The Salary Gap in the Overseas Expansion of Short Dramas: Translators Earn 10 Yuan per Hour, while Screenwriters Make Millions a Year
36Kr "Career Bonus" (ID: ZhiChangHongLi)
"After I finished the translation, I checked my income and found that my hourly wage was only 10 yuan," complained a part-time translator for overseas short dramas. In the same hot overseas short drama track, some screenwriters have already earned millions a year.
At the end of 2024, ByteDance "followed suit" and established an overseas short drama business team, and launched the overseas short drama app "Melolo", which features a free model. In addition to ByteDance, Kunlun Wanwei also plans to inject $500 million to invest in 1,000 overseas local short dramas. Meanwhile, many new positions related to overseas short dramas are emerging on recruitment platforms: local screenwriters, bilingual editors, bilingual makeup artists, overseas traffic investment experts...
The short drama model originated in China. Before its emergence, information flow advertisements related to online novels were common on Chinese short video platforms. Merchants used the most suspenseful and conflictive segments of online novels as video content to attract users to jump to read.
In August 2022, Maple Leaf Interactive, invested by Chinese Online, launched the short drama app ReelShort overseas, which can be regarded as the starting point of overseas short dramas. Two months later, Anyue Network, an online novel platform, quickly launched the short drama app FlexTV. Online novel platforms such as Dianzhong, Xinyue, Changdu, and Jiuzhou also launched overseas short drama apps the following year.
What may have attracted ByteDance's attention is perhaps the growth rate of various overseas short drama apps last year. Since May 2023, in-app purchases of short dramas going overseas have shown a significant increase. In November 2023, ReelShort surpassed TikTok and topped the free list of the US iOS entertainment chart, thus attracting wide attention to short dramas going overseas. One year later, Dianzhong's DramaBox overtook others and successfully ranked first in the download and in-app purchase rankings of overseas short drama apps.
36Kr "Career Bonus" (ID: ZhiChangHongLi)
Compared with the overseas market, the domestic short drama market is more competitive, and leading players have already achieved scale. According to the DataEye Research Institute, in Q3 2024, the top three short drama operation platforms were Fanqie, Dianzhong, and Jiuzhou, with traffic investment heat values of 1.398 billion, 850 million, and 574 million respectively, and the number of launched short dramas was 649, 252, and 222 respectively, all far ahead of other competitors.
Therefore, for domestic experts entering the market now, the overseas market is still "the earlier you land, the more chances you have."
However, for ordinary practitioners to seize the opportunity, they first need to figure out - is the overseas short drama an entertainment factory that exploits labor, or a utopia for filmmakers to create myths?
The person in control who solves the overseas shooting crisis in half a day ╱ 01
The money printers of various countries: mythology, the supernatural, and domineering CEO marriages ╱ 02
Reaping dividends in the regulatory vacuum of themes ╱ 03
The person in control who solves the overseas shooting crisis in half a day
Since it is in the development stage, most positions in overseas short dramas have not yet taken shape, and the demand is not clear. However, Director Wang Kunlin has noticed that her peers with overseas study backgrounds around her are turning to the field of overseas short dramas.
In the current situation where the overall film and television industry is shrinking, this emerging project is one of the few tracks that can still provide creative opportunities. "The startup rate of domestic projects is getting lower and lower. My friends recommended it to me several times before I decided to try this direction," she admitted.
The production of overseas short dramas is mainly divided into two models: domestic shooting and overseas shooting.
Although domestic shooting locations such as Qingdao, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Hainan have cost advantages, they face the problem of matching special actors. Director Xiao Xiyun pointed out: "Most of the white actors that can be found in China are of Slavic origin. Just as we can distinguish the facial differences between Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, North American audiences are also sensitive to the temperament differences of actors."
The accent problem further increases the production difficulty. Wang Kunlin's team once encountered a situation where the actor had a strong Eastern European accent. In the end, they had to add dubbing fees for some segments. In severe cases of accent problems, they even had to hire a dubbing teacher to redub the whole film in the later stage of shooting to improve the quality of the short drama.
The scheduling of overseas actors involves higher costs. If actors are invited from local European and American regions, the fees for extras and special actors will significantly increase the budget. However, with the entry of large companies such as ByteDance, the industry has begun to appear a "packaged" model - the platform centrally introduces foreign actors to participate in the shooting of multiple dramas at the same time, which not only reduces the cost of a single drama but also guarantees the income of actors. Actors can take on multiple dramas at the same time, and the previously worried about idle periods no longer exist.
In contrast, the overseas shooting system shows special advantages - the maturity of the foreign film and television industry can usually meet the shooting needs of short dramas. "There are actor booking platforms similar to Taobao abroad. The crew can select actors online. The actors bear their own transportation, accommodation, and meals, shoot according to the schedule, and leave immediately after completion. Under this mature mechanism, although the daily salary is higher, the comprehensive cost is actually lower."
● Xiao Xiyun (in the middle) with the actors (provided by the interviewee)
"Directors with overseas local living experience and the ability to grasp the advantages of domestic short dramas are very popular in the talent market," Director Xiao Xiyun pointed out. A set of standard production processes has been formed in the industry: the domestic team is responsible for script development and platform docking, the shooting is completed locally overseas, and the post-production is then transferred back to China. This cross - border cooperation model has given rise to the demand for compound talents, especially directors with both feature - film experience and cross - cultural backgrounds.
