The rising recognition of quick format content material and dwindling consideration spans of audiences is main studios and producers primarily recognized for long-format exhibits and movies, to discover alternatives within the new house.
Movie, tv and OTT manufacturing homes are taking a look at creating micro-dramas, comprising a number of episodes lasting something between two to fifteen minutes for YouTube and Instagram whereas audio-centric platforms like Kuku FM have forayed into video storytelling with related programming. Chew-sized content material is a separate vertical for a lot of content material creation studios now.
Brief format content material drove digital-first creation through YouTube. It later gave strategy to long-form sequence, however there’s now a revival of quick, character-driven micro-dramas for YouTube and social media, mentioned Namit Sharma, chief govt officer at Arre Studios, a content material creation firm.
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Sharma mentioned Indian audiences are already conversant in the micro-drama style, due to Chinese language apps which have infiltrated the market and their firm is trying to capitalise on the identical, presently with assist from manufacturers for monetisation. These might be exhibits with round 30 episodes per season with the primary few makes an attempt offering extra readability on which explicit genres work.
From blockbusters to bytes
To make certain, leisure business specialists level out that the boundaries between long-form and short-form storytelling are blurring, and each filmmakers and advertisers are adapting quick.
Even established function movie creators are embracing shorter codecs, mentioned Jitendra Hirawat – director, SoCheers Movies, a digital company, citing the instance of Zoya Akhtar’s Tiger Telly that produced Nykaa Waali Shaadi, Nykaa’s first OTT launch that premiered on JioHotstar and adverts, just like the one for Ranbir Kapoor’s ARKS sneaker model.
“This pattern displays evolving consumption habits and the necessity for faster turnaround occasions in content material creation, particularly given shrinking consideration spans. The success of creators like Akhtar indicators a broader business motion in the direction of shorter storytelling approaches,” mentioned Hirawat.
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Manufacturing homes and types are channelling investments into just a few key areas. They’re constructing devoted short-form groups—specialisd teams centered on scriptwriting, route, and enhancing to create content material that’s each impactful and high-quality, mentioned Hirawat.
Subsequent-gen content material instruments
AI-powered content material repurposing instruments like Descript and Kapwing enable long-form movies to be simply sliced into viral-ready shorts, making certain manufacturers keep related within the fast-paced world of social media, he added.
Content material creators and manufacturing homes acknowledge the regular decline in consideration spans, pushed by an evolving leisure panorama—shifting from cinema halls to tv, and now to OTT platforms and past.
Vertical dramas or micro-dramas completely align with this evolving pattern.
“We’re very bullish on vertical dramas and genres inside this. We have now a variety of information round what works with regards to privately consumed personalised content material, due to Kuku FM, our audio platform. Therefore, we’re taking these learnings from our audio platform into Kuku TV (a vertical OTT platform, with serialised micro-dramas for mobile-first audiences),” mentioned Vinod Kumar Meena, co-founder and chief working officer at Kuku FM.
“In contrast to watching a film or on OTT, the consumption of vertical video is a really personalised expertise,” mentioned Meena.
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“Individuals who eat vertical or quick format content material normally do not share their consumption patterns with others. Therefore, the genres right here have to be tailor-made. We have now seen that storytelling round themes like rags to riches, underdog tales, energy battle tales are very fashionable,” Meena added.
Binge increase
With altering viewers preferences and the rising recognition of bite-sized storytelling, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than extra long-format creators begin experimenting past promotional content material, in accordance with Neena Dasgupta – Founder and CEO, The Salt Inc, an unbiased content material and design company.
Filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee have explored quick movies as a part of branded storytelling initiatives, resembling Royal Stag Barrel Choose’s Massive Brief Movies.
There are additionally some challenges to the brand new format. Movie producer and director Siddharth P Malhotra mentioned whereas effort and time required to create quick format content material could also be much like movies or exhibits, the income mannequin remains to be unclear.
“One must have the bandwidth to look into it. This requires a unique mindset and group. Many huge creators are nonetheless busy creating lengthy or semi lengthy format. As and when this turns into binge-worthy, then even greater names will begin getting attracted,” he mentioned.
