Earning a Million in Seven Days: The Life - Changing Path of Short Drama Actors | Deep Dive Lite
Author | Lan Jie
Editor | Qiao Qian
On November 25th, Taiyuan Wusu Airport was crowded with people.
They came for the creator conference of the short - drama platform Hongguo. On more than a dozen large screens at the airport luggage carousel were the support posters of short - drama actress Wang Gege. The advertisement here can only be placed for a minimum of one week, costing tens of thousands of yuan. Some fans spent thousands of yuan to get an entry quota, but in fact, this event didn't even have ticket sales open.
A red bus with the photos of actor Zhang Chi pasted all over its body circled around the event venue from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. It was generously rented by the fans, not for carrying passengers, but just to let more people see the actor on the bus.
Wang Gege and Zhang Chi are two of the dozens of short - drama actors invited to the Hongguo creator conference. Among them, the most prominent one now is Liu Xiaoxu. He became the top star in the short - drama circle with the new hit short drama "Summer Fendra", which was launched in September and had a playback volume exceeding 4 billion times. The organizer, Hongguo, specially arranged for Liu Xiaoxu to be the last one to appear on the red - carpet session.
Similar star - chasing scenes also appeared at the Micro - short - drama Night in Hengdian at the beginning of November.
If we turn the clock back three years, this kind of scene was unimaginable. At that time, no awards, galas, or long - form dramas would make short - drama actors the protagonists.
The protagonists seem to have turned their fortunes around. Short - drama actors with hit dramas under their belts have seen their daily salaries rise from thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, and they have started to receive millions - yuan business endorsements. The long - drama industry has also started to extend an olive branch to these once - overlooked existences.
The fans are also going all out. After the popularity of "Summer Fendra", as a loyal fan of another short - drama top star Ke Chun, Qian Xia found a large number of posts on the Internet that belittled her idol, full of remarks like "Ke Chun is out of the limelight" and "Ke Chun can't compare with Liu Xiaoxu". One of her jobs is to report these negative comments and post positive ones at the same time. There are nearly 200 people in the comment - controlling group she belongs to.
A senior person in the film and television industry told 36Kr that the status of current short - drama top stars is comparable to that of second - tier or even first - tier actors in the traditional film and television industry. Compared with the previous situation where there was a "barrier" between short dramas and long - form dramas or even movies, the hit cross - circle works have provided a stepping - stone for short - drama actors. "If they can seize the opportunity and carry the traffic, they can become first - tier actors."
Three years ago, in the era of short dramas with forced "dumbing - down" content, actors were just insignificant cogs in the assembly line. It wasn't until good scripts, characters, and shot languages emerged that short - drama actors truly gained recognition and fame.
Short - drama Actors No One Cared About
History always repeats itself in a striking way.
In 1910, movies had begun to be favored by Wall Street capital, but the status of actors in the United States and even the world was very low. So much so that some hotels openly hung signs saying "No dogs or actors allowed". This discriminatory treatment forced actors to refuse to be credited in films, and studio bosses were happy about it because it could effectively contain the rise of actors' salaries.
However, this couldn't stop the audience's love for actors. They simply named their favorite actors after the studios, and titles like "Vitagraph Girl" and "Biograph Girl" emerged. Florence Lawrence was the "Biograph Girl" at that time.
The shrewd American film producer Carl Laemmle smelled a business opportunity from this. This master of marketing first fabricated false news about Florence's "accidental death". After the public opinion fermented, he arranged for the real Florence to appear and refute the rumors. This carefully - planned "life - and - death farce" successfully caught the attention of the whole United States, and the first true star in Hollywood was born.
Looking back at the rise of short - drama stars, it has some similarities with the development of the film industry.
At the beginning of 2023, the short - drama industry still had a rough edge. Relying on shoddy but extremely satisfying content, it created a new trend.
Also in this year, Hongguo Short Dramas, which originated from Tomato Novel, made a splash. Relying on the free model and aggressive promotion methods, it verified the success of the ByteDance model once again.
A person close to Hongguo Short Dramas told 36Kr that Zhang Chao, the person in charge of Tomato Novel and Hongguo Short Dramas, is a person who plans before acting. He likes to engage in business that has been proven successful in the industry, and short dramas are such a business. In order to snatch users, the Hongguo Short Dramas team at that time successfully applied for a daily consumption budget of 10 million yuan, regardless of losses.
The subsequent story is well - known in the industry. Tomato Novel took four years to achieve a daily active user base of nearly 100 million and a monthly active user base of nearly 200 million. Hongguo Short Dramas caught up with this achievement in just over a year.
