“Five thousand yen a day. In recent days, news of the recruitment of senior-aged actresses in a short play has gone crazy on social platforms, triggering a silver-haired “actress dream”. The BUG field visits the shop and finds that behind the so-called “high salaries” is in fact a high-priced training trap and false industry propaganda.
It’s still hot, but it’s also dark. According to several short play practitioners, after the spring season, the number of transvestites has decreased and some modern theatre groups have been relocated to Xi’an, Zhengzhou, etc.
A short-time filmmaker admittedly said that, despite its significant advantage over the ancient scene and the industrial chain, modern theatres were old and costly, leading many groups to move to better policy and cheaper locations.
It’s a micro-sync factory.
Wu, a senior art propist, has been at a shop for 11 years. In the past, his main task was to create scenes and props for long video projects such as television dramas and web dramas. He told the BUG column that “previously it had been mainly a long play, a play for four or five months, with up to two projects a year”.
However, since 2023, there has been an explosion in the short play industry, and the rhythm of Uzen ‘ s work has changed dramatically. “As a result of the long play habit, many people at first did not want to do the short play in one by one for a few days.
Wu mentioned that he currently receives four short play projects per month, which are basically seamless. He works at more than 6 a.m. every morning, usually for as long as 12 hours or more, but his monthly income has also increased by 20-30 per cent compared with the previous production of the drama, and the short play is shorter and the settlement cycle is faster.
According to the report, between 2021 and 2023, the market size of the country ‘ s mini-shortshow was $368 million, $10.17 billion and $37.39 billion, respectively. In 2024, the market for Chinese microtrips rose to 50.5 billion yuan, surpassing the cinema for the first time.
Against this background, the cross-section naturally becomes the “workshop” of a micro-short play and is even referred to as the “stretch shop”. According to official data, in 2024, there were more than 1,190 long-screened micro-synthetic teams in the cross-storey, and in the first seven months of the year, the number of long-screened micro-synthetic teams had exceeded 2,300, more than the full year of 2024.
The chief of the outreach technology said that, as a very mature video base, it was not only resourceful and diverse in terms of ancient scenes, but also that it had developed a highly developed video industry chain, from the troupe, to the co-ordination and later production of the scenes, and that the pooling of resources and collaboration had greatly improved the efficiency of the film. In addition, cross-sectional support services are well developed, and “one-stop” services have been achieved, either in the form of specialized photographic equipment, rental of equipment or various professional staff.
The modern play “Runaway”
At present, the scenes of the cross-sectional short play include, inter alia, Mango, New Heaven (12,750, -0.39, -2.97 per cent) and Huasha Cultural Park. When the BUG section visited the Mango film set, Wu had just finished the morning of the day. The green mango cinema was built from a complex of six floors, providing modern theatre scenes such as hospitals, offices and living rooms for direct use by the theatre team.
The rush of the short play has given practitioners more opportunities, but U Tsang has said that after spring this year it is clear that the team is missing. On the day of the visit, the BUG section noted that there were only five short theatre groups in the Mango theatre, and Wu had recalled that “at the peak, more than a dozen units could open in one day and the parking lot was full”.
“Some of the modern theatres do have an out-migration situation.” A short-time producer revealed that more than 2,000 stand-screen plays had been opened this year at the cross-storey, and that in mid-August the department in charge of the cross-section had convened a number of short-story companies to learn more about each other.
Why would a short play team choose to leave the store? According to the source, the scenes of the store ‘ s antiques have their own advantages, but the scenes of the modern theatre are relatively old. And, more importantly, for cost reasons, “the cost of filming is increasing and the support policies given in the field are more favourable”.
For example, according to the source, “the rent of a modern play in a cross-storey would cost a few thousand dollars a day, while in some places, even the short-story shoot would offer a space for the film, which would save a great deal of money compared to the cross-storey.”
Wu said, “This year, several colleagues have gone to Zhengzhou”. At present, Sian and Zhengzhou are also a large industry complex of long-screened short plays, with a large number of early-screen short plays being filmed in two locations, forming a vertical-centric industry package.
For example, the Xian Dream Factory’s video base, located in Xian, covers 15,000 square metres, has more than 150 shooting scenes, has received over 800 teams and has completed more than 450 productions. Zhengzhou, for its part, has attracted companies through the establishment of special funds and the provision of space-cost deductions, and Henan has officially entered the field of short dramas with the establishment of the Elephant Theatre.
The beach.
In addition to the long-established chains of industry, Xian and Zhengzhou, several cities, including Xinzhou, Hangzhou and Nanning, are also working on short-time theatres, introducing supportive policies and trying to replicate the “stretch shop” model.
For example, Hangzhou’s West Lake Zone has launched the “Ten Micro Shorts” to provide rent subsidies and project adaptation incentives to eligible businesses; and the Yu Hang Zone has set up a $200 million network micro Shorts Development Fund. Nanning, for its part, recently released ” Several Measures to Support the High Quality Development of Micro-Synthetic Industries ” , which provides support from multiple dimensions, such as out-of-sea incentives, integration of cultural brigades, and business settlement.
Thus, for the studios, the location of the shooting sites and focused policy support provide them with more dollar and flexible options. According to the BUG column, most of the short play companies in the industry now choose a strategy of multiple filming.
From a production point of view, the selection of the site was based on the suitability of the base scene, the industry profile, and the formation of a cluster of industries for the stand-up short play, according to the relevant authorities.
“We’re doing a little less than in previous years, but the classics and fine shows are still mainly being taken at the cross-sections.” According to the director.
According to the short-time producers, “the scenes of modern and old-age dramas are relatively easy to set, and most of them are stand-alone plays, with only focused on the male and female protagonists, and the background can be defunct, so the demand for reality is very low. However, if the production of a more high-quality cosmopolitan play requires the presentation of a complete cosmopolitan scene, the choice of a transvestite is preferred.”