KT Studio Genie has declared its ambition to become a leading "global K-short-form studio" after achieving immediate success with its first short-form drama releases.
The KT subsidiary announced that its short-form dramas "The Housekeeper's Second Marriage" and "Spontaneous Love Clubhouse," released in January, each reached No. 1 on the popularity charts of DramaBox and ReelShort, the two major global short-form drama platforms.
"The Housekeeper's Second Marriage," starring actors Park Han-byul and Ko Joo-won, is a remake of "Not 50 Yet," a short-form drama that gained popularity in South Korea. The series proved its commercial potential by reaching the top spot on DramaBox immediately upon release.
KT Studio Genie has launched preparations for its short-form business targeting the global market. The company partnered with DramaBox to host a short-form drama screenplay competition, aiming to discover original intellectual property and build a global distribution pipeline.
The company's core competitive advantage lies in its "short-form studio model," which integrates investment, production, and distribution. Rather than simple outsourced production, the company has established a sustainable revenue model through an IP ownership-based structure. It has completed South Korea's largest supply system capable of releasing more than one original short-form drama per week, totaling 56 productions annually.
The studio has secured a stable production pipeline through partnerships with specialized short-form production companies including New Universe and Fullim. By collaborating with major global platforms such as DramaBox, ReelShort, GoodShort, ShortMax, and iQIYI International, the company has established a fast track for immediate global distribution upon release. Domestically, it has secured a total of 30 distribution channels through partnerships with Tving, Biigle, and Lezhin Snack (Lezhin Entertainment).
KT Studio Genie is also pursuing production efficiency through AI-based infrastructure. The company is currently applying AI technology to select productions, reducing costs for complex scenes such as drone shots and large-scale vehicle shots by approximately 20%. It aims to achieve cost reductions of more than 40% of total production budgets through further technological advancement. This is expected to enable production of high-difficulty genres such as science fiction, fantasy, and period dramas that were previously challenging in the short-form format.
"Demand for Korea's distinctive premium short-form content is rapidly expanding, particularly in North America and Southeast Asia, and short-form will establish itself as mainstream daily content beyond snack culture," said Oh Ki-je, Executive Vice President at KT Studio Genie. "We will redefine the global standard for K-short-form through global mega IP remakes and full AI short-form production."