1.4.2 New Thinking Helps Microdrama Creators Monetize Quickly - Industry Outlook and Student Guidance

Two Key Advantages Supporting Microdramas

In summary, regarding this emerging product—vertical microdramas, mini-program microdramas—I am personally very optimistic. Why? There are a few key reasons.

First, it’s a new internet product with a stronger internet-native mindset. In recent years, our audiences have been conditioned by short-form video content. We spend a lot of time scrolling through short videos; we enjoy these quick, direct stimuli. Have you noticed, since you started loving short videos, you’ve become less patient with reading books? Not just books—sometimes you even watch shows at double speed, skip scenes, or just watch highlights. Sometimes you can’t be bothered to watch a full movie—you’ll watch a 10-minute or even 5-minute summary. Why? Because audiences have been trained to expect more concentrated information. Microdramas clearly fit this trend better. They are a new product more aligned with current internet logic—that’s their first advantage.

The second advantage is monetization. Its monetization path is short and direct. Whether it’s perfectly reasonable now is debatable—it will certainly evolve and be refined—but its monetization is very direct, going straight from the viewer to the producer. Why is traditional film/TV struggling? Because revenue has to go through platforms first; earnings go to the platform, which then distributes them to producers as it sees fit. This creates a lot of friction and opacity, preventing producers from getting timely positive feedback. They can’t quickly adjust and optimize their product to better serve the audience.

Is the current heavy-payment model too heavy? Possibly. But it still serves the audience, and money moves directly from the viewer’s pocket to the producer’s. The payment path is shorter, and in the internet world, shorter is more efficient—no middlemen taking a cut, right? Based on these two points, I believe the future will bring changes, but I am optimistic about this product. That’s precisely why we’ve created this course.

Encouragement and Guidance for Different Types of Students

Among our students, there are many complete beginners hoping to enter the creative field through this new format and achieve monetization—that’s great. Some students are novelists thinking, “I already write fiction; now everyone’s doing microdramas, so I’ll jump in too.” That’s also good. But you need to learn its specific creative rules. The third group consists of those previously or currently in traditional film/TV. You need to stay humble; don’t assume you’re here to educate everyone.

Regardless of your background, we will introduce specific creative methods later. I hope everyone can learn and succeed in this new field, catching this wave and benefiting from its opportunities. This lesson aimed to familiarize you with microdramas. Class dismissed.