题图。

Until last year, Ty Coker, a 28-year-old voice actor who lives in Missouri, mostly voiced video games and animations. But in December, they got a casting call for their first shot at live-action content: a Chinese series called Adored by the CEO, which was being remade for an American audience. Coker was hired to dub one of the main characters.

28岁的配音演员泰-科克尔（Ty Coker）住在密苏里州，去年以前，他主要为视频游戏和动画片配音。但在12月，他接到了第一次真人配音的选角通知：一部名为《总裁爱上我》的中国电视剧正在为美国观众翻拍。科克尔受邀为其中一个主要角色配音。

But you won’t find Adored by the CEO on TV or Netflix. Instead, it’s on FlexTV, a Chinese app filled with short dramas like this one. The shows on FlexTV are shot for phone screens, cut into about 90 two-minute episodes, and optimized for today’s extremely short attention span. Coker calls it “soap operas for the TikTok age.”

不过，你不会在电视或Netflix上看到《总裁爱上我》。取而代之的是FlexTV，一个充斥着类似短剧的中文应用程序。FlexTV上的节目专为手机屏幕拍摄，剪辑成约90集，每集两分钟，并针对当今人们极短的注意力进行了优化。科克尔称其为“TikTok 时代的肥皂剧”。

In the past few years, these short dramas have become hugely popular in China. They often span nearly a hundred episodes, but since each episode is only one or two minutes long, the whole series is no longer than a traditional movie. The most successful domestic productions make tens of millions of dollars in a few days. The entire market of short dramas in China was worth over $5 billion in 2023.

近几年来，这些短剧在中国大受欢迎。这些短剧通常有近百集，但由于每集只有一两分钟，因此整部剧的长度并不比一部传统电影长。最成功的国产剧在几天内就能赚到数千万元。2023年，中国整个短剧市场的价值超过50亿美元。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


This success has motivated a few companies to try replicating the business model outside China. Not only is FlexTV translating and dubbing shows already released in China, but it has also started filming shows in the US for a more authentically American viewing experience.

这一成功促使一些公司尝试在中国以外复制这种商业模式。FlexTV不仅对已在中国上映的节目进行翻译和配音，还开始在美国拍摄节目，以提供更纯正的美国式观看体验。

It’s easy to compare apps like these to Quibi, a high-profile video service that infamously failed after less than a year in 2020.

人们很容易将此类应用与Quibi进行比较，Quibi是一项备受瞩目的视频服务，但在2020年推出不到一年就以失败告终。

But these latest Chinese apps are different. They don’t aim for slick, expensive productions. Instead, they choose simple scxts, shoot an entire series in two weeks, market it heavily online, and move on to the next project if it doesn’t stick.

但这些最新的中国应用程序有所不同。他们的目标不是华而不实、昂贵的作品。相反，他们选择简单的剧本，在两周内拍摄整个系列，在网上大力推销，如果不成功就继续进行下一个项目。

“The biggest difference between short dramas and films is that they provide different things. We have to analyze the psychological needs of our audience and understand what they want to see … and we try to provide some emotional values,” xiangchen Gao, the chief operations officer of FlexTV, tells MIT Technology Review.

“短片和电影最大的区别在于它们提供的东西不同。我们必须分析观众的心理需求，了解他们想看什么，并且我们尝试提供一些情感价值。”FlexTV首席运营官高祥辰告诉《麻省理工科技评论》。

When a show finds the right audience, it can generate significant revenue in the US too. The top-grossing show on FlexTV can bring in $2 million a week, while the production costs less than $150,000, Wang says.

当节目找到合适的观众时，它也可以在美国产生可观的收入。王说，FlexTV上最卖座的节目每周可以带来200万美元的收入，而制作成本不到15万美元。

Several other apps, like ReelShort and DramaBox, are also racing to bring Chinese short dramas to an international audience. They frequently top app stores’ download charts and produce blockbuster shows. Short dramas have been proven to work in China. It’s not always easy to replicate a business model in a different market, but if they succeed, they could be China’s next big cultural export.

