A young Chinese company is at the forefront of micro-drama production, a local phenomenon rapidly spreading to other countries and continents. Hunan Shiyi Culture Technology pre-post production system is revolutionizing the film industry.
Micro-dramas are a new type of storytelling for smartphone users, providing them with a series of one to three-minute episodes, and keeping viewers on their toes with cliffhangers, plot twists, and hooks. Hunan Shiyi Culture Technology Co., Ltd. is a rapidly growing start-up that has created a comprehensive production ecosystem, featuring an innovative system that improves efficiency and reduces costs in film production, particularly for micro-dramas.
Yi Liu, the co-founder of Hunan Shivi Culture Technology, was born into a family of civil servants. His father is a police officer, and his mother, quite the artist, loved dancing. Yi took after his mother and was never the typical super achiever in school. Instead, he focused on organizing school plays.
Following his passion, he graduated from the Department of the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, then worked for media organizations, and finally co-founded Shiyi Culture Technology in 2024.
The company is established in the Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Park in Changsha, which hosts over 120 cultural and creative enterprises, and Yi considered it a perfect environment for digital and cultural industry start-ups.
XR virtual production solution for efficient micro-drama shooting
According to Yi, micro-dramas are “a narrative format featuring 1 to 5-minute episodes with strong opening hooks and tailored for fragmented viewing time.” Their success, he said, “stems from being short, straightforward, and fast-paced, coupled with strong emotional feedback.” It is like a two-hour movie, he explained, but divided into 60 episodes.
Micro-dramas (短剧 duǎnjù), which originated in China, quickly attracted a growing audience. “They meet the modern audience’s desire for quick relaxation and immediate satisfaction,” Yi said.
Hunan Shiyi Culture Technology has developed an innovative pre-post production system for the film industry. The system, which utilizes real-time signal transmission technology, allows bringing the post-production processes, such as editing, color grading, and visual effects composition to the shooting stage.
The system, described by Yi as a revolution in production philosophy, is the company's “secret weapon” in producing high-quality micro-dramas. The system enables simultaneous editing and shooting, providing a preview of the final edit. Any problem can be immediately corrected with a reshoot. The traditional post-production process, which takes several weeks, is reduced to about seven days, he said, significantly lowering costs.
Initially, he said, the system was designed to serve traditional films, television dramas, and commercials, but it proved more valuable in the micro-drama genre.
The company uses Extended Reality (XR), encompassing augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), in its productions. “XR is not limited by geographical location, weather, or environment, and its importance in the short drama field, which pursues efficient output and creative expression, is self-evident,” he said.
“Our XR virtual reality technology incorporates AI modeling to reduce overall investment” to answer the low-cost requirements of micro-dramas. The company develops its own software.
A XR virtual production studio: the Shiyi Micro-drama Dream Factory
The company established the Shiyi Micro-drama Dream Factory in September, a 10,000- square-meter micro-drama filming base. Conveniently located near Changsha train station, the complex is a one-stop co-shooting service station offering indoor and outdoor shooting. The factory answers the need for a comprehensive micro-drama industrial chain, according to Yi.
The company provides a complete ecosystem covering micro-drama investment, creation, filming, editing, registration, distribution, multi-scenario, co-shooting services, and copyright transactions. The Shiyi Micro-drama Dream Factory offers actors, screenwriters, the setting, the construction, and rentals, Yi explained. “As long as you have the capital, we can provide you with anything.”
The price range is vastly lower than shooting a movie, he said, adding that the average cost is about US$ 50,000.
Hunan Shiyi Culture Technology’s customers fall into three categories. The first is business-to -business; micro-drama production companies and partners requiring filming and production services, as well as some digital content partners.
The second category is business-to-customers, including influencers or individual investors interested in collaborating on micro-dramas. The last category is business-to-government, which includes government-related films, digital content, and micro-drama production projects procured through public tender.
Copyright as a Vital Ingredient to Micro-Drama Success
According to Yi, the entire micro-drama industry needs a strong copyright infrastructure. “Our relevant intellectual property is uniformly registered with national authorities, and we are committed to robustly protecting these assets,” he said.
With 10 software registrations and 3 design patents, the company is considering licensing film and television technology products as well as technological solutions.
The company participated in a WIPO SME-strengthening project for selected SMEs and startups in the digital entertainment industry, enhancing their understanding of copyright protection, IP management, and commercialization strategies. The project promoted the strategic use of AI and emerging technologies in content creation. Hunan Shiyi Culture Technology will be invited to customized mentoring sessions.
The rise of micro-dramas set to take the world by storm
The micro-drama business model in China is based on traffic, data, and advertising revenues. In some overseas markets, it is often fee-based; after watching a couple of episodes, there is a fee to unlock the rest of the series, Yi said. Hunan Shiyi Culture Technology does not retain any copyright on its commissioned work.
Micro-dramas, often dubbed vertical-screen micro-dramas, have begun to broaden their reach, with some marketing forecasts predicting global annual revenue of US$26 billion by 2030.
Chinese micro-drama producers are market leaders, but the phenomenon is now spreading to other countries and continents, including Thailand, South Korea, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Hunan Shiyi Culture Technology, which has grown from 8 to 58 employees in just a few months, is fully ready to ride the wave and explore and deepen its presence in the overseas micro-drama market.