In contrast, the film market in 2023 had not recovered from the impact of the pandemic. The long - drama industry bet on S - level dramas that required heavy investment, but was caught off - guard by the new thing of short dramas, which could be shot in seven days and recoup the cost in just over a month.
Actor Liu Boyang entered the short - drama industry at that time.
For Liu Boyang, who was professionally trained and had experience in traditional film and television shooting, it was a huge contrast.
In the past, the opening ceremony of a TV drama usually involved hundreds of people. In the short - drama industry, it became a gathering of just a dozen people. There were no cakes, fruits, backdrops, red envelopes, or professional shooting equipment. Only two single - lens reflex cameras stood there lonely. A great sense of panic welled up in his heart. "Am I regressing?" Liu Boyang thought to himself.
During the group photo session at the opening ceremony, the photographer shouted "3! 2! 1!", but Liu Boyang lowered his head immediately. At that time, he was most afraid of taking photos, fearing that his acquaintances would recognize him if the group photo was posted on WeChat Moments.
This was just the beginning. "It was extremely absurd," Liu Boyang recalled the short - drama plots at that time. He had to slap and choke the female lead, and also ask the female lead to donate kidneys and blood to the second and third female characters.
On the first day he arrived at the shooting site, he protested to the director, saying that the script was unreasonable. The director replied, "I also know it's unreasonable, but there's nothing I can do. This is just a task."
Countless tasks were assigned to the crew, which was difficult for Liu Boyang to handle, but it also contributed to the golden age of the industry.
Short dramas, with the fastest pace and emotions at the core, created a business miracle in 2023, with a turnover of over 100 million in eight days. The scale of the entire industry nearly tripled compared to the previous year.
However, the business model of short dramas at that time was not healthy. 80% - 90% of the revenue was used for promotion, and the production and distribution parties divided the remaining small portion. In order to earn more, everyone had to compress the shooting time as much as possible.
Behind this was the overwork of the entire industry, including the actors.
From his graduation in 2020 to 2023, Liu Boyang had no acting opportunities for three whole years. After entering the short - drama industry, he didn't dare to stop or pick scripts.
In the middle of 2023, Liu Boyang lived a life where he could only sleep for two or three hours a day for three months. At the beginning of shooting short dramas, in order to complete the heavy shooting tasks, he had to get up at 5 a.m., shoot until nearly 10 p.m. or even 2 a.m., and then go back to the hotel to read the script and prepare for the next day's scenes.
At that time, when the singer CoCo Lee passed away, he described his state at that time - under extreme fatigue, "my mind was blank, I had no emotions, and no desires at all."
Actress Li Jing had a similar feeling. She joked that short - drama actors don't have the "freedom to go to the toilet". At the shooting site, they need to ask for leave to go to the toilet, and if they take too long, someone will come to urge them. Afraid of delaying the shooting process, she would rather eat less and try not to go to the toilet during shooting, or solve it all during the ten - plus - minute meal break.
In contrast to this busy and productive state, people remember the short drama "Wushuang" that had a recharge of over 100 million in 2023, but they can't remember the names of the actors making exaggerated expressions on the screen. What's more important is when the next slap will be heard.
Different from the common practice in the traditional entertainment industry of addressing each other as "teacher", on the short - drama shooting set, people are more often addressed by their roles like "female lead", "male lead", "second female", "second male". At that time, the shooting time of short dramas was too short, with an average of seven days to finish a drama. The staff was constantly changing, and actors might have to work in multiple crews at the same time. It was too difficult to remember names.
A short - drama screenwriter also told 36Kr that in the process of short - drama creation, there is an unwritten power hierarchy. Besides the investors who are closest to the money, the screenwriter has the most say, because in the pay - to - watch era, every "hook" that stimulates users to spend money is set by the screenwriter, and actors are at the bottom of this chain.
However, since the second half of 2024, some things have been changing.
The Birth of Superstars
In the story of Florence Lawrence, the love of fans was the starting point for the birth of a superstar, and the short - drama industry is no exception.
At the short - drama event in Hengdian at the beginning of November, there was such a scene - four or five middle - aged women in their fifties who came from other places were waiting at the exit of the passage where the short - drama actors left. They were holding large bouquets of flowers, and there were suitcases filled with support materials beside them.
The unlicensed taxis had shuttled back and forth to pick up and drop off five or six batches of passengers, but they still waited patiently. When asked which star they liked, the phone screen of one fan lit up with the answer.
