iQIYI hosts Glittering Night to drive high-quality development in mini and short drama industry

BEIJING, March 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Mar. 14, iQIYI, China's leading online entertainment platform, convened the country's most comprehensive gathering of mini and short drama professionals at its inaugural Glittering Night ceremony in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, where industry leaders collectively endorsed the sector's critical transition from quantity-driven output to premium content creation.

The dual-format occasion combined executive forums addressing content standardization with evening celebrations honoring premium productions like short- and mini-drama of the year, and revealed new strategic programs to elevate production values through 2025. With over 70 distinguished actors and more than 400 creators in attendance, the event presented 34 competitive honors while charting industry-wide quality benchmarks.

During his remarks at the forum, iQIYI Founder and CEO Yu GONG reiterated that iQIYI will continue to enhance the aesthetics and value of mini and short drama content, making full use of artificial intelligence and virtual production technology to improve the quality of short-form content produced. "Building a content ecosystem consisting of both long and short-form content is iQIYI's firm development strategy. No matter the length, we hope that viewers will be able to find content they like on iQIYI," Gong stated.

Strategic ecosystem development for premium productions

As part of its integrated long-form and short-form content strategy, iQIYI has structured its mini/short drama ecosystem through two standardized formats: the vertical-screen "Mini-Drama Theater" (1-5 minutes/episode) and the horizontal "Short-Drama Theater" (5-20 minutes/episode).

Previously, the industry norm heavily favored spending large budgets on advertising and marketing rather than quality content. However, the transition to high-quality content production is essential for the industry's advancement. With its massive user base, expert production capabilities, mature membership model, and friendly revenue-sharing rules, iQIYI is well positioned to raise the standard for development of the mini and short drama industry under a clear strategy of creating a content ecosystem that includes both long and short-form.

iQIYI Senior Vice President Haitao YANG detailed the platform's strategy for making premium short-form content by establishing an open content ecosystem and encouraging more creators to work together to create a diverse range of mini and short dramas through various models of cooperation. iQIYI has also further refined user segmentation through the different positioning of the iQIYI main app and iQIYI Lite app.

The strategic framework has already manifested in iQIYI's latest production pipeline, with the forum serving as a launchpad for 47 new titles. The upcoming mini drama lineup spans multiple genres such as fantasy, costume, and comedy, incorporating youthful, internet culture-infused content. The short drama lineup includes sequels to popular IP series such as "Original Sin" and "A Ming Dynasty Mystery" among numerous other premium titles.

Additionally, iQIYI announced a new plan for cooperation based on its existing "Thousand Mini-Dramas Initiative" and "Hundred Short-Dramas Initiative." The new project — the "Hundred Hong Kong Mini-Dramas Initiative" — is jointly launched by iQIYI and two partners, and will solicit IP adaptations and productions from upstream partners to recreate the craze for classic Hong Kong films.

Moreover, with the rollout of greater high-quality content, iQIYI aims to boost traffic of premium mini and short dramas through efficient content marketing, opening up greater commercialization opportunities and improving advertising monetization.

Honors to recognize premium content and creators

At the Glittering Night 2025 ceremony in the evening, several dramas, stars, and creative teams were recognized for their exceptional works. In the short drama category, 30 dramas and 42 actors and creators received 16 different honors, with dramas including "First Marriage" and "Blind Woman" receiving outstanding short drama, "Original Sin" receiving most popular short drama, and "The Great Nobody" receiving short drama of the year. Actors including Muchen LI, Jiayi WU, and Zhixin FAN received short drama star of the year.

In the mini drama category, 12 dramas and 47 actors and creators received 18 different honors, with dramas including "Deng Feng Tai" (translates as "Ascending the Phoenix Platform") and "Palace of Schemes" receiving outstanding mini drama, and "The Emperor's Dominance" receiving mini drama of the year. Actors including Yizhen XU and Xi ZHONG received mini drama star of the year.

CONTACT: iQIYI Press, [email protected]

SOURCE iQIYI