Short drama apps are on track to make $3 billion this year outside China—nearly triple last year. That’s still small compared to Netflix or YouTube, but it marks the creation of something that’s never existed: a functioning marketplace for short form scripted storytelling.
Shorts have been around for more than a century. The Oscars first recognized them in 1932. The Emmys added a Short Form category in 2011. And yet, for most of that history, short form was second-class—stuck between pure art and proof-of-concept. Theaters and TV networks didn’t buy it. Streamers didn’t want it.
YouTube finally built a system to monetize short form—but for everything except scripted drama. It works for how-to’s, unboxings, comedy skits, dance videos, and even elaborate productions like Mr Beast’s. But serialized storytelling? Neither the UX nor the economics support it.
So the question becomes: if there’s finally a system to finance short form scripted, will that spark a Golden Age of Short Form?