Hollywood’s Obsession With Microdramas: The Problematic Appeal
▼ Summary
– Microdramas are a new form of cheaply produced, short-form storytelling from China that is gaining popularity in the US, with apps like ReelShort projected to generate $1.3 billion in US revenue this year.
– Hollywood companies such as Cineverse, Fox, and E! Entertainment are investing in microdrama apps, with new services like MicroCo and Verza TV launching to capitalize on this trend.
– Microdramas consist of 1- to 2-minute episodes based on romance tropes and are designed to hook viewers quickly, but they employ aggressive freemium models with expensive subscriptions and unpredictable ad-based rewards.
– The pricing is high, with unlimited access costing $19.99 per week and individual seasons costing $30-$50, leading to user frustration and complaints about opaque rewards systems that push people to pay.
– Despite strong revenue and growth, the business model risks sustainability, as users often turn to pirated content due to the high costs and annoying payment prompts.
Imagine a storytelling format so compelling it generates hundreds of millions in revenue, all while bypassing traditional giants like Netflix and YouTube. This phenomenon, known as microdramas, has captivated Hollywood after gaining traction in China and India. These bite-sized series, delivered through apps like ReelShort and DramaBox, are projected to earn $1.3 billion in the United States this year alone, with global revenues potentially reaching $8 billion.
Major players are racing to get involved. Cineverse and Banyan Ventures launched a service called MicroCo, E! Entertainment founder Alan Mruvka is preparing the Verza TV app, and Fox has invested in Holywater, the startup behind My Drama. Much of the coverage focuses on the business potential and the low-budget, non-union production environment, but rarely examines the actual user experience.
To understand the appeal, I spent time with ReelShort, the leading microdrama app in the US. The content itself is a world away from the high-concept, high-budget failure of Quibi. Microdramas are inexpensive, highly shareable shows made up of dozens of one- to two-minute episodes. They lean heavily into familiar romance tropes: handsome billionaires rescuing women from abusive partners, hidden identities, stolen inheritances, and mafia bad boys. Many characters inexplicably have a BDSM inclination.
It’s easy to dismiss these storylines, but as someone who enjoys mainstream hits like Bridgerton, I won’t pretend moral superiority. Guilty pleasures are perfectly valid. ReelShort excels at creating them, engineering narratives that hook viewers within the first five to eight episodes. Then, the paywall appears. Unlimited access carries a staggering weekly fee of $19.99, making a month of viewing roughly ten times more expensive than Netflix’s most basic plan.
A yearly subscription costs $200, and users can also purchase coin packages to unlock individual episodes. Buying enough coins to access an entire season typically runs between $30 and $50. This might seem reasonable until you realize that binge-watching a full season takes about as long as watching a standard movie.
A ReelShort representative did not respond to inquiries about its pricing model. The company emphasizes that viewing is technically free, as users can watch a few episodes daily without paying. Once the daily limit is reached, a freemium wall prompts payment. If you decline, you can watch advertisements to continue. The system is intentionally unpredictable. One day, an ad might unlock two episodes; the next day, it might only grant access to one. This unpredictability seems to be a core part of the app’s gamified rewards structure.
Just as you exhaust your ad opportunities, a pop-up reminds you to use the daily check-in feature, awarding 20 coins. Unlocking an episode typically costs 60 coins. You also earn 30 coins for every ten minutes of watch time, which sounds generous until you remember most episodes last barely two minutes. This might tempt you to start a new series just to accumulate enough coins to continue the one you actually want to watch.
ReelShort offers numerous ways to earn coins, many designed to embed the app deeply into your daily routine. Enabling mobile notifications for viewing reminders nets 30 coins. Providing your email address gives another 30. Following the company on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok awards 15 coins per platform. These tactics appear effective; the main ReelShort Instagram account boasts 8.6 million followers, while its YouTube channel has 9.6 million subscribers.
Beyond series-specific ads, you can watch up to 17 general advertisements per day, earning 20 coins per ad. This wouldn’t be terrible if the ads were tolerable. During my testing, I encountered one ad for a consumer goods brand and a few for Temu. The overwhelming majority promoted mobile games and other apps, including particularly frustrating mini-game ads that were nearly impossible to close.
This entire approach feels strikingly familiar to anyone who has played free-to-play mobile games. Microdrama apps have borrowed heavily from that industry. ReelShort’s parent company, Crazy Maple Studio, also operates several free-to-play titles like Makeover Date: Makeup ASMR. The company openly promotes these games within ReelShort as another method for earning coins. Download one, complete a level, and receive 30 to 50 coins. Of course, those games also feature their own ads, rewards, and coin systems.
I also reviewed user feedback on app stores and third-party sites. ReelShort maintains relatively high ratings, 4.3 stars on Google Play and 4.5 on the App Store. However, reading the actual reviews reveals a different story. Even five-star reviews commonly complain about the expensive subscription and the convoluted rewards system. Unsurprisingly, these issues dominate negative feedback, with one analysis finding that 47.8 percent of all negative reviews cited expensive pricing.
This frustrating, opaque system seems to be the point. As Creator Ventures managing partner Sasha Kaletsky noted earlier this year, this is “aggressive freemium.” While some content is technically free, the free version is made so unpleasant to use that paying becomes almost a necessity.
The strategy is clearly generating revenue. SensorTower estimates ReelShort had accumulated nearly half a billion dollars in global in-app revenue by March 2025. Microdrama apps continue growing, partly due to heavy spending on social ads. Competitor DramaWave reportedly acquires over 80 percent of its users through advertising on TikTok and other platforms.
Spending heavily to attract millions of users, then persistently nudging them toward exorbitant, short-term subscriptions can produce impressive revenue figures. These are the kinds of numbers that attract venture capital and Hollywood studios searching for the next trend. However, it’s a questionable foundation for a sustainable business. After one too many payment prompts, I simply searched for the show I was watching online. The first result was a pirated version on a streaming site that hosts dozens of other ReelShort series, a site frequently mentioned by users on Reddit.
If you frustrate your customers long enough, they will inevitably find their billionaire boyfriends somewhere else.
(Source: The Verge)
