Interviews by Leiphone with workers across China's AI short-drama industry described daily releases exceeding 1,500 titles, per-episode budgets squeezed under 50,000 yuan, and a hit rate estimated at roughly 4 in 1,000 — with almost no one outside the platforms making money. Interviewees said a show is largely abandoned if it fails to gain traction in the first three days of paid-traffic promotion, and that platforms have cut revenue shares, including Hongguo lowering payout coefficients for AI live-action-style and 3D animated shorts and removing some guarantees. The report also describes new roles such as prompt "gacha" operators who translate scripts into video-generation prompts, says AI widens gaps in directing and prompting skill, and cites DataEye data showing active AI short-drama producers fell from 1,216 to 698 in the first quarter of 2026; overseas expansion faces low payback rates and North American user acquisition costs of $5.28.

ByteDance·Seedance·Jianying·+4