's easy to get started, but it's difficult to get out' has become an industry reality." In addition to technological dividends, the ability to tell stories, humanistic insights and aesthetic expressions have become tests that creators need to face.
In the relevant research report released by Zhao Hui, content involving real people, AI, and a mixture of real people and AI will coexist in layers, corresponding to different audiences and business goals. Humans control the core of the script, character emotions and value concepts, while AI is responsible for reducing costs and increasing efficiency, which is the development direction proposed in the report.
The classroom leads to the set, and you need to have basic skills to join the industry
The popularity of micro-short plays is spreading to college classrooms. Communication University of China has launched a micro-short drama training program that incorporates audio-visual language, narrative rhythm, directing skills and editing methods into teaching. In the form of a "workshop", teachers lead students in groups to complete creation and screening of works.
For Huanggangbo, the starting point for entering this industry is also in the classroom and laboratory. He majored in digital media art and received systematic training in directing, production, filming, and audio-visual language. In 2023, he learned AI-related content in the classroom. At that time, the images generated by AI were full of loopholes, and the use of the model required programming knowledge and high computer configuration requirements. The teacher's guidance and laboratory equipment provided him with a "testing field" for practical ideas.
After "hand-making" some works in the laboratory, he began to try to lead the team to produce real AI short dramas. In 2024, "Taotao Medical Clinic" produced by the team was released and received 40 million popularity points on relevant platforms. From producing one film a week to about 10 films a week, he put the foundation he laid in the classroom into practice.
The survey found that 22.33% of the college students surveyed had participated in the creation or course study related to micro-short plays. 35.04% of the college students surveyed expressed interest in joining the micro-short drama industry (including AI short dramas) after graduation or during school, and 5.32% of the surveyed college students have already tried to explore the production of micro-short dramas.
Just because your work gets attention doesn't mean everything will be smooth sailing from now on. As a history buff, Huang Gangbo once tried to produce short dramas with historical themes, but found that the audience did not buy it. Some viewers who are familiar with history will point out inconsistencies with historical facts in the comment area. For dozens or hundreds of consecutive episodes, to restore historical scenes, creators need corresponding knowledge reserves. A higher degree of restoration also means higher investment.
Speaking of the qualities required by practitioners, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of the foundation of drama, film and television. "Whether AI is used or not, we must respect the order of the film and television industry. Many of the scripts and lens language are the logic of the original film and television industry." He suggested that college students who want to join the industry should watch more classic movies. "Aesthetics will always be the most important thing."
In Huang Gangbo's view, no matter whether the carrier is a movie, a long drama or a short drama, whether it is live-action or AI-generated, the audience always has requirements for picture quality, lens language, and script logic. To enter the industry, you must not only dare to try, but also develop a vision for judging content. “It’s also important to watch more high-traffic content, which can help develop a better sense of judgment.”
Huang Yue was also exposed to micro-short drama production during his internship. She found that generating suitable video clips for a seemingly simple AI skit was very laborious. They cost close to 1,000 yuan to produce a video of less than two minutes. A few minutes of story on the screen is not just a few button presses behind it.
The survey shows that 18.75% of the college students surveyed believe that the current micro-short drama market is large, with many opportunities, and worth entering. 56.71% of the college students surveyed believe that there are opportunities, but the content is homogeneous and the competition is fierce. 12.72% of the college students surveyed believe that the new regulations will be more standardized and are in a wait-and-see state. 2.87% of the college students surveyed are not optimistic about the current micro-short drama industry and believe that there are many bubbles.
For young people who want to try it, Bai Jieqiong suggested "don't wait". You can first make a short video of more than ten seconds and try and make mistakes in practice. At the same time, "give some patience to AI and some patience to yourself." Huang Gangbo also encourages college students to put their ideas into practice: even students who are not majoring in film and television can also try to make comics from a micro perspective.
