In 2024, Master Xing's "nonsense" killed a retaliator, codenamed "9527". On January 29, Douyin announced an exclusive high-quality micro-short drama cooperation with Stephen Chow. The two parties will jointly develop and operate the "9527 Theater". The first season of the first high-quality micro-short drama "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" is expected to be released in May this year. Yue is online on Douyin. Some people say that this is the collision between "Zhou's nonsense" and fast-paced short videos.
It is still unclear what kind of sparks will be created between the "King of Comedy" back then and the current traffic king, but one thing is clear: the short drama market has become "invincible", and the role of big names in joining is to improve the quality. Efficiency enhancement, file upgrade.
"Short, flat and fast" meets "nonsensical"
"Short plays are a rapidly developing field of technological innovation and media innovation in recent years. This time we collaborate with Douyin on the short play theater, hoping to bring more joy to the audience." In the news released by Douyin, Stephen Chow said, He is looking forward to this new endeavor.
According to reports, Stephen Chow will, as the initiator, jointly unite outstanding young creators to create content directly for users based on the Douyin account of "Director Stephen Chow's Works".
Currently, the first batch of works of "9527 Theater" are already in production. The first work "Golden Pigs and Jade Leaves" is produced by Stephen Chow, supervised by Yi Xiaoxing, and stars A-list actresses. The first season is expected to be released to the audience in May this year.
The joke of "9527" comes from Hua'an's codename in the movie "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance". After years of ridicule, it is also generally recognized as a synonym for a nonsensical comedy style. From this, it is not difficult to understand the "9527 Theater" overall style. For questions about more content of "Golden Pig and Jade Leaves" and the first batch of "9527 Theater" film lists, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily contacted Douyin, but did not receive a reply.
"Stephen Chow is mainly known for his funny and light-hearted content. In today's context of rapid film and television and audience growth, it is not only in line with the communication characteristics of micro-short dramas themselves, but also in line with the development direction of Douyin's micro-short video content, and is conducive to promotion. It is expected to produce the effect of 1+1)2, and may even produce a more impressive chemical reaction." In an interview with a reporter from Beijing Business Daily, Chinese young playwright and director Xiang Kai said.
However, Zhang Shule, an expert at the China Economic Media Think Tank, mentioned to a Beijing Business Daily reporter that although Stephen Chow's comedy style has the characteristics of short dramas, its too nonsensical performance does not match the aesthetic needs of the current mainstream Douyin user group. Can it be truly combined? and success remains to be seen.
From "brainless cool" to "short and smart"
Stephen Chow is to short plays, just like Wong Kar Wai is to TV series. Appearance represents quality and "free from inspection". The significance of this cooperation between Douyin and Stephen Chow lies not only in the strong alliance between the two parties, but also in its "premium quality".
Hong Yong, an expert at the 50-person China Digital Reality Integration Forum think tank, analyzed to a Beijing Business Daily reporter that the collaboration between Douyin and Stephen Chow will not only leverage Stephen Chow’s brand influence and content creation capabilities to improve the artistic quality and market attention of the mini-series, but also Douyin’s Yin can also further strengthen the content differentiation and quality strategy of its own platform through this cooperation.
Zhang Shule also mentioned that Douyin’s introduction of professional partners like Stephen Chow is also a strategy to speed up the development of short dramas into high-quality products. "The effect of Stephen Chow's test will directly affect the determination of more professional film and television workers to enter short dramas."
About ten days ago, Douyin just launched the "Chenxing Project" for high-quality short dramas, targeting all industries including film and television companies, media organizations, MCNs, and individual creators to collaborate on high-quality short dramas. Douyin's 2024 Spring Festival premium micro-short drama list was also released immediately. 10 works will be launched during the Spring Festival, including "Beyond!" A Juan", "Tianya Little Nyonya" and many other micro-short dramas derived from popular film and television IPs.
Coincidentally, on January 25, Kuaishou also announced a newly upgraded Kuaishou "Xingmang Short Drama" cooperation plan, which will provide greater support for high-quality short dramas from accounting rules to business empowerment. Wang Sixun, deputy general manager of Kuaishou's magnetic engine marketing business department, once said that in terms of investment in short dramas in 2024, Kuaishou plans to reserve more than 200 short dramas.
