Select Language:
China’s rapidly growing short drama industry is experiencing a significant transformation as artificial intelligence reshapes production economics, resulting in job cuts, studio closures, and declining demand for miniature drama studios.
This upheaval stems from companies increasingly substituting live-action productions with AI-generated content due to markedly lower expenses. The shift is also diminishing the competitive edge that once made cities like Xi’an and Zhengzhou prominent hubs for short-drama production.
A recent report from the national streaming association indicates that China’s short-drama sector hit CNY50.4 billion (roughly USD7.3 billion) in 2024, a 35% increase from the previous year and the first time it surpassed the country’s annual box office revenue. The segment directly employs approximately 219,000 people and supports another 428,000 jobs indirectly, totaling around 647,000 positions.
These developments reveal how AI could further overhaul the industry’s employment landscape and production methods, as companies slash costs and rely less on physical filming resources.
Industry Workers and Production Facilities Face Immediate Challenges
Earlier this year, Wang Benzhi secured a role as a production manager at a short-drama firm and planned to start work after Chinese New Year. However, his planning was repeatedly delayed, and recently he was informed the company had abandoned its live-action projects to fully transition to AI-based productions, making his role obsolete, he shared.
Wang mentioned he’s reached out to several other companies but found many had already shifted to AI creation, while others had shut down entirely. Consequently, stable employment within the industry has become increasingly elusive.
Liu Gangtao, an employee at Xi’an’s Dream Factory Studio Base, noted that the studio’s filming schedule, which used to be updated nearly weekly last year due to high demand, now has less than half of its slots filled as of March.
“During the busiest times last year, seven or eight production crews would be filming simultaneously at the studio,” Liu said. He also mentioned that heavy electricity use sometimes caused voltage fluctuations and even damaged transformers.
Recently, when Yicai visited the site, only a couple of crews were filming, including an ongoing client under an annual framework agreement. Such clients were introduced this year, and the studio offers about a 40% discount compared to standard rental rates.
Managers at several short-drama studios in Zhengzhou also reported a decline in activity; whereas in previous years, work was constant during this time, now it’s common to go half a day without seeing any crews.
Cities without traditional film and TV industries have rapidly become “short-drama hubs,” including Xi’an and Zhengzhou.
According to Xi’an Daily, the city hosted over 200 short-video production companies by 2023, accounting for approximately 60% of China’s micro-short dramas. The industry boom spurred the growth of film studios and industrial parks that support the entire production chain.
AI’s Impact on Short-Drama Economics
However, the advent of AI has profoundly changed the live-action short-drama landscape. Wu Qiang, head of a Xi’an-based production company, explained that producing an 80-episode series previously cost over CNY300,000 (around USD43,570) just in actor salaries, with total expenses exceeding CNY400,000.
Now, leveraging AI, production costs can drop just over CNY100,000 since there’s no longer a need to hire actors or rent props and locations; a single computer can handle the entire process. Actor expenses are now nearly zero, demand for physical filming sites has shifted toward renting computing power, and editing is increasingly replaced by algorithms.
Wu highlighted that cities like Xi’an and Zhengzhou rose quickly as central hubs for short dramas mainly because of their lower costs for locations, materials, and labor—factors that enabled inexpensive, industrialized production. With AI gaining prominence, these cost advantages are fading.
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Gemini AI
Grok AI
