Chinese media conglomerate COL today announced the launch of its global content distribution division, seeking to become the world’s largest reseller of micro-dramas.
The company said that there will be over 1,000 titles available in both English and Chinese, and also offer broadcasters, streamers, telcos and digital platforms a library of serialised short-form content.
Micro-dramas are made up of episodes that run up to two minutes each, and designed for a mobile-first audience.
COL said that among its most successful titles is From Rags to Rank One, a 105-episode historical epic which garnered over 238 million views in a day and averaged 77 minutes of watch time per user. The series surpassing 1 billion cumulative views in China alone.
California-based Crazy Maple Studio, which created the popular micro-drama platform ReelShort in August 2022, is also a partially-owned subsidiary of COL Group.
Additionally, COL is currently vertically integrated: creating original IP, overseeing production, and managing its own short-form video platforms including FlareFlow, Sereal+ and Unireel (Japan).
COL said that it is also exploring the future of content creation through AI-powered production pipelines, with the company already developing several AI-generated anime series. It added that it is actively integrating AI into production workflows, in a bid to reduce time-to-market and opening up new possibilities for serialized storytelling.
“We’re not just witnessing a shift — we’re architecting the next era of entertainment,” said Timothy Oh,
General Manager of COL’s Southeast Asia operations and Head of the International Press Center. “Micro-dramas are the storytelling language of a mobile generation: fast, emotional, and deeply immersive.
“At COL, we combine IP ownership, creative development, platform operations, and now global distribution — all under one roof. That gives us the insight and agility to help partners move quickly in a
space where audience attention is won or lost in seconds.”