DUANJU  NEWS

In an interview with Maëlle Billant, Wenwen Han, producer and founder of the Short Drama Alliance, discusses her career and the release of her two seminal works: Short Drama Writing 101 and Future Playbook: China's Short Drama Ecosystem and Insights for Global Business . The latter, published on October 22, 2025, is available in English on Amazon in Kindle format (49 pages). A complete 143-page version is also available on Payhip . These two complementary books are aimed at writers, producers, and investors alike, all eager to understand the new economics of short dramas. In Short Drama Writing 101 , Wenwen Han shares a writing method adapted to this new narrative territory. She reminds us that Duanju is not a segmented film, but a format born for mobile screens, with its own grammar and constraints: accelerated pacing, short duration, and a focus on attention. The first ten episodes, free of charge, serve to test the audience's reaction before the paywall kicks in. The writing must therefore rely on immediate hooks, cliffhangers, and constant emotional tension. "The short drama should be considered an emotional product, not an educational one," she explains. The goal is not to impose a message, but to elicit a quick reaction and maintain the desire for more. Wenwen Han encourages screenwriters to start with the genres that already structure the platforms, CEO romances, rebirth stories, fantasy, before integrating their own universes. This approach is directly inspired by Chinese web novel culture, where authors constantly engage with their readership. This direct link between creator and audience, she believes, is the true strength of Duanju. Her second book, Future Playbook , is aimed more at producers and investors. In it, Wenwen Han provides a detailed map of the Chinese short drama ecosystem, which is currently two years ahead of the rest of the world. She explains that most of the major platforms originate not from film but from advertising or web novels. In China, nearly 80 to 90% of budgets are allocated to advertising, compared to only 10 to 20% for production. This distribution shapes the entire creative process: each series is conceived as an evolving prototype, adaptable to the market. She also highlights the decentralization of production to second-tier cities, where costs are reduced without sacrificing quality. For foreign players, she warns against the cumbersome models inherited from traditional studios: success now hinges on agility, the ability to test and adapt quickly. Finally, Wenwen Han sees artificial intelligence as accelerating this transformation. With tools like Sora, she envisions a world of creation open to all, where everyone can produce and monetize their own stories. The Short Drama Alliance aims precisely to support this global opening by training a new generation of creators and trainers united by a shared vision of digital storytelling. Through her two books, Wenwen Han does not simply describe a phenomenon: she offers a real user manual for writing, producing and thinking about Duanju as a fully-fledged cultural language. Order the book: Amazon Full version on Payhip (143 pages): https://payhip.com/b/jBRKF Interview conducted by Maëlle Billant #WenwenHan #MaelleBillant

For years, DramaBox has ruled the micro-drama space with outrageous billionaire romances and supernatural love stories, but now, the Singapore-based platform is rewriting its script. In an effort to outgrow its “guilty pleasure” image, DramaBox is expanding beyond werewolves and wealth to embrace something broader and surprisingly wholesome. The app’s next act includes family stories, kids’ animation, and choose-your-own-adventure dramas, all still built for the vertical screen: fast beats, close-up emotion, and music cues that land instantly. Richard Zhou, DramaBox’s Head of Global Content, said the goal is simple but ambitious: “to become the most popular micro-drama platform for American users and partners.” That means rethinking not just what people watch, but who they can watch it with. The company’s U.S. strategy leans on collaboration and innovation. It’s opening a New York office and was recently selected for the Disney Accelerator, joining the same program that supported Epic Games and ElevenLabs. By working with Hollywood creators, like viral storyteller Dhar Mann, whom DramaBox execs recently met, the platform hopes to merge social media sensibility with studio-level craft. DramaBox, part of Singapore’s StoryMatrix, has already proven the model works. According to Sensor Tower, the app has pulled in $450 million in global in-app revenue, trailing only slightly behind rival ReelShort. With its new direction, DramaBox isn’t just chasing numbers; it’s chasing longevity. In a time when Gen Z prefers YouTube over television and Hollywood struggles to recover from labour strikes and shrinking budgets, micro-dramas offer a new kind of storytelling economy. They’re cheap to produce (around $100,000–$300,000 per movie) and designed for the device everyone already holds—the smartphone. As Shicong Zhu, DramaBox’s LA-based head of studio, put it: “We don’t want to replace Hollywood; we want to empower it.” That might be the real story here: a vertical screen once known for guilty pleasures becoming a shared space for families, creators, and filmmakers to rediscover what storytelling looks like in the palm of your hand. Source:  Business Insider Article Written by Blessing Azugama #BlessingAzugama