ReelShort和DramaBox等其他几款应用程序也在竞相将中国短剧带给国际观众。它们经常在应用商店的下载排行榜上名列前茅，并制作出大片。短剧在中国已被证明行之有效。在不同的市场复制一种商业模式并非易事，但如果它们取得成功，将成为中国下一个重要的文化输出口。
The roots in Chinese web novels 源于中国网文

Short dramas like Adored by the CEO are often adapted from another cultural product that is distinctly Chinese: web novels.

像《总裁爱上我》这样的短剧，往往改编自另一种具有中国特色的文化产品：网文。

Web novels are a unique form of literature that has been popular on the Chinese internet for much of the last two decades: long stories that are written and posted chapter by chapter every day. Each chapter can be read in less than 10 minutes, but installments will keep being added for months if not years. Readers become avid fans, waiting for the new chapter to come out every day and paying a few cents to access it.

网文是一种独特的文学形式，在过去二十年的大部分时间里一直流行于中国互联网上：长篇小说每天一章一章地写，一章一章地发。每一章的阅读时间不超过10分钟，但连续数月甚至数年都会有新的章节发布。读者成为狂热的粉丝，每天都在等待新章节的发布，并支付几分钱来阅读。

While some talented Chinese book authors got their big break by writing web novels, the majority of these works are the popcorn of literature, offering daily bite-size dopamine hits. For a while in the 2010s, some found an audience overseas too, with Chinese companies setting up websites to translate web novels into English.

虽然一些才华横溢的中国作家通过写网文获得了巨大的成功，但这些作品大多数都是文学中的爆米花，每天都能给人带来一口多巴胺。2010年代时，一些网文在海外也找到了读者，中国公司纷纷建立网站，将网文翻译成英文。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


But in the age of TikTok, long text posts have become less popular online, and the web-novel industry is looking to pivot. Business executives have realized they can adapt these novels into super-short dramas. Both forms aim for the same market: people who want something quick to kill time in their commute, or during breaks and lunch.

但在TikTok时代，长文本帖子在网上已经不再那么受欢迎，网文行业正在寻求转型。企业高管已经意识到他们可以将这些小说改编成超短剧。两种形式都针对相同的市场：想要在通勤、休息和午餐期间快速消磨时间的人。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Many of the leading Chinese short-drama apps today work closely with Chinese web-novel companies. ReelShort is partially owned by COL Group, one of the largest digital publishers in China, with a treasure trove of novels that are ready for adaptation.

如今，许多领先的中国短剧应用程序都与中国网文公司密切合作。ReelShort由中文在线部分拥有，中文在线是中国最大的数字出版商之一，拥有大量可供改编的小说。

To get a quick sense of what these stories are like, you just need to take a look at their titles: President’s Sexy Wife, The Bride of the Wolf King, Boss Behind the Scenes Is My Husband, or The New Rich Family Grudge.

想要快速了解这些故事是什么样的，你只需要看一下它们的标题：《总裁的性感妻子》、《狼王的新娘》、《幕后老板是我丈夫》或《新豪门恩怨》。

One of the highest-grossing shows on FlexTV is called Mr. Williams! Madame Is Dying. It’s a corny romance story about a love triangle, ultra-rich families, cancer, rebirth, and redemption, and it was adapted from a Chinese web novel that has nearly 1,300 chapters. The original story has been turned into a Chinese short drama, but FlexTV decided to shoot another version in Los Angeles for an international audience.

FlexTV上收入最高的节目之一名为《威廉姆斯先生！夫人快死了》。这是一个关于三角恋、豪门、癌症、重生和救赎的老套爱情故事，改编自一部近1300章的中国网文。原版故事已被改编成中国短剧，但FlexTV决定在洛杉矶为国际观众拍摄另一个版本。

These short dramas prioritize quick, oversimplified stories of love, wealth, betrayal, and revenge, sometimes featuring mythical creatures like vampires and werewolves. Stories of marrying into a rich family attract men, while stories with a powerful female protagonist in control of her life appeal to women, says Gao, the COO of FlexTV.