In addition to the feeling of pleasure, let the good stories stay
"The micro-short play has a tight rhythm and a direct sense of satisfaction, and can quickly gain psychological pleasure in a short period of time." Returning to the dormitory every night and lying on the bed to watch the micro-short play is Zhao Yucheng's moment of relaxation. But after watching one or two hundred movies, he found that the feeling of pleasure was fleeting and left almost no memory. "I've never revisited a miniseries. But Harry Potter is something I watch over and over again."
The survey showed that after watching the mini-series, 44.47% of the respondents felt that "time passed so quickly and they watched it for a long time without realizing it", 31.28% of the respondents felt that "the plot was too overwhelming and they still want to watch the next one", 30.43% of the respondents felt that they were "very relieved and their mood improved", and 27.70% of the respondents felt that "encountered good content and gained a lot".
While relaxing, how can you avoid being distracted by the plot? Zhao Yucheng clearly distinguishes micro-short dramas from reality. The character's overnight success did not affect his values. "I didn't feel like it was relevant to my real life, and I knew it was just a short skit. It was a tool I used to relax."
Huang Yue heard about people watching the micro-short drama "Can't Stop", and also heard about people around him who were late for work because of it. For her, repetitive plots will kill her interest in watching dramas. After communicating with her friends, she discovered that her app always promoted micro-short dramas of the same type, but her friend’s phone contained many works that she was interested in and had never seen before. What to watch should not be determined solely by push notifications; when entertainment is enough, viewers also need to retain their own judgment.
Investing time but not waiting for a good story will also disappoint Huang Yue. After watching three-quarters of some dramas, the plot suddenly becomes boring and seems to be "unfinished". "I'm very angry. I feel that Bai invested time here and it deceived my feelings." She said that sometimes the plot becomes more and more boring, and she simply doesn't want to watch it.
Young viewers don't just want dense twists. Huang Yue watched a short drama in which a snack shop owner traveled to ancient times. The protagonist bought food and grass for a general who was short of food and settled the displaced border people. "Her help helped each family find hope and made people feel very warm." This warmth made her remember the story.
She also looks forward to more original content, and is particularly disgusted by the phenomenon of "face-melting" where characters' faces blend into those of celebrities or other IP characters. "I prefer that the form of the micro-short drama is AI-based, but all the cores are original and innovative."
Zhao Yucheng's expectations also fall on the story and characters. "I don't pick the subject matter, but I hope that the micro-short drama will have memorable points and suspense in the plot, so that people will have the desire to continue watching." He hopes that the actors can have a variety of emotions, instead of just yelling.
The survey showed that 79.22% of the college students surveyed agreed that "the content of micro-short dramas needs to be more refined and good to withstand the test of the market." The content needs to be more refined (scripts, performances, shots, and convincing), so that good content can withstand the test of the market (63.59%); reduce homogeneous routines (counterattack/revenge/slap-in-the-face) and create more innovative themes (60.01%); realistic themes and creative works More works expressed by readers (34.48%); standardizing copyright and AI-generated content to make the industry more compliant (30.71%); strengthening platform review and reducing vulgar and marginal content (22.99%) are the expectations of the college students surveyed for the development of the micro-short drama industry.
Letting good content be seen requires the joint efforts of creators and platforms. The relevant research report released by Zhao Hui proposed to expand realism, traditional culture, cultural tourism, intangible cultural heritage, popular science education and other themes, improve original verification, training material copyright management and other mechanisms, and establish evaluation standards that take into account social benefits, cultural value and commercial value.
During her PhD studies, Bai Jieqiong wanted to take AI short plays in a more literary direction. With a background in space design, she has a special liking for ancient buildings. She plans to use a three- to five-minute AI short drama to tell the legends behind ancient buildings, so that young people can become interested in ancient buildings in a more relaxed way. In her mind, a good micro-short drama should have high-quality scenes and high-quality themes. "What's more important is that after finishing a short play, it can make people want to watch it for three days or a week."
(At the request of the interviewee, Zhao Yu became a pseudonym)