The Nikon Film Festival is an annual short film competition launched in France by the camera brand Nikon. Open to all, it invites filmmakers, students, and amateurs to create a 2-minute 20-minute film on a set theme. In addition to extensive online exposure, winners receive awards, some of which are funded by the French National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image. Presented as a springboard for young talent, the festival nevertheless relies on a model where marketing sometimes seems to benefit the brand more than the creators themselves. Each year, thousands of films are produced and screened under the festival's name, organized by Nikon France. On paper, the initiative seems virtuous: a brand that celebrates creativity and gives new filmmakers a chance. But upon closer inspection, several gray areas remain. The regulations do not specify whether the works broadcast can generate monetization, nor whether creators benefit from any revenue sharing. The lack of transparency on this point raises questions, especially since the festival's cumulative audience directly contributes to the brand's visibility and communication. Each film thus becomes a vehicle for Nikon's notoriety: an artistic showcase serving its image, fueled by the volunteer work of hundreds of authors. This mechanism, where the brand gains recognition thanks to independent creations, is similar to a form of disguised advertising. Added to this is another question: the role of public funding. By providing financial assistance to certain awards, the CNC indirectly supports a system run by a private company. A single brand, Nikon, benefits from a competition that mobilizes public funds intended to encourage diversity and plurality of cultural initiatives. This concentration of support calls into question the very logic of collective funding placed at the service of a single commercial player. The paradox lies here: participants bring considerable symbolic and media value to the brand, but remain isolated from the potential economic benefits. The event draws on their creativity, their networks, and their audience, without any clearly defined redistribution. Should we therefore rethink this model? The Nikon Film Festival has undoubtedly helped to reveal real talent, but the question remains: who benefits most from this operation? The creator, or the brand that presents itself as a patron of creation? Article written by Guillaume Sanjorge #GuillaumeSanjorge Source : • Nikon Festival , 2025 • FilmFreeway , 2025 • Mediakwest , April 2025

While the micro-drama format remains largely unexplored by French critics, some observers are beginning to approach it with curiosity and openness. In an article published on Konbini, Delphine Rivet analyzes the rise of these vertical fictions born in China, designed for phone screens and consumed at high speed. She describes an ecosystem where storytelling adapts to the logic of contemporary uses: very short episodes, often mass-produced, but capable of generating strong emotional involvement. A lucid reading of the new rhythm of the series The journalist examines the ongoing transformation in detail: the compression of narrative, the effectiveness of dialogue, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in the creation and distribution processes. She emphasizes that these micro-fictions, far from being simple products of the algorithm, reveal new forms of writing adapted to mobile devices and the fragmentation of attention. This analytical perspective brings a welcome nuance to the debate surrounding the transformation of the serial format. In conclusion, Delphine Rivet calls for a renewed creative demand: " Let's demand series that challenge us, intellectually or emotionally! " A call to artists and authors: invest in this new territory, seize it with sincerity and ambition, and make duanju not just a simple format, but a space of expression where short, powerful and fully artistic works can be born. Source : • Konbini , October 15, 2025