这些短剧优先考虑快速、简单直接的爱情、财富、背叛和复仇故事，有时以吸血鬼和狼人等神话生物为主角。FlexTV首席运营官高表示，嫁入豪门的故事吸引了男性，而女主人公掌握自己生活的强大故事则吸引了女性。

“Quibi mostly served the artistic pursuits of directors and producers. They thought their tastes were better than the general public and their work was to be appreciated by the elites,” he says, “What we are making is more like fast-moving consumer goods. It’s rooted in the needs of ordinary users.”

“Quibi主要服务于导演和制片人的艺术追求。他们认为自己的品味高于普通大众，他们的工作是要得到精英阶层的赞赏，”他说，“我们做的更像是快速消费品。它植根于普通用户的需求。”
Translating the story to a US audience 将故事翻译给美国观众
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Still, no matter how universal the plots are, these short dramas need to be adapted to their local audience.

尽管如此，无论情节多么普遍，这些短剧都需要适应当地观众。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Ty Coker’s work is one example. The character they voiced, a personal assistant to the male protagonist, was named Dawei Hu in the original Chinese production. But in the English dubbing, “Dawei Hu” became “David Hughes.” All the other characters, as well as the geographical references, received similar treatments, while the visuals didn’t change. Sometimes the results of this straightforward swap method are a little jarring. “They would mention: ‘Oh, so and so is coming in from New York. And it was like, okay, I don’t think that character is originally from New York, but we’ll roll with it,” Coker says.

泰·科克尔(Ty Coker)的作品就是一个例子。他们配音的角色是男主角的私人助理，在中国原版中被命名为胡大为。但在英文配音中，“Dawei Hu”变成了“David Hughes”。所有其他角色以及地理参考都受到类似的处理，而视觉效果没有改变。有时，这种直接对调方法的结果会让人觉得有些突兀。“他们会提到：‘哦，某某从纽约来了。’”科克尔说，“好吧，我不认为这个角色最初来自纽约，但我们也可以接受。”

This “Americanization” could make it easier for some viewers to follow and remember the show. “My mom, who watches a lot of soap operas—she’d probably find it easier to follow if everyone has American names,” Coker says. It reminds Coker of anime shows they watched as a child, which would substitute Western names for the Japanese ones.

这种“美国化”可以让一些观众更容易关注和记住该节目。“我妈妈看了很多肥皂剧，如果每个人都有美国名字，她可能会更容易理解，”科克尔说。这让科克尔想起了他们小时候看过的动漫节目，这些动漫节目会用西方的名字代替日本的名字。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


But that’s not where the localization efforts end. With shows that are later dubbed into a different language, there’s always going to be a feeling of mismatch. That’s why short-drama platforms are now filming their own productions with translated scxts and non-Chinese actors, sometimes even in Hollywood. It costs much more than dubbing an already-made show, but they believe it’s worth it.

但这并不是本土化工作的终点。对于后来被配制成不同语言的节目，总会有一种不匹配的感觉。这就是为什么短剧平台现在用翻译后的剧本和非中国演员来拍摄自己的作品，有时甚至在好莱坞。这样比为已经制作好的节目配音的成本要高得多，但他们认为这是值得的。

FlexTV has just finished filming a new show in Los Angeles. Named Lost in Darkness, it is about a visually impaired woman trying to figure out which of two male characters murdered her father. The production took 10 days in total, with 34 actors filming over 150 scenes. It cost between $150,000 and $200,000.

FlexTV刚刚在洛杉矶完成了一部新节目的拍摄。该剧名为《迷失在黑暗》，讲述了一名视障女性试图找出两个男性角色中哪一个谋杀了她父亲的故事。该片制作总共耗时10天，34名演员拍摄了150多个场景。它的成本在15万美元到20万美元之间。

Roger Chen, a producer of the show, has been instrumental in bringing short dramas to the US. He originally produced traditional-length movies and animations in the States but formed a new company called Purple Filter last year, after noticing the demand for Chinese-adapted stories. His company now coordinates between Chinese platforms and the LA filming industry, scouting actors, directors, and producers who are interested in this new form of content.