In Xiao Xiyun's view, except for the decision - makers (directors/producers), other members of the team can be foreign employees. A suitable producer should be able to take control of the situation, and can be found either in China or in the United States. Whether choosing a director or a producer, employers need to have a clear understanding of their character and ability. "The core principle for the requirements of people is that when shooting in the United States, any problems in any link can be resolved within half a day to a day."
"After shooting more, you will find that domestic producers and actor coordinators are more organized and much more efficient than foreign ones. The director controls the quality of the entire project. Only a director with good aesthetics and rich experience can produce good content. Choosing a domestic director, he can more easily understand what you want."
● The shooting scene of a short drama
In addition, bilingual talents are crucial in the process of short dramas going overseas. Among them, local screenwriters and bilingual editors are typical of many emerging positions.
Local screenwriters are mainly responsible for adapting Chinese scripts into versions suitable for the overseas market. Generally, they are "paid by the script", and the income for a script is about 10,000 RMB. The scripts of overseas short dramas come from various sources. Some are original, while others are adapted from domestic short dramas or IPs. For the latter, the platform will first cooperate with domestic copyright holders to obtain the scripts; then, through the hands of local screenwriters, according to the values and cultural concepts of the overseas market, analyze and disassemble the structure, exciting points, and plots of the drama, and finally reconstruct the script and the story.
Companies with low requirements for content quality usually only need ordinary translators who can directly translate the script. Such positions require at least a TEM - 8 level. The salary for full - time positions can reach 10,000 yuan. However, compared with formal recruitment, these translators are actually more likely to be interns or part - timers. The daily salary for intern positions of small - language translators is 100 - 200 yuan, and the income of part - timers is even more unstable - There are frequent posts on social media from part - time translators sharing their "sky - high" hourly wage of 10 yuan.
Bilingual short drama editors are in great market demand. Whether shooting overseas or in China, the post - production of overseas short dramas is basically done in China. It is generally believed in the industry that the labor cost in China is low and there are fewer affairs. At the same time, communicating with overseas editors will increase the time cost, and the production of content still needs on - site supervision. However, to save costs, sometimes it is inevitable to upload materials to the cloud and have domestic editors guided by overseas parties.
There is a shortage of post - production editors who can speak English in China. It is difficult for people who are not familiar with short drama content to edit well. "If there are bilingual personnel who can complete the editing in the United States, then short drama producers can carry out multiple projects at the same time without having to return to China for post - production after each shooting. This is the most ideal situation."
The money printers of various countries: mythology, the supernatural, and domineering CEO marriages
The pattern of overseas short dramas today has been formed by the competition among online novel giants.
In 2024, the top 10 regions in terms of in - app purchase revenue contribution of short drama apps were the United States, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Indonesia, Canada, Thailand, Malaysia, and Germany. The three giants led by Dianzhong Technology, Chinese Online, and Jiuzhou Technology occupy the vast majority of the market share, and the remaining small and medium - sized companies are striving to develop new markets through differentiation.
Compared with domestic short dramas, the shooting method of overseas short dramas is more inclined to the production model of feature films. Taking the European and American markets with higher film and television quality and willingness to pay as an example, users are more willing to pay for short dramas that have put effort into audio - visual language. Fast - paced, multi - reversal, and strong - emotion are not their first requirements.
The United States is a must - fight place for short dramas going overseas. The total in - app purchase revenue in this region is about $290 million, accounting for 50.82% of the global market. The leading apps are ReelShort by Maple Leaf Interactive, DramaBox by Dianzhong Technology, and GoodShort by Xinyue Technology. The US market accounts for 69%, 57%, and 66% of the total revenue of these apps respectively. American audiences prefer supernatural themes, such as werewolves and vampires. To meet the audio - visual habits of local users, short dramas often feature a slower pace and more attention to details and logic.
The overseas short drama app TopShort from Jiashu Technology targets the Japanese market and has gained many users through workplace micro - short dramas. According to the app ranking data of Sensor Tower, TopShort's ranking in the iOS download list of Japanese entertainment apps has been continuously rising. By the end of February 2024, it had surpassed Netflix and the local video app U - NEXT and ranked 6th.
Jiuzhou Culture chose to target the Southeast Asian market. The similar cultural parts and the large scale of mobile users make the move overseas easier. Emotional plots such as domineering CEOs from wealthy families and marriage entanglements can be directly launched in Southeast Asia through dubbing, which has prepared a large number of drama pools for the Southeast Asian short drama market and laid the foundation for short drama content.
The short drama app ShortTV was launched in September 2023. As soon as it appeared, it was well - received by users in markets such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. In January 2024, the download volume of ShortTV in Southeast Asia increased by 6 times month - on - month, and it first surpassed ReelShort to become the short drama app with the highest download volume in this market.
The Middle East market is mainly based on love and local mythology themes. Currently, the competition is relatively small - perhaps it is also a future market where small and medium - sized companies can explore differentiated products and content strategies.
36Kr "Career Bonus" (ID: ZhiChangHongLi)
Overseas local capital is not unaware. They are also eyeing the big cake of short dramas.
In 2023, the overseas short drama market was still dominated by Chinese overseas - going enterprises; by 2024, overseas local enterprises began to enter the market one after another. Short drama apps were launched in multiple countries - the local short drama platform VIGLOO in South Korea entered the market strongly by launching 50 original short dramas at once.
Reaping dividends in the regulatory vacuum of themes
The process process of short dramas is similar to that of the once "online big movies": first, there is a gold - rush period of disorderly development, then relevant policies and regulations are improved, vulgar content is eliminated, and finally, content production will enter a refined 2