Broadcasters, film and drama production and distribution companies, and star directors are entering the short-form drama market in quick succession. The move appears to be a strategic effort to find a breakthrough as the global short-form market experiences rapid growth while long-form content such as films and dramas faces a downturn.
According to industry sources on the 18th, following OTT platform Tving and broadcaster MBC, film distributor Showbox (086980), drama and film production companies Fan Entertainment and Kidari Studio, and KT Studio Genie have begun producing short-form dramas. Unlike typical short-form content used as promotional bait, short-form dramas are complete narratives with full story arcs in each video. Each episode runs up to two minutes, with series comprising 50 to 150 episodes. Watching an entire drama takes approximately two to three hours. The format's fast pacing and quick consumption time have made it a new global trend, with the market already worth tens of trillions of won annually.
According to global market research firm Research and Markets, the global short drama market grew from $6.55 billion (approximately 9.63 trillion won) in 2024 to $7.23 billion (approximately 10.63 trillion won) in 2025. The market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 10.6% over the next seven years, reaching $14.69 billion (21.58 trillion won) by 2032.
Tving was the first in the industry to launch short-form content last year, followed by MBC. Tving released titles including "Becoming a Chaebol Through Plastic Surgery" and "Supercar Cinderella Story" in the second half of last year. MBC premiered "The Man-Eating Swamp: Vengeful Spirit of Susal" in Japan through the Japanese short drama platform Kanta.
This year, film distributors and drama production companies have ramped up short-form drama production, heating up the market.
KT Studio Genie's debut short-form dramas achieved notable success, reaching No. 1 in global markets. Following their January release, "The Cleaning Lady's Second Marriage" topped DramaBox while "Natural Encounter Clubhouse" ranked first on ReelShort.
KT Studio Genie began preparing for the short-form business in April last year after observing global market growth. The company partnered with DramaBox to host a short-form drama screenplay competition, working to discover original intellectual property and build global distribution pipelines. Oh Ki-je, Managing Director of KT Studio Genie's Content Business Division, said, "Demand for Korea's premium short-form content is rapidly expanding, particularly in North America and Southeast Asia. Short-form will become mainstream daily content, going beyond snack culture."
Showbox, the film distributor behind 10-million-viewer hits such as "Exhuma," announced early this year it would launch short-form dramas including "Bridal Shower: The Missing Bride" and "My Bias Came Back as a Ghost." A Showbox representative said, "Building on this short-form drama production, we plan to continue presenting fresh content based on our planning and production expertise accumulated in the film and drama sectors." Showbox recently signed MOUs with global short-form drama platforms DramaBox and Beglu to establish global distribution infrastructure.
Lezhin Snack, a short-form drama platform launched by Lezhin Entertainment on the 4th, will feature works from prominent directors including Lee Joon-ik of "The King and the Clown" and Lee Byung-hun of "Extreme Job." The platform will offer content including "My Baby Daddy Is My Guy Friend," written and directed by Lee Byung-hun, as well as "Inevitably Gay!," "Why I Started Liking My Guy Friend," "OX My Fake Boyfriend," "All-Boys High School," "Time of the Savior," "Little Castle: The Flower That Never Wilts," "Rabbit Hole," "Naughty Marriage," and "Mom's Man." Fan Entertainment, producer of Netflix original "Squid Box," has produced "Naughty Marriage" for release on Lezhin Snack. A Fan Entertainment representative said, "Based on our accumulated production capabilities, we will demonstrate Fan Entertainment's differentiated content competitiveness in the short-form market, as well as in films and entertainment programs."
Following the popularity of long-form content from dramas and films being cut into short clips on YouTube, related platforms have emerged. SERO, a short-form drama and film platform launched on the 5th, compresses content over two hours long into 30-minute versions optimized for vertical viewing. The strategy targets the "time efficiency" needs of MZ generation viewers who lack time for theaters and find OTT subscription fees burdensome. A SERO representative said, "Our target is people in their 20s and 30s who don't want to be left out when friends discuss movies and dramas but don't have two hours to sit and watch. The key is that they actually watched it, not just pretended to."