该剧的制片人罗杰·陈（Roger Chen）在将短剧引入美国方面发挥了重要作用。他最初在美国制作传统长度的电影和动画，但在注意到对中国改编故事的需求后，去年成立了一家名为Purple Filter的新公司。他的公司在中国平台和洛杉矶电影业之间进行协调，寻找对这种新形式内容感兴趣的演员、导演和制片人。

He admits these shows can be a hard sell for actors in the US.

他承认这些节目对于美国演员来说可能很难推销。

“An episode of a short drama is only one and a half minutes long, so the plot buildup is short, if there is any … Actors who are accustomed to traditional scxts find it hard to accept,” Chen says. “But we discovered that it’s necessary to have strong conflicts and quick plot twists. This is the unique content that suits the smartphone medium.”

“短剧一集只有一分半钟，所以情节构建很短，如果存在构建的话……习惯传统剧本的演员很难接受，”陈说。“但我们发现，强烈的冲突和快速的情节曲折是有必要的。这是适合智能手机媒体的独特内容。”

His company has worked with most of the major platforms, including DramaBox and FlexTV. Meanwhile, there are more and more teams like Chen’s joining the American short-drama industry. “We believe that media content for phones will become a mainstream trend,” he says.

他的公司与大多数主要平台都有合作，包括DramaBox和FlexTV。与此同时，越来越多像陈这样的团队加入美国短剧行业。“我们相信手机媒体内容将成为主流趋势”他说。
A well-oiled business in targeted ads 定向广告领域运转良好的业务

The business model of these short dramas is one that American TV audiences are mostly not familiar with. Unlike most American streaming services, which require subscxtions, Chinese platforms for streaming and web novels use a business model of paying by the episode or chapter. Essentially, the first 10 or so episodes are always available for free, but once users are hooked, they need to pay a certain amount to watch each episode. It resembles the microtransaction mechanism in mobile games, which Chinese companies, like the developer of the global hit Genshin Impact, also perfected. Users can quickly rack up thousands in payments by buying small items in-game here and there.

这些短剧的商业模式是美国电视观众大多不熟悉的。与大多数需要订阅的美国流媒体服务不同，中国的流媒体和网文平台采用按集或章节付费的商业模式。本质上，前10集左右总是免费的，但一旦用户上瘾，就需要为后续观看每一集支付一定的费用。它类似于手机游戏中的微交易机制，中国公司（例如全球热门游戏《原神》的开发商）也完善了这一机制。用户只需在游戏中购买一些小道具，就能迅速获得数千元的收入。

FlexTV has a similar tactic. You can pay $5 for 500 in-app coins, which in return unlock about seven episodes. A whole series therefore can cost around $50, but there are also small tasks users can do in the app to earn free rewards, like watching ads, posting about the app on social media, and doing daily check-ins.

FlexTV也有类似的策略。您可以支付5美元购买500个应用内硬币，作为回报可以用来解锁大约七集视频。因此，整个系列的成本约为50美元，但用户也可以在应用程序中执行一些小任务来获得免费奖励，例如观看广告、在社交媒体上发布有关该应用程序的信息以及进行每日签到。

Evidently, some people are willing to pay, as some of these shows are starting to see serious revenues. Gao shares that Mr. Williams! Madame Is Dying is bringing in over $2 million in user payments a week. Similar apps have also reported significant revenues. ReelShort made $22 million in December 2023, the company told the Wall Street Journal, and its global download count has already surpassed that of the ill-fated Quibi.

