Chinese “minidramas” on TikTok are becoming more popular in the U.S. with Gen Z viewers. “Minidramas,” a new genre originating in China, are short-form, TikTok-style soap operas where each episode is around two minutes long or shorter. The content is reminiscent of telenovelas with their “cheesy romance, over-the-top drama and abundant cliff-hangers, ” leaning into classic drama tropes like CEO romances, secret identities, and revenge plots, which gets many young viewers hooked with its “hilariously bad, oddly addictive” quality. The shows are mostly available on mobile apps like ReelShort and DramaBox, but as they’re now becoming more popular in the U.S. and seeking more Gen Z viewers, they’re showing on socials—the DramaBox TikTok account alone has 11M followers and over 5M likes. Brands are taking notice; Disney is investing in DramaBox’s accelerator program while Netflix is planning to test a vertical feed made up of clips from its content. (NBC)
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