Short dramas have become an AI business in China. The Netcasting Services Association counted roughly 128,000 published in the first quarter of 2026. That is three times the whole previous year’s output. AI systems produced 95 percent of them. ByteDance is now shipping the tool that makes them.
Dramagic handles a title end to end. Script analysis feeds character creation, characters feed storyboards, storyboards feed video previews, and several people can work on one project while built-in checks hold the cast consistent between scenes. BytePlus, the enterprise arm, sells it, and access is by request.
Unit economics explain the push. Shen Yang, a professor at Tsinghua University, puts a minute of AI-generated video at $90 to $120. Conventional production costs roughly ten times that.
The workforce cost is harder to price. Direct employment in the sector stands at 690,000. Performers have described being asked to sign away rights to their voices and likenesses shortly before losing their jobs.
