Economic Observer reporter Tian Guobao

In June 2026, 'All Reborn, Who Still Pretends to be a Rich Second Generation' was released on the Red Fruit Short Drama. There are no real actors or live action shots in the drama, and the characters, scenes, and voiceovers are all generated by AI. At present, the series has been updated for 12 seasons, of which 6 seasons have entered the top ten of the Red Fruit AI Manga Must See List.

The producer, Hunan Weixu Network Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Weixu Network"), is located in the Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Industry Park (hereinafter referred to as "Video Park") in Changsha. An employee from Unordered Network introduced that with the help of the "Smart Horse Manying" creation platform provided by the park, the team can complete a short drama in about 8 days.

Guanghe Xingmeng (Changsha) Cultural Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guanghe Xingmeng"), which is several tens of meters away from the Unordered Network, also has dozens of young people producing anime in front of their computers in the open office area. Differently, Unordered Network mainly targets the domestic market, while the majority of orders for Guanghe Xingmeng come from overseas short drama platforms.

The industry refers to this type of AI generated short drama as a manga, which includes both animated forms and works that are close to real-life images. The production team converts the script into storyboards, uses AI to complete character modeling, scene generation, and voice acting, and then edits it into a series. Many of the tasks that were previously completed on set have now been transferred to computers.

The video park was established in 2017, with its core areas including the Jinyingcheng and Yazipu areas where the Hunan Radio and Television Headquarters is located, commonly referred to as "Malanshan". Relying on Hunan Radio and Television, this place gathers variety show, film and television drama, and short drama production enterprises; In the past year, a large number of AI anime production companies have gathered here again.

Wei Lian, the general manager of Guanghe Xingmeng, told the Economic Observer that during peak periods, more than 40 anime production companies gathered in Malanshan. The Hunan Provincial Government website disclosed in September 2026 that the Malanshan AIGC-OPC incubation space has incubated about 300 entities and released 349 original works.

Similar to the short drama industry, the anime industry has entered a phase of reshuffling after experiencing rapid expansion. Several Malanshan comic drama producers told the Economic Observer that some companies in the park have already turned to high-quality comic dramas or other businesses.

From Traditional Film and Television to AI Comics

The general manager of Guanghe Xingmeng, Wei Lian, first used AI in the production team in 2023.

At that time, Wei Lian and his team were filming at Duyun Film and Television City in Guizhou. The AI video generation tool was not yet mature, but the newly added "creative fill" function in Photoshop left a deep impression on him. After the team took a panoramic shot, they replaced the scenery outside the window with AI and then used After Effects to track and synthesize it, which produced good results. Afterwards, he began to try using AI for more production processes.

Wei Lian studied acting and served as a director on Hunan TV from 2010 to 2014. Later, he collaborated with iQiyi to shoot TV dramas. He recalled that in his early years, when he participated in online movie production, he received returns with lower investment, but as competition intensified, the business became increasingly difficult to do.

In 2021, Wei Lian founded Guanghe Xingmeng in Shenzhen and continued to engage in traditional film and television production. But it is difficult to recruit people in Shenzhen and the cost of hiring is high. In 2024, he will move the company back from Shenzhen to Changsha. He has worked and lived in Changsha for many years and is familiar with the local film and television industry. The most concentrated place for AI is Hangzhou, but I am not familiar with Hangzhou. ”

The reserve of film and television talents in Changsha has become the foundation for the formation of the team of Guanghe Xingmeng. The three core members of the team all have backgrounds in Hunan Radio and Television. Vice General Manager Huang Ying has participated in programs such as "Super Girl", "Happy Boy", and "I Am a Singer". Senior producer Zhan Yali has served as Senior Director of Mango TV's Micro Drama Department.

Wei Lian believes that the accumulation of traditional film and television talents in narrative and editing still has value. People who have worked on high-quality content know "what to say in the first three seconds and where to get stuck in the twentieth second", but the rhythm of long dramas and short dramas is different, and some transformation teams still use the storytelling style of long dramas, which makes it difficult to adapt to the rhythm of short dramas.

Wei Lian introduced that from 2023 to 2024, he participated in AI creation competitions, and then participated in the video generation test of Zhimeng. He spent three months testing camera operation, performance, and scheduling, providing prompt word materials. At that time, I thought this was the future

Nowadays, the production of Guanghe Xingmeng still starts from the script. The director first determines the character's position, emotions, and shot scheduling, then writes the requirements into storyboards and annotations, and hands them over to the production team to generate the image. The judgments completed on set in the past were advanced to the stage of image generation, and the footage was reviewed before entering the editing, dubbing, and music production stages.

The position is actually similar to that of a short drama, with directors, screenwriters, and editors all involved. "Wei Lian said that AI has not replaced the director's judgment, but has changed the production method. AI can convert scripts into prompts for making comics, but directors still need to adjust them one by one. There are too many ideas in AI, if you don't constrain it, it will cause trouble. ”If the generated result does not meet the requirements, check the camera language and character emotions, modify the instructions, and regenerate.

Guanghe Xingmeng's works include the first AI animated series "The Mysterious Story of Makino" directed by writer Tianxia Bachao, "Arcade Dinosaur: Crossover Destiny Man" co produced with Mango TV, Fengmang Media, and other outstanding works in the short video section of the 16th Beijing International Film Festival, as well as overseas animated series such as "Return, Capital Queen", "Abyssal Gate", and "Lost Mermaid Princess".

Producing a short drama usually requires five or six people to collaborate, and it takes about a month from script to delivery, with a final production time of 60 to 120 minutes. No longer need to coordinate actor schedules, lighting, props, and venues, production personnel mainly complete their work in front of computