How ReelShort CEO Joey Jia Used a Chinese Trend to Disrupt the U.S. Entertainment Industry

As a seasoned observer of the dynamic world of digital media, I must say that the rise and fall of various platforms is not uncommon. However, what sets ReelShort apart is its unwavering commitment to its creators and audience. With my own experience of navigating through the choppy waters of startups, I can relate to the nervous excitement that comes with unexpected success.

In the first installment of “The Double Life of My Wealthy Spouse,” events unfold similar to a daytime soap opera: The main character, a woman, approaches her father and wicked stepmother seeking $50,000 for her mother’s life-sustaining kidney dialysis. As the scene continues, a malicious half-sister chimes in, mockingly suggesting that the funds will be provided—on one condition: the protagonist must wed the illegitimate heir of an influential family, who is rumored to be a complete failure. Predictably, our hero consents to this arrangement.

All of this happens in just over 90 seconds. But while its brevity seems like a cheap trick, “The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband”—a show produced and distributed on the ReelShort app developed by Silicon Valley-based Crazy Maple Studio (one of the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2024)—has raked in more than 419 million views. As a point of comparison: the first season of Netflix’s mega-popular Squid Game has 265 million views as of November 4. And Billionaire Husband isn’t Crazy Maple’s only show racking up hundreds of millions of views.

According to Joey Jia, CEO of Crazy Maple Studio, ReelShort’s large audience is primarily attracted by these short, “micro-dramas” in China. However, he suggests that this initial success is merely the start of a global trend towards consuming brief, vertically-formatted video dramas as the primary source of entertainment.

Earlier this year, I had a chat with Jia from ReelShort, discussing their approach to reaching viewers, insights gained from Disney, and his vision for the company’s future.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How did ReelShort come about?

Seven years ago, I established a studio named Crazy Maple Studio, focusing on an Intellectual Property (IP) monetization platform. Our inaugural product is known as Chapters, a visual novel storytelling platform. Ever since, we’ve been consistently seeking innovative methods to maximize IP value or content revenue.

Two years back, in 2022, I observed a significant surge in popularity, particularly in China. TikTok and Douyin were becoming increasingly prevalent, not just domestically but globally. Users were sharing brief videos, creating a platform that resembled a distinct version of YouTube. I noticed that some influencers began producing short stories and dramas, which viewers found immensely engaging.

After conducting thorough study, I chose to utilize Chapters’ intellectual property and introduce this innovative content type to the U.S., aiming to expand our business in the process.

After presenting this concept in Hollywood, I shared my thoughts with American producers: “Crazy Maple is a rich source of engaging stories. Could we potentially create these at an affordable price and distribute them swiftly?” However, it appears that the current distribution methods can’t accommodate this approach. This fear of minimal investment leading to poor distribution is prevalent, so I decided to develop our own app, ReelShort, specifically for content like this.

When I look at the selection of dramas that are available on ReelShort, they tend to fall into certain genres like werewolves, revenge plots, brides, billionaires. They all sort of follow this formula, but what’s the scientific basis for that formula? Was it intentional?

If one merely considers the genres, they might casually remark, “This is a tale that combines werewolves and billionaires.” However, it’s important to note that there are countless variations of a werewolf and billionaire narrative available in the marketplace today. The intriguing question then becomes: how can ReelShort distinguish its unique story within this genre, making it worth the investment for viewers, and ultimately contributing to its financial success?

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You said that there’s a relatively low cost to producing a show on ReelShort. How do you make sure that the costs are low? And how much on average does a show cost?

The short answer is our production cost is below $300,000. There is a reason why people shoot more expensive stories. There is a buffer. If you really look at the production cost, it’s a lot.

In terms of basic production costs, ours is comparable or identical to other film productions. However, they tend to incur additional expenses by hiring well-known personalities (celebrities). These stars are their primary draw, attracting more viewers. A significant portion of their budget is allocated towards celebrities. On the contrary, we don’t hire celebrities. Instead, we invest almost all our resources into crafting a compelling story. Our aim is to engage audiences using our narrative, while they rely on celebrities to do so.

Who writes the content on ReelShort? There are reports that say some of the content sounds like they’ve been written by AI.