显然，有些人愿意付费，因为其中一些节目已经开始获得可观的收入。高分享了《威廉姆斯先生！夫人快死了》每周带来超过200万美元的用户付款的例子。类似的应用程序也报告了可观的收入。该公司告诉《华尔街日报》，ReelShort在2023年12月赚了2200万美元，其全球下载量已经超过了命运多舛的Quibi。

But there’s a caveat: these phenomenal numbers are also driven by heavy ad spending, which is an essential part of the business model. While it’s cheap to make these shows (around $150,000 per show if filmed in the US), millions of dollars are then spent on pushing them to prospective audiences. For Mr. Williams! Madame Is Dying, for example, the company had to spend $1 million on ads to get over $2 million in revenues.

但需要注意的是：这些惊人的数字也是由大量广告支出推动的，而广告支出是商业模式的重要组成部分。虽然制作这些节目的成本很低（如果在美国拍摄，每部剧的成本约为15万美元），但向潜在观众推广这些节目的费用却高达数百万美元。以《威廉姆斯先生！夫人快死了》为例，公司不得不花费100万美元做广告，以获得超过200万美元的收入。

FlexTV relies on targeted advertising through major platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok. These platforms allow them to choose what kind of audience they want the ads to impress. For Mr. Williams! Madame Is Dying, FlexTV targeted “young women between the ages of 20 and 40, who like romance content and reading,” says Gao.

FlexTV依靠Google、Meta和TikTok等主要平台进行定向广告。这些平台允许他们对期望广告给什么样的受众留下深刻的印象进行选择。高说，《威廉姆斯先生！夫人快死了》中，FlexTV的目标受众是“20至40岁之间、喜欢浪漫内容和阅读的年轻女性”。

For each dollar spent on advertising, the target return on investment is at least $1.30 to $1.50, says Gao. The viral popularity of short dramas in China is no accident but the result of a well-oiled digital marketing industry that has adjusted to the TikTok age.

高说，每花一美元做广告，目标投资回报率至少为1.30至1.50美元。短剧在中国的病毒式流行并非偶然，这是数字营销行业适应TikTok时代的良好结果。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Despite early successes, the short-drama business inside China is now starting to run into difficulties. As its popularity grows, the Chinese government has started to censor it much as it does the film and TV industry. In a three-month period ending in February 2023, the government banned 25,300 short-drama series (totaling 1.3 million episodes) for being too violent, too sexually suggestive, or too trashy. Chinese short-video platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou have since been routinely removing shows or restricting their producers from buying targeted ads.

尽管早期取得了成功，但中国的短剧业务现在开始遇到困难。随着它越来越受欢迎，中国政府开始像电影和电视行业一样对其进行审查。在截至2023年2月的三个月内，政府禁止了25300部短剧（总计130万集），理由是过于暴力、过于性暗示或过于垃圾。此后，抖音和快手等中国短视频平台经常删除短剧或限制其制作者购买定向广告。

This is also part of the reason why companies like ReelShort and FlexTV are looking to expand in foreign markets, where the risks of censorship are much lower. The short-drama industry in the US is akin to what it was like in China in 2021, says Gao, which means there’s little competition and plenty of room to grow. The company plans to produce shows in six languages in the future, but North America will remain its most important market.

这也是ReelShort和FlexTV等公司寻求在海外市场扩张的部分原因，因为那里的审查风险要低得多。高说，美国的短剧行业与2021年中国的情况类似，这意味着竞争很少，有很大的增长空间。该公司计划未来以六种语言制作节目，但北美仍将是其最重要的市场。

Ultimately, they’re betting that these dopamine-inducing mini soap operas will appeal to audiences regardless of their culture or language. “We don’t think Chinese and American audiences have fundamental differences in taste,” Gao says. “Chinese web novels have studied human nature deeply, and they do a great job at evoking emotions. scxtwriters and directors who excelled in China can capture everyone’s universal desires.”

最终，他们押注这些引发多巴胺的迷你肥皂剧将吸引观众，无论他们的文化或语言如何。“我们认为中国和美国观众的品味没有根本差异，”高说。“中国的网文对人性的研究很深入，在情感的唤起方面做得很好。中国优秀的编剧和导演能够抓住每个人的普遍愿望。”