Short Form Dramas Become Bigger Part Of The Entertainment Industry
Micro dramas are having a moment. With episodes that last barely a minute, this form of mini-entertainment owes its newfound popularity to various factors, including our ever-shrinking attention spans. When psychologists and researchers began tracking attention spans in 2004, the average attention span on any screen was about two and a half minutes. In recent years that's dwindled to 47 seconds. Social media platforms and entertainment companies have taken notice, producing an increasing number of short, mobile-first dramas for viewing on smartphones. Fast-paced bite-size content is designed to fit into a hectic schedule and satisfy shorter attention spans.
Although the trend began in Asia, short-form video content tailored to mobile viewing is now being produced and consumed worldwide. Such dramas can be viewed on TikTok and Instagram, on dedicated apps such as Drama Box and ReelShort or Korean platforms such as Top Reels. In ultra-connected South Korea, it's estimated that nearly 42% of smartphone users enjoy short dramas at least five days a week. However, short form dramas may become even more popular in the U.S.
Neil Hyuk-jae Choi, CEO of SpoonLabs
'Globally right now there are almost 300 companies that are doing short form dramas and all of these companies think that this business has great potential," said Neil Hyuk-jae Choi, CEO of the Korean content creator SpoonLabs.
SpoonLabs launched the streaming platform Vigloo in July 2024, offering short romances, mysteries, thrillers and comedies from Korea, Japan and the U.S., subtitled in eight languages. The U.S. market already generates 50% of the company's revenue and Vigloo is set to release over 100 original English language titles by the end of the year.
'Because a lot of U.S. users are very accustomed to TikTok, they took in the content really fast," said Choi. 'And short content really made strides in the U.S. at a very fast pace.'
He compares Vigloo's production model to that of Netflix in the way that the company tailors content to local markets.
'It's the same for us,' said Choi. 'We create all the content locally and we also upload some of our episodes on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube or on our channels or via ads. And people see it there and then if they're attracted to the content, they come to our service.'
Using the payment model employed by webtoons and some drama platforms, viewers can see the first few episodes for free and decide if they want to subscribe to see the rest. Storylines that span one to three minutes have to pack in a lot of content—and some dramatic cliffhangers—in just minutes if they hope to keep viewers coming back for more. Choi compares long and short form content to running a race. Normal long form content is like a marathon, while short form content is a sprint.
'So, just to give you an example of how fast paced it is, in one minute, one can meet someone, fall in love and even have a baby,' said Choi.
The platform's top U.S. genres include romance, with popular sub-genres such as cross-cultural workplace romance (working abroad in Korea) and thrillers (betrayals and revenge plots). Some of Vigloo's most-watched dramas in the U.S. include Fight for Love, The Billionaire Cowboy's Runaway Bride, and Escaping the Bridezilla. According to Choi, the audience so far is mostly female.
Short form content such as 'Those I Wish To Kill' is becoming more popular.
'Our target audience is women in their 30s and 40s,' said Choi. 'So the genre that works best in all formats, as of now, is romance, especially those kinds of romance that give you the pleasant fantasy of meeting Prince Charming. One of the tropes that is really common in short drama is you meet this guy and then he turns out to be very rich, but it's like a hidden identity you didn't know at first.'
While this type of content is popular worldwide, there are some subjects that U.S. viewers enjoy that may not be as popular in other countries.
'For example, in Korea or in Japan, romances with vampires or werewolves are not that popular,' said Choi. 'In the States they are.'
Content for the U.S. is created with production companies based in the U.S.
'Locally, when it comes to storytelling, we have internal teams with executive producers who try to weave in the stories for the US audience.'
Not only do micro dramas mesh well with overtaxed attention spans, short content may prove increasingly attractive for producers. According to Choi, short dramas appeal to producers caught in a tight market because shorter content costs so much less to produce. With an average 2.5-month production cycle and a growing creator network, short form content has the potential to redefine storytelling for the streaming era.
'A lot of the OTT and film industry is not doing that great, not only in the States, but in Korea and Japan as well,' said Choi. 'There are a lot of creators who can't produce anything at the moment. So, a lot of producers and creators are actually coming to short form. Korean content is doing really well globally and the storytelling really includes a lot of people. The goal is to really use and leverage this know-how and this expertise, but at the same time really work tightly with the local producers. By the end of this year we are planning to make the most content in the States.'
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