Several hours later, the target actor finally appeared. They started shouting "darling", ignored the inquiries from the security guards, and nimbly slipped into the venue, surrounding the actor tightly.
After the Micro - short - drama Night in Hengdian, several middle - aged women are taking a photo with their idol. Photo taken by the author.
As a short - drama actor, Bai Ye has also been chased by fans this year.
At first, Bai Ye thought it was a staff member she knew from the neighboring crew calling her. But when she pushed through the crowd, she saw two strange and well - dressed girls.
These were two fans who came from Hangzhou to visit Bai Ye in Hengdian. They had been quietly hiding in the crowd. It wasn't until Bai Ye finished shooting a scene and was about to change locations that they called out "Xiaoye", Bai Ye's nickname.
During the process of these changes, there was a key figure - Ke Chun (real name "Zhao Kechun").
In February 2025, just after the Spring Festival ended with discussions about the lackluster movie market, Liu Boyang was filming on the set when suddenly someone shouted that a drama had become a hit, called "What a Good Girl". Soon, the actors, the photography teacher, and even the stagehands in the crew started discussing this drama.
Within seven days of its launch, the total viewership of "What a Good Girl" exceeded 1 billion, and the number of fans of the lead actor Ke Chun soared by more than 1.5 million. His related topics began to appear on Weibo's hot search as frequently as those of traditional film and television stars.
Qian Xia started liking Ke Chun last September, but after her idol became extremely popular, she couldn't even get into the fan group.
Compared with traditional film and television stars who mostly interact with fans on Weibo, the base camp for short - drama stars and their fans is Douyin. Since February this year, in order to get first - hand information, Qian Xia tried to join the group almost every day for three consecutive months. But there were too many people with the same idea. Ke Chun created fifty or sixty Douyin groups with a limit of 1000 people each, and Qian Xia never succeeded in her applications. Finally, she had to pay an annual fee of thousands of yuan to join the paid group.
More notably, Ke Chun, like a traditional film and television star, has gained the recognition of fashion magazines, long - form drama variety shows, and even brand owners.
This year, Ke Chun has successively become a trainee in the third season of the variety show "Beyond the Infinite Class", served as the "brand friend" of the skincare brand FunnyElves, appeared on the cover of the magazine "Men's Fashion", and joined the long - form drama "Summer Blaze" in November, playing the second male lead.
According to industry insiders' estimates, Ke Chun's acting fee is about several million yuan, which is equivalent to the income he would get from shooting dozens of short dramas at the top - star short - drama actor's rate.
Liu Boyang described his feelings when he saw the emergence of short - drama stars like this: "I'm really happy for him. I think there is hope in shooting short dramas, and actors in our industry can also be seen by people." In the past, he shot short dramas just for a living, but now he hopes to become a top actor in this industry.
In the more distant future, short - drama actors still hope to return to the traditional film and television industry, which holds their real star dreams. Before that, it's more important to get good scripts and shoot the next hit drama.
Before Ke Chun, there were short - drama actors whose names were remembered. In July 2023, a short drama called "Oh, the Empress Comes to Work" was launched. Subsequently, it achieved a cumulative recharge turnover of over 200 million yuan and produced the "queen of short dramas", Xu Yizhen.
At that time, as the first - generation top star in short dramas, Xu Yizhen's improvement was just an increase in her daily salary from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan. It wasn't until Ke Chun's appearance that a short - drama star with comprehensive commercial value was truly born.
The timing of Ke Chun's and "What a Good Girl"'s appearance was quite opportune. At the beginning of this year, it was the node when the short - drama market shifted from the pay - to - watch model to the free model. "What a Good Girl" proved that the free short - drama market is large enough and that short - drama actors can break through the circle," a practitioner said.
Tracing the origin of these drastic changes, supervision is an unavoidable factor.
Since the end of 2023, the National Radio and Television Administration has introduced a series of management policies targeting the problems in short dramas. Shoddy content has gradually become history, and the industry has started to transform towards high - quality productions. High - quality short dramas retain the emotional intensity that long - form dramas can hardly match and make up for the shortcomings in the plot, becoming products that can carry users' complex emotions.
In this process, the industry has started to seek more professional actors and more complete character building.
The person in charge of the top short - drama brand Tinghua Island said in a sharing session that one of the trends in short dramas this year is that the characters in the dramas have changed from mere tools to real people. "Our most important mission is to build characters."
Meanwhile, the free model represented by Hongguo Short Dramas has lowered the threshold for the audience to