Xiaomi has officially entered China’s booming short drama market with the quiet release of its new ad-free app, Watch Short Dramas (WeiGuan Duanju). The app, now available exclusively on Xiaomi’s own app store, promises “massive short dramas for free without advertisements” and has already drawn over 20,000 downloads since launch. Developed by Chengdu Share Information Communication Co., Ltd, a company wholly owned by Xiaomi Group, the app reflects the tech giant’s deeper move into entertainment distribution. Currently limited to Xiaomi and Redmi devices, Watch Short Dramas offers a lightweight, phone-native experience with a 23MB installation size. Its catalogue spans more than 20 genres, including romance, revenge, urban life, family, and CEO dramas. Built-in charts, comments, and community features hint at Xiaomi’s intent to create a more interactive storytelling ecosystem. This launch follows Xiaomi’s earlier experiment in July, when its Redmi brand collaborated with TikTok and Wanhe Tianyi to co-produce the short drama Partners in Time and Space. That project was primarily a marketing initiative, but the new standalone app marks a strategic pivot from using short dramas as promotional tools to building a full-fledged content platform. The timing is strategic. China’s short drama market continues to surge, valued at 50.4 billion yuan in 2024 and projected to reach 68.6 billion yuan in 2025, with more than 662 million users spending an average of 101 minutes daily watching micro-dramas. Major players such as Bytedance, JD.com, and Alibaba have already established strong positions in the space. Xiaomi’s entry underscores how consumer technology companies are expanding beyond hardware into content distribution, seeking to own both the device and the entertainment experience. However, the competition is fierce. The market suffers from content homogeneity, urban romance accounted for over 60% of the top short dramas in 2024, and regulators continue to raise the bar on quality and compliance. To succeed, Xiaomi will need to pair its design-driven philosophy with stronger storytelling and sustainable monetisation models. Still, this move represents more than just a new app launch. It’s a signal that short dramas are no longer a niche experiment but a defining frontier in mobile entertainment. As brands like Xiaomi step in, the line between tech and storytelling continues to blur, turning every phone screen into both a stage and a cinema. Article written by Blessing Azugama #blessingAzugama Sources : • Securities Times , October 15, 2025 • The Standard , October 16, 2025 • Futu News , October 15, 2025

When a legacy studio like FOX Entertainment turns its gaze toward a startup built on 9:16 storytelling, it’s a sign of how far vertical drama has come and how fast it’s growing. This week, FOX Entertainment announced that it has taken an equity stake in Holywater, a Ukrainian-born vertical video platform that’s rapidly becoming a creative hub for microdramas, AI-enhanced storytelling, and bite-sized emotional worlds. The deal marks more than a financial investment, it’s a creative alliance. FOX will produce over 200 vertical titles for Holywater’s flagship app My Drama over the next two years, joining forces across original series production, ad sales, and brand partnerships. In the words of FOX Entertainment CEO Rob Wade, the move represents a deliberate step toward “building a modern studio for the future.” And the future, it seems, is vertical. Rewriting the Frame: From TV Screens to Phones For decades, FOX has been synonymous with primetime television hits, Empire, Glee, 9-1-1, and more. But the next chapter unfolds on a very different canvas: the smartphone screen. The partnership with Holywater isn’t just about scaling digital IP; it’s about adapting Hollywood-grade storytelling for the fast-scrolling, emotionally charged world of microdramas series that run anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes per episode. Unlike traditional short films, vertical dramas rely on tight pacing, expressive close-ups, and emotionally resonant sound cues that pull viewers in within seconds. The form thrives on intensity and immediacy and Holywater has mastered that rhythm. Founded in 2020, Holywater already boasts over 55 million users and a family of platforms, including My Drama, its main vertical streaming hub, FreeBits, an ad-supported vertical app, My Passion, a digital publishing platform for independent books, and My Muse, a space where creators produce content supported by generative AI. Together, these ecosystems reflect Holywater’s mission to merge technology with imagination, what co-founders Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov call “the art of AI-driven creativity.” FOX’s Studio-Grade Ambition FOX’s entry into the vertical video space is not just reactive it’s strategic. The company plans to develop its own slate of microdramas, beginning with Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession, both already in production in Atlanta. These titles will likely set the tone for what “studio-grade verticals” can look like, polished cinematography, recognisable talent, and writing that compresses emotional arcs into high-impact beats. The partnership also integrates FOX’s massive IP portfolio, spanning Studio Ramsay Global, Bento Box Entertainment, and the network’s scripted and unscripted divisions. That opens the door to vertical spin-offs of existing FOX properties, from crime thrillers to reality formats, condensed into the mobile-first style that’s dominating attention spans globally. For Wade, the deal is about flexibility and speed. “Innovation