A shy hockey team assistant has a crush on the popular star player. A woman finds herself in between two werewolf clans battling for power. A Chinese heiress is forced to marry a disguised pauper who is secretly a prince. The list goes on.

These are all real, and extremely popular, premises of micro dramas: the new style of soap operas that have amassed a giant following in recent years.

Like bite-sized segments of “Twilight,” these stories aren’t necessarily modest or tame. They often contain scandalous or outrageous plots alongside captivating titles, like ShortMax’s “Seduce my Ex’s Brother-in-Law” or “The CEO’s Tempting Secretary.” ReelShort’s most popular series, “The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband,” has amassed over 494 million views.

The concept originated in China and is originally called “Duanju.” They were introduced on the Youku Tudou app in 2013 but gained significant popularity after spreading to apps like Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese counterpart) and Kuaishou. Eventually, they paved their way to screens internationally.

While Americans most often see ads for micro dramas on TikTok, these shorts don’t belong to the app. It is where they are often promoted; the entirety of the series is typically behind a paywall on another app. Some current micro drama apps include ReelShort, GoodShort, DramaBox and ShortMax.

Many of these designated apps offer a “freemium” model, in which the first few episodes a user watches are free, but the rest are locked behind a subscription. On ReelShort, you can buy “coins” to unlock individual episodes, or pay a weekly subscription of $19.99 for unlimited access.

Duanju’s expansion has brought about significant changes, especially in the past year. The medium has provided a lifeline for many Hollywood-based actors and filmmakers who are currently navigating a struggling industry. Its format allows for a low-cost filming process and can often produce loads of content in a shorter amount of time compared to a TV show, and the revenue is only growing.

According to Deadline, “the global micro-drama market generated $1.4B in 2024 and is forecast to reach $9.5B by 2030.” And aside from China, “the U.S. is the most lucrative market for micro-dramas, with revenues reaching $819M in 2024, and projected to rise to $3.8B by 2030.”

In fact, a group led by some of Hollywood’s industry giants, such as Lloyd Braun, Jana Winograde and Susan Rovner, is taking its stab at the genre with their app, MicroCo. Since the medium emerged from China so recently, there isn’t an established U.S.-based kingpin – at least not yet. MicroCo plans to use AI-generated animation to minimize costs, a practice that has already stirred up criticism.

Aside from opening doors for filmmakers, micro dramas may be piling on to an already corrosive cognitive problem. For internet users, the short and sweet episodes are perfectly tailored for already shrinking attention spans.

In an interview with the American Psychological Association, professor of informatics Gloria Mark, Ph.D., said her research shows that overall attention span has decreased by 73% since 2004. This is likely in part due to activities that aren’t necessarily engaging or require much thought, like scrolling through social media.

For a budding industry bound to phones, social media is the ideal platform to reach an eager audience – young people. According to a 2024 survey from Intelligent.com, a website that provides students with education data and analysis, around 47% of undergraduate students use TikTok daily. With so many young people online, micro dramas have found the perfect opportunity to advertise.

“They confuse me, and I want to watch more to see what it’s about because I’m curious,” Brenna Cline, a senior at the University of Oregon, said. “I think they’re pretty cringy, but sometimes they do suck me in a little bit and I finish the ad.”

Micro drama companies know that their content is outlandish and just long enough to pique interest. When shown a minute-long telenovela ad, a social media user can be enticed just enough to download the promoted app for more. By breadcrumbing an audience from large platforms like TikTok, micro drama apps have wormed their way into the minds (and wallets) of millions.

So while micro dramas may be a saving grace for the entertainment industry, they may also be a harrowing sign of what’s to come: the slow and janky death of full-length film, fueled by the same CEOs that are love interests in its stories.