Xiang Kai said that in recent years, with the rapid development of micro-short dramas, certain shortcomings have also been revealed in terms of content, production level, and production capabilities. Professional film and television workers who produce micro-short dramas, especially high-quality micro-short dramas, can compete in this field. Make up for shortcomings. "We believe that if micro-short dramas can achieve the effects of film and television, there will definitely be a considerable market in the future, and high-quality micro-short dramas are also in line with the future development direction."
The uneven content is also a lingering haze in the development of short dramas. Hong Yong mentioned to a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that the current problems in the development of the short drama market mainly include serious homogeneity of content, insufficient originality, scarcity of high-quality content, imperfect copyright protection mechanisms, and sustainable profit models that need to be improved. In addition, as regulatory policies tighten, compliance and value orientation have also become issues that need to be focused on during the development of the industry.
Dachang's "Hurry Up" skit
There is one of the most popular "myths" in the short drama market - the hit "Wushuang" which exceeded 100 million in recharge in 8 days. It allowed the outside world to see the crazy money-making of short dramas, and also saw the burning fire of short dramas. At its peak, some people once said that Hengdian had become a "vertical store."
Data shows that the number of short-form users currently exceeds 500 million, and more than half of short-video users have watched short-form dramas, instant noodles and other content that are less than 3 minutes long, and young users account for nearly 60%. In terms of quantity, the total number of short dramas released in 2023 will exceed 1,400, a year-on-year increase of 50%. Other data show that the short drama market will be nearly 40 billion yuan in 2023, close to 70% of the film market, and the market size is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan within five years.
Short dramas with a "cool" nature are forming a new trend, and big companies represented by Douyin and Kuaishou are even less willing to miss it. It is reported that in 2023, there will be 500 micro-short dramas with over 100 million views on Douyin, of which 12 works have exceeded 1 billion views, and the daily views of micro-short dramas have doubled. In 2023, the average daily DAU of Kuaishou short dramas will reach 270 million, and the number of users who watch more than 10 episodes of major micro short dramas every day will reach 94 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.6%.
"Micro-short dramas have the characteristics of short production time, low cost and high profits. This is why major Internet companies and non-professional capital have entered the battle for the micro-short drama market." Xiang Kai said.
Guo Tao, an angel investor and senior artificial intelligence expert, also analyzed to a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that major Internet companies have entered the short drama market. First, because the form of short dramas is suitable for the fragmented consumption habits of the mobile Internet era; secondly, short dramas can attract young people. users, increasing user activity and stickiness; finally, short plays are also a form of content marketing that can help brands increase their visibility and influence.
The involvement of major companies in short dramas is nothing more than a new round of competition for traffic or attention on short video platforms at a time when Internet traffic is at its peak. And this trend no longer only focuses on short video platforms.
On January 16, at Youku's "2023 Fuyao Night", Liu Huabo, the person in charge of Youku's PGC long dramas and short dramas, mentioned that Youku's support budget for split-account dramas and short dramas will be doubled in 2024. Leading projects will increase subsidies in terms of resources and marketing, and will also provide high-quality film partners with long-term cooperation with all-round optimization and support in terms of mechanism policies, cooperation models, talent recommendations, etc.
At the same time, Tencent Video teamed up with Yunhe Data to launch the "2023 Annual Short Drama Report", while Mango TV reached a "Quality Short Drama Support Plan" with Douyin and launched the country's first star micro-short drama "Feng Yue Chang".
Zhang Shule said that short dramas, as the juncture of short videos and long videos, are a must-win for both parties, and are also a key point in the battle for traffic and user time between long and short video platforms. At the same time, short plays are more in line with the characteristics of Internet literature, and also give greater scope for the IP adaptation of Internet literature. This has opened up a new blue ocean possibility in the field of Internet literature derivatives that has been difficult to break through.
"But at present, due to the popularity of short dramas, there will inevitably be problems with both the mud and the sand. A large amount of three-vulgar content may become a cancer in the development of short dramas." Zhang Shule mentioned.
At the end of last year, the State Administration of Radio and Television once again announced seven major measures for the governance of online micro-short dramas, including accelerating the formulation of the "Detailed Rules for the Creation, Production and Content Review of Online Micro-Shorts", research and promotion of online micro-short drama apps and "mini programs" into daily life Organization management, etc.
Subsequently, Douyin, Kuaishou, WeChat and other platforms successively issued announcements, successively removed illegal micro-short dramas, and dealt with accounts that illegally promoted micro-short dramas.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Yang Yuehan