in digital storytelling is shaping the future of entertainment,” he said. “Holywater is at the forefront of this evolution, skillfully using technology to fuel creativity. This partnership is all about finding different, innovative ways to tell stories and inspire creators.” Holywater’s Vertical Revolution In a market where short-form video is often dismissed as disposable content, Holywater has pushed for narrative depth. Their flagship app My Drama features addictive vertical series like The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Pregnant Cinderella titles that combine the melodrama of soap operas with the visual intimacy of TikTok storytelling. But behind the click-worthy titles lies a serious mission: to prove that vertical storytelling can carry real emotional weight. Holywater’s founders say the collaboration with FOX will help “raise the bar on quality and widen the genre slate,” blending high production value with the immediacy of mobile engagement. “We’ve been focusing on storytelling depth to prove that verticals can carry premium drama, thriller, romance and more not just a narrow set of tropes,” said Nesvit and Kasianov. “Our partnership with FOX validates that vision and gives us the scale and creative firepower to accelerate it.” A Market in Motion The move comes as the global vertical video industry valued at nearly $8 billion enters a new growth phase. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Kuaishou have already trained billions of users to consume vertical content daily. But what Holywater and FOX are betting on is not just engagement it’s longevity. They’re imagining a new entertainment ecosystem where a five-minute vertical series can achieve the same emotional and commercial impact as a 45-minute TV episode. It’s a future where storytelling becomes platform-fluid: a show might begin as a vertical teaser on My Drama, expand into a short series on Hulu, and spin off into a feature-length adaptation all within the same narrative universe. Bridging Creativity, Technology, and Distribution FOX brings Hollywood infrastructure experienced showrunners, talent rosters, and international distribution muscle. Holywater brings the tech, the data, and the audience. Together, they’re not just producing content; they’re redefining what “premium short-form” means. For creators, it could open a new pipeline: studio-backed projects that still retain the freedom, intimacy, and experimentation that made vertical dramas so viral in the first place. The partnership also reinforces a growing global trend where traditional studios look East and into emerging creative markets (like Ukraine and China) to tap into faster storytelling models, mobile-first strategies, and new formats for monetization. A New Frontier for Storytellers For storytellers, this moment is both a challenge and an invitation. The screen is shrinking but the possibilities are expanding. As FOX and Holywater prepare to roll out their first wave of productions, all eyes will be on how they balance cinematic craft with mobile-native energy. The real test will be whether studio-grade vertical dramas can sustain the emotional depth audiences expect and still thrive within the algorithmic heartbeat of digital platforms. Either way, the vertical revolution has found its most powerful ally yet. Article written by Blessing Azugama #BlessingAzugama Source : • The Wrap , October 9 2025 • Deadline , October 9 2025 • Variety , October 9 2025 • Hollywood Reporter , October 9 2025 • C21 Media , October 9 2025 • World Screen , October 9 2025

Across China, the once chaotic boom in micro-short dramas, those fast, emotional, and vertical-screen stories designed for phone viewers, is entering a new era of structure. Platforms and regulators are now setting formal rules for what began as a digital gold rush. From runaway hits like Escape from the British Museum  to countless “rebirth,” “hidden identity,” and “CEO love” plots, micro-dramas have captured the attention of hundreds of millions. But with this success has come a reckoning: how to balance the thrill of fast storytelling with the responsibility to uphold cultural and aesthetic values. China’s new standard: “Fun, but in moderation” According to Zhang Yanli, Executive Deputy Director of the New Perspectives Center for Radio, Film, and Television, short dramas must remain enjoyable but avoid “vulgarization.” The challenge now, she says, is to pursue excitement without losing cultural depth or artistic quality. The government’s approach is both administrative and creative. As Ye Mingrui, Vice Dean at the Communication University of China, explains, regulators are defining clearer boundaries of acceptable storytelling including content lists, review mechanisms, and incentives for creators to tell richer, more positive stories. The message is clear: China doesn’t want to stop the short drama boom it wants to shape it into a cultural export with defined moral and aesthetic standards. Ethics, payment, and the youth audience Beyond creative content, oversight