If AI could generate revenue-producing content instantly, I’d rely solely on AI for everything. However, it isn’t that simple. We have an in-house editorial team and an in-house screenwriting unit overseeing the entire content creation process. Some might think our content is similar to what AI produces, but I beg to differ. We’ve developed our unique content foundation and approach. It’s crucial for everyone to grasp it, even those who haven’t had higher education. For us, the measure of success lies in how easily one can comprehend a story by others.

There have been talks of micro-dramas being the future of streaming. We’re seeing short-form video actually taking over. TV was considered legacy media, and now Netflix could become legacy media because of apps like ReelShort. Is your app and many others like it the future of entertainment?

I’m convinced that vertical video content will dominate as the main way people consume entertainment, and a significant platform dedicated to vertical videos is bound to emerge. Ideally, this platform would be ReelShort. The rationale behind this is that conventional media companies take too long to produce content, and they lack sufficient data to fine-tune their content due to excessive initial investment. Furthermore, there’s a lack of connected audience data to provide feedback on how to enhance the content.

In our content creation workflow, we strive to complete the process within a span of three months. Starting from day one, as ideas germinate, until the final day when it goes live online, spans exactly three months. This period provides us with comprehensive data – like how many users pay for the content, why they do so, and retention rates. We can clearly see where people lose interest, allowing us to make necessary adjustments if needed.

Is there space for other sorts of stories that would then not fall in the genres that people watch, or is it purely a views-based metric that ReelShort is banking on?

That’s why I believe in the vertical content industry. This right now is just the beginning. So we’re focusing on the female cohort. We offer romantic stories, we offer high-drama stories. Later on, we will build mystery, thriller, action, even more types of content for different cohorts of users. The best part of this is frequency. High frequency usage of content. They don’t have to have one hour [to] go back home to sit on the sofa to watch Netflix. Anytime they can pick up a cell phone if they only have five minutes, they can enjoy their content, and they can stop at any time. So we try to expand our genres, like a thriller, using approved story structures. I believe we will see different types of genres show up in the next few months.

How do you make sure that audiences don’t get tired of the stories?

That’s a very good question. There are limited story structures in this world. Disney is using the most popular story structures, always bringing new elements. So our job is to stick with approved methods, and always bring a fresh, eye-opening moment and a fresh concept. And to make sure there is a value for our users. Nobody [wants] to constantly repeat watching the same types of tropes. Nobody. The market would abandon us if we only followed one model. We have to keep evolving. And always bringing new concepts, an eye opening moment, magical moment, so people can look [at] fresh [content and] always have their interest. That’s the challenge for the content creators every single day. Every day we have a brainstorming room, and talk about a new concept, new ideas. I will kill most of the ideas and that’s how we keep bringing a new concept to the platform.

ReelShort made news for surpassing TikTok at one point when it came to downloads. How did you feel about that?

Nervous.

Why?

Surprisingly, given our modest size, we didn’t anticipate such massive downloads so quickly. Our team has been expanding rapidly due to the increased demand from the audience. The infrastructure needed to support this growth has required a great deal of effort and time to put in place. We’re making progress, but we’re not quite ready yet as we continue growing and fine-tuning our systems.

Where do you see ReelShort in a year, or two, or even five?

I’m eagerly anticipating that ReelShort could evolve into a genuine platform, showcasing an abundance of Professional User-Generated Content (PUGC), or content creators’ tales. Notably, Netflix is a shining example of what I call “super PUGC,” collaborating exclusively with top-tier content creators. On the other hand, TikTok primarily focuses on user-generated content (UGC) from influencers. Regrettably, there are countless skilled professional content creators who lack a distribution channel. ReelShort aims to fill this gap by establishing a platform that offers exposure to these talented individuals.

I’m asking that because when we look at disruptive companies, it’s not like short-form video and short-form dramas are new. We have Quibi which basically shut down in less than a year. How do you make sure that ReelShort stays at the top of its game and continues to deliver?

The question at hand is quite intricate, involving several key aspects. Firstly, we need to ensure that all content is tailored to the appropriate audience, as the market and its demographics are rapidly evolving. Keeping up-to-date with these changes is crucial in order to adapt accordingly. It’s no walk in the park.

2024-11-10 16:06