The future never looks more vertical than from the 76th floor of Lotte Tower, the world’s sixth tallest building. Key stakeholders from Microdrama attended the conference “The Future Is Vertical: The Global Rise of Short Form Media.” The deliberate choice of organizer Crisp, a short-form scripted video content company, underscores its ambition to shape an industry that will compete for $26 billion in global revenue by 2030.
The summit, held at the Signiel Hotel in Seoul, brought together platforms, content creators and technology providers from the Americas, Europe and Asia to discuss the industry’s transformation from its origins in games and web novels to mainstream entertainment.
The event began with a keynote address by Adrian Cheng, Chairman of Crisp and the newly formed Almad Group. He said microdrama is not a passing fad, but represents a global phenomenon that is emerging from Seoul to São Paulo, stressing that “every frame is intentional, every moment has purpose.” He noted that in Lagos, comedians are successful with short vertical scripted videos of two to three minutes.
Neorigin CEO Chen Bo traced the format’s evolution from gaming methodology during a panel discussion on how games and web novels have shaped short drama. “NeoOrigin’s microdrama team is actually independent from the game publishing team,” Chen explained. “We use the same methodology, business model, and publishing tools like Meta and Google.”
Production schedule and budget emerged as key differentiators. Chen said that while game development typically takes hundreds of thousands of dollars and years, microdramas can be produced in one to two months and for less than $100,000. Zou Jianfeng, chairman of MoboReels, emphasized that cost remains the main barrier to adapting complex stories to short-form format.
Market intelligence firm Media Partners Asia has released data showing the sector has grown from virtually nothing five years ago to $5 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $12 billion by the end of the year. China currently drives nearly 80% of global revenue, but growth is accelerating in the United States, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea.
Cassandra Yang, CEO of Rising Joy, highlighted emerging regions during the Shortform Going Global panel discussion. “India has experienced significant growth this year,” Yang noted. “Since September 2024, we have grown from zero to the largest growth market for independent micro-drama apps. Thailand and Indonesia have emerged, with Indonesia becoming the second largest download market after India.”
Martin Mošković, a veteran German producer and former chairman of Konstantin Film, emphasized budgetary discipline, suggesting that intellectual property development will determine success. “Hundreds of series will fail in the market,” he says. “It will be important who gets the genius creator.”
Mr. Yang emphasized the importance of content quality. “The companies I work with run microdrama apps using gaming industry methodologies for user acquisition,” she said. “But I tell them that without great content, retention rates will drop in seven days.”
Ronan Wong, CEO of AR Asia Productions, identified untapped creative areas such as unscripted content, horror, and formats targeting Gen Z audiences. The animation category was of particular interest, with Emmy Award-winning Shibuya Studio co-founders Emily Yang and Maciej Kusiala presenting their vertical animation micro-drama “White Rabbit.”
“There is a lot of politics and bureaucracy within the traditional Hollywood structure,” Yang said on the “The Future Empowers Creators with Short Animation” panel. “I am very optimistic that the short drama market will become a more vertical outlet for artists.”
Kusiala emphasized the advantages of the format. “Going vertical means it’s much shorter,” he said. “Telling mini-stories makes production much easier, allows creators to be more creative with this medium, and lowers costs.”
The production of “White Rabbit” incorporates audience participation by voting to greenlight episodes. The series follows Mirai, a character who is unaware of her artificially intelligent nature, a theme that resonated throughout the conference’s discussions.
Carpenstreet co-founder Minhong Lee expressed cautious optimism about AI applications. “I think AI can reduce the production budget for microdramas,” Lee said. “But it’s the same as airplanes. We have very high-tech models now, but pilots are still essential.”
Yang positioned AI as a creative tool rather than a replacement. “When you have two directors holding the same camera, one can tell a great story and the other can tell a very lazy story,” she said. “It’s not about the technology, it’s about the story.”
TikTok announced its microdrama distribution strategy in a keynote speech titled “Unlocking Global Traffic Codes,” where representatives Ben Yang and Liya Li outlined metrics for identifying early hits. According to the platform’s data, multilingual dubbing increases ad consumption by 102% compared to monolingual content, and multi-country deployments increase ad consumption by 258%.
Media Partners Asia analyst Myat Pan Pyu detailed the market trends in a presentation on the microdrama economy, noting that standalone apps such as ReelShort and DramaBox are currently dominating entertainment charts in app stores around the world. The sector primarily targets a female audience aged 25-45, but demographic patterns vary by market.
Investment activity shows the maturity of the industry. Recent deals include Crafton’s $86 million investment in Spoon Labs, parent company of Vigrue, and support for Fox’s Holy Water in vertical video production. DramaBox’s participation in the Disney Accelerator program signals significant interest from the studio.
The conference highlighted the infrastructure benefits of an embedded ecosystem, particularly China’s WeChat mini-program that integrates discovery, payments, and distribution within the framework of existing super apps.
Despite increased revenue, profitability remains elusive for most players. Among the major platforms, DramaBox reported a profit of $12 million on revenue of $323 million. Meanwhile, ReelShort projects $800 million in revenue but remains in the red due to premium production costs and paid traffic acquisition.