is tightening around business models too. Authorities are scrutinizing misleading pay-per-episode tactics like hidden auto-renewals and “0.9 yuan unlocks,” which have drawn consumer complaints. Platforms are being urged to rebuild trust and transparency, echoing reforms in China’s long-form streaming sector. Another key area is youth protection. Regulators and scholars alike stress the need for youth modes, parental controls, and content filters that promote positive storytelling. Micro-dramas, they argue, must inspire not mislead young audiences about success, relationships, or morality. Europe’s window of opportunity While China writes the rulebook, Europe stands at the frontier of creative experimentation. With platforms like ReelShort and TikTok opening new avenues for monetized micro-storytelling, European creators have the chance to define their own auteur style intimate, experimental, and emotionally intelligent without the heavy moral regulation seen in China. The global rise of vertical drama is no longer just a trend; it’s a format demanding craftsmanship, policy, and purpose. China’s playbook may be strict, but it sets the foundation for the medium’s longevity one that Europe can learn from, even as it shapes its own voice. Article written by Blessing Azugama #BlessingAzugama Sources: Guangming Online , August 29, 2025 Reuters , February 5, 2025

In the article “When AI Invades the Seventh Art”, published in Le Point on August 10, 2025, by Philippe Guedj, generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, DALL·E, Sora, or Veo 3 can now produce special effects sequences at a cost up to ten times lower than traditional methods. Whereas months of work by graphic designers, digital stunt performers, and technicians were once required, today only a few days are needed to create scenes that were previously reserved for large-scale productions. It is worth remembering that long before the digital era, Georges Méliès, through his inventions and visual tricks, had already paved the way for this kind of technical and narrative feat. At the end of the 19th century, the French filmmaker revolutionized cinema by introducing the first special effects. He made actors disappear, moons explode, and fantastic creatures appear on screen, all this well before the invention of digital effects. His approach: pushing the limits of reality, opening the door to imagination, and giving cinema the power to make audiences dream. A shared desire to inspire wonder across different centuries, a continuity acknowledged by contemporary French actor Christian Clavier. Interviewed by the media outlet Brut in April 2025 about his latest film, which incorporates sequences generated by artificial intelligence, Christian Clavier responded to a question about the concerns this technology raises in the film industry. On the contrary, he sees it as a natural continuation of the history of the seventh art: "People are always amazed by artificial intelligence. But when cinema was born, we were already dealing with magic. (…) You could make a guy jump and he would disappear." His remarks draw a parallel between Méliès's artisanal special effects and the special effects generated today by artificial intelligence. A reminder that, from the very beginning, cinema was built on technical wonder. The idea of continuity between the original special effects and contemporary uses of artificial intelligence was also illustrated during the screening organized on June 14, 2025 in Paris by the Studio Phocéen association . Several works in the Duanju format were presented there, some of which incorporated generative AI technologies. Studios like Sanjorge Production are using these technologies to design digital sets and fantasy characters. These technologies are particularly appealing to smaller production companies, which can now tell their stories without the colossal resources of major studios. They help rebalance production relationships: with modest budgets, creators gain more freedom, and narrative boldness can take precedence over technical resources. Artificial intelligence thus becomes a valuable resource for maintaining a high level of visual quality, even within a constrained framework. Check out the trailer for the June 14, 2025 event, dedicated to the Duanju format, where the use of artificial intelligence is visible: Source : • Brut , April 4, 2025 • Fiveable , 2023 • Britannica , 2024 • Le Point , August 10, 2025

