Top Media Targets 6 Trillion KRW 'Chinese Short-Form Drama Market'... "Discussing Business Collaboration"

Topco Media plans to accelerate its global 'short-form drama' market expansion, focusing on Asia, including China. On the 5th, Topco Media announced that it held various business discussions with key government officials and businesspeople in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China.

Topco Media recently signed two contracts related to the production of short-form dramas with the Chinese content production company Taman Cultural Arts Development Co., Ltd. This meeting was held to review the overall business situation, including these contracts, and to strengthen the short-form business network within China.

The business partnering meeting also included Jiangsu Sujixincheng Group (江蘇世新城集團, hereafter CNCG Group), the largest state-owned real estate and content development enterprise in Yancheng City. CNCG Group is one of the main investors in the 'Hanpung International Cultural City,' an urban landmark project developed by Yancheng City in May last year.

According to Topco Media, Yancheng City and CNCG Group plan to build a Korea-China specialized short-form drama production studio. Topco Media also discussed participation in this project during the meeting. The company aims to produce more than 100 short-form dramas annually and encourages participation from over 20 production companies from both countries. To this end, they plan to cooperate in various areas, including ▲support for owned webtoon intellectual property (IP) ▲Korea-China production company networks ▲filming environment support.

A Topco Media official stated, “Yancheng City is a representative 'pro-Korean' city in China and has led the establishment of various K-content infrastructures such as the Korea-China Cultural Exchange Center and KK Park, even during periods when bilateral relations were temporarily stagnant. Short-form dramas based on Topco Group’s webtoon IP, such as ‘Dongari’ and ‘Tonight, It’s You,’ are also being filmed here.”

He added, “Through this meeting, we were able to explore the current status of China, which is leading the global short-form drama market, and various additional business opportunities. We will do our best to become part of the global projects promoted by Yancheng City and CNCG Group.”

Topco Group is pursuing an OSMU (One Source Multi Use) strategy for its owned IP through Topco Media. At the end of last year, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with B.A. Entertainment, the producer of ‘The Outlaws,’ and is continuously expanding business opportunities with traditional video content producers while actively targeting new markets such as short-form content.

According to market research firm iiMedia Research, the Chinese short-form drama market is expected to grow by 267.65% year-on-year to 37.39 billion yuan (approximately 6.9 trillion KRW) last year. In line with the expansion of the short-form drama market, related companies are also showing rapid growth.