{"id":1583,"date":"2026-03-09T04:02:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T04:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2026-03-09T04:02:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T04:02:44","slug":"short-form-dramas-emerge-as-new-trend-in-content-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=1583","title":{"rendered":"Short-form dramas emerge as new trend in content market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\u25b2 A scene from the Lezhin Snack short drama “Baby Daddy Is My Guy Friend.” Poster provided by Lezhin Entertainment.m (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) — Vertically shot videos optimized for smartphone screens and running just one to five minutes per episode \u2014 so-called \u201cshort-form dramas\u201d \u2014 are rapidly emerging as a new mainstream in the media market.<\/p>\n

According to industry sources Monday, Lezhin Entertainment recently released the short-form drama “Baby Daddy Is My Guy Friend” on its newly launched short-drama platform “Lezhin Snack.”<\/p>\n

The series was directed by Lee Byung-hun, known for the film “Extreme Job” and the TV drama “Be Melodramatic.”<\/p>\n

“Baby Daddy Is My Guy Friend” follows the chaotic co-parenting story of Jea, played by Choi Hyo-joo, who becomes unexpectedly pregnant and makes the absurd proposal to her male friend Gu-in, played by Kim Shin-bi, to become the father of her child.<\/p>\n

With the director\u2019s trademark fast-paced dialogue and witty direction \u2014 prompting viewers to say they \u201crecognized the director immediately\u201d \u2014 the series quickly gained word-of-mouth popularity and topped the viewing rankings on Lezhin Snack shortly after its release.<\/p>\n

Director Lee Joon-ik, who helmed the film “The King and the Clown,” has also joined forces with Lezhin Snack to produce the short drama “Father\u2019s Home-Cooked Meals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u25b2 Director Lee Joon-ik and a poster for the webtoon “Father\u2019s Home-Cooked Meals.” Images provided by Megabox Plus M and Naver Webtoon. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Based on a webtoon of the same title, the drama tells the story of a husband who takes charge of home cooking after his wife develops \u201ccooking amnesia\u201d following an accident. The project features a lineup of veteran actors, including Jung Jin-young, Lee Jung-eun and Byun Yo-han.<\/p>\n

K-pop idols and well-known actors are also joining the trend.<\/p>\n

The short drama “Wind Up,” starring Jeno and Jaemin of NCT, surpassed 3 million views within two days of its release, demonstrating the powerful synergy between strong fandoms and short-form dramas.<\/p>\n

Other short dramas featuring well-known actors \u2014 including “Stormy Married Life” starring Lee Sang-yeob and “The Cleaner\u2019s Second Marriage” starring Park Han-byul and Go Joo-won \u2014 are also increasing in number.<\/p>\n

Singer Solbi has also debuted as a drama writer with the short series “My Ex-Boyfriend Is a Top Star.”<\/p>\n

Once regarded as low-budget \u201ctime-killing\u201d content popular in China or as a stepping stone for rookie actors, short dramas are now evolving into a vast \u201cblue ocean\u201d attracting prominent film directors, idols and established actors alike.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest reasons behind the rise of short dramas is reduced production costs and greater efficiency.<\/p>\n

Traditional TV dramas or series produced for online streaming platforms typically cost billions of won per episode and require at least a year of production. In contrast, short dramas can be produced for tens of millions of won per episode.<\/p>\n

Production timelines are also much shorter \u2014 about two to three months from planning and filming to editing and completion \u2014 allowing creators to respond more quickly to changing trends, according to industry officials.<\/p>\n

Viewers\u2019 growing preference for shorter content has also fueled the boom.<\/p>\n

According to the “2025 Content Usage Behavior Survey” conducted by the Korea Creative Content Agency among 6,554 people aged 10 and older nationwide, 58.6 percent of respondents said they use short-form content.<\/p>\n

Among them, 76 percent cited \u201cbecause it is short and not burdensome\u201d as the main reason for watching such content.<\/p>\n

Pop culture critic Kim Heon-sik said short dramas are designed to quickly draw viewers in and deliver immediate emotional impact, unlike long-form productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn particular, they significantly increase accessibility and satisfaction among younger audiences accustomed to consuming content on mobile devices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u25b2 Posters for the short dramas “Stormy Married Life,” “The Cleaner\u2019s Second Marriage” and “Wind Up.” Images provided by DramaBox and TakeOne Company. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Initially dominated by Chinese platforms such as DramaBox and ReelShort backed by large capital, the short-drama market is now becoming increasingly competitive in South Korea as well.<\/p>\n

Domestic platforms specializing in short dramas \u2014 including TopReels by Neorigin, Vigloo by Spoon Labs, Shortcha by Watcha and Lezhin Snack by Lezhin Entertainment \u2014 are entering the market one after another.<\/p>\n

Experts say the strength of Korean content could also prove competitive in the short-drama sector and that the format may coexist with the traditional long-form industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompared with China, Korean dramas hold a much stronger advantage in terms of trendy elements and subject matter,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShort dramas could become a low-barrier gateway for emerging creators to enter the video industry, much like independent films.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that if creators and production teams discovered through experiments in short-form content expand into long-form series, it could help alleviate the shortage of fresh material in the domestic content industry and further strengthen the competitiveness of K-culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u25b2 A scene from the Lezhin Snack short drama “Baby Daddy Is My Guy Friend.” Poster provided by Lezhin Entertainment.m (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) SEOUL, March 9 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}