In April 2025, Next Door Adventures, a new creation by Guillaume Sanjorge, marks an important step: the entry of the French short format on Stardust TV, a Chinese platform dedicated to Duanju. This is a first for the Asian app: a French-language series, filmed entirely in France, is joining its international catalog. Subtitled in eight languages (English, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and German), the series is open to a wide global audience. Launched in July 2024, Stardust TV has already surpassed 10 million downloads on Google Play and is establishing itself as one of the new leaders in the mobile short drama market. The illustration of the top 8 entertainment apps on the App Store, dated April 7, 2025, shows that Stardust TV is in 3rd place. A whimsical romance Written by Guillaume Sanjorge and directed by Jérémy Haeffele, Next Door Adventures follows the adventures of a young man charmed by his neighbor. What begins as a sweet romance gradually turns into a burlesque fantasy: ghosts, an intrusive butler, invisible priests, and Vikings invite themselves into their daily lives. The aesthetic in 9:16 emphasizes faces and looks, to the rhythm of interactions in a dreamlike world. An atypical distribution The series brings together an unconventional cast, mixing established talents with emerging figures. Lana Sfera, a Ukrainian refugee living in Paris, makes her acting debut in the lead role of the charming neighbor, opposite Guillaume Sanjorge. The cast also includes Jean-Louis Barcelona, a prolific film actor who plays a somewhat intrusive butler; Michel La Rosa, a former TV host and actor in the role of the family father; Gérald Michiara, a former top-level athlete and the face of the French army's communication, who portrays a fictional military leader; Sylvain Binetti, a cabaret artist in the role of the older brother; and Stéphane Martinet, a theater actor who embodies an enigmatic clerical figure. The entire series is punctuated by appearances from a group of Vikings from another era: the Barbebarian clan. Hear Michel La Rosa talk about his character on Maëlle Billant's microphone: Discover the series Next Door Adventures on Stardust TV 🇫🇷 Adventures with my neighbor 🇬🇧 Next Door Adventures 🇹🇷 Yan Kapı Maceraları 🇸🇦 مغامرات الجارة القريبة 🇯🇵 お隣さんとのアドベンチャ 🇰🇷 두근두근 옆집 마법 🇵🇹 Amor no Castelo Ancestral 🇪🇸 My Vecina and the Castillo 🇩🇪 Virtual Herzen im alten Gemäuer

In 2020, in the midst of the municipal election campaign, 5G entered the public debate. Green mayor Éric Piolle launched a striking statement on RTL: "5G is so we can watch porn movies even when you're in your elevator in HD." A provocation intended to denounce the energy consumption of digital technology and question the notion of progress. Five years later, what was a witty remark has become reality: 5G makes it possible to seamlessly watch Duanju series even in the most unlikely places. The installation of 5G had sparked heated controversy in France. The debate focused on the environmental impact, persistent territorial inequalities, and technological sovereignty issues linked to dependence on foreign suppliers. China at the forefront of deployment 5G testing in France began in 2018, ahead of a commercial launch in 2020. The issue quickly took on a geopolitical dimension: China sought to impose Huawei and ZTE, while France limited their access to the market. ANSSI restricted the use of Huawei equipment, forcing Bouygues Telecom and SFR to replace thousands of antennas, while Orange and Free favored Nokia and Ericsson. Huawei also announced plans for an equipment factory in Alsace, an investment of €200 million, expected to open around 2025, but without compensating for the loss of ground. 5G then became a battleground where sovereignty counted as much as innovation. China plays a pivotal role in global 5G, with approximately 4.5 million base stations deployed by the end of 2025. Its operators have built a dense domestic network, while Huawei and ZTE are equipping many countries, and brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo are rolling out affordable 5G smartphones. Driven by sustained investment and turnkey deployments, this presence extends from infrastructure to devices and is accelerating mobile adoption worldwide. The Evolution of Streaming: From Computers to Phones Streaming hasn't always been instantaneous. In its early days, it meant endless loading times on computers, hampered by still-slow connections. The arrival of broadband enabled the rise of YouTube and then Netflix, giving streaming its credentials. With the widespread adoption of smartphones, video became mobile, but for a long time it was limited by 3G and then 4G, which were too narrow for mass consumption in high definition. This is where 5G has opened a new chapter: increased speed, reduced latency, and enhanced stability, even in places previously inhospitable to the signal. Streaming first attacked cinema and television, then invaded our phones, and now 5G offers it optimal conditions for a lasting establishment. Duanju series, designed for mobile, thus find their natural home in this new ecosystem. What some in 2020 considered superfluous has become a technological and cultural reality. 5G has not only transformed digital usage; it has enabled the phone to become a central screen for entertainment. Duanju, short, vertical formats, have benefited from this evolution. Article written by Guillaume Sanjorge #GuillaumeSanjorge Sources • RTL , July 5, 2020 • Le Monde , August 17, 2020 • Reuters , July 22, 2020 • RCR Wireless , June 27, 2025 • China Mobile – 2024 Annual Results (PDF) , March 20, 2025