(ECNS) -- AI tools are enabling individual creators in China to handle tasks once performed by entire production teams, giving rise to a new “one-person crew” model in the country’s micro-drama industry.
Jiang Huan, a 30-year-old former finance worker, is among those who have entered the industry. She uses AI to develop characters and scenes from scripts, generate video clips, and add subtitles and sound effects during editing. With a computer and a suite of AI tools, she can produce one or two episodes, each three to five minutes long, a day.
Major Chinese platforms released a combined 239,000 micro-dramas in the second quarter of 2026, including 153,000 AI-generated micro-dramas, which accounted for about 64% of the total, according to the China Netcasting Services Association.
At Jiang’s company, more than 10 employees independently produce AI micro-dramas, most of whom are aged 25 to 28. Company co-founder Niu Haoran said AI has sharply reduced production time and costs. Computing costs are below 200 yuan per minute, bringing the cost of a roughly 50-minute production to around 10,000 yuan ($1,500). Such a production can be completed in about a week, compared with roughly a month for conventional filming and editing.
New rules governing micro-dramas issued by the National Radio and Television Administration took effect on Sept. 1, as the industry shifts from rapid expansion toward a greater emphasis on originality and quality.
Zhao Hui, a professor at the Communication University of China, said “one-person crew” is likely to coexist with, rather than replace, industrial production teams, as competition in the sector increasingly shifts from technical production toward storytelling, aesthetics and creativity.
(By Helen Mo, intern Yang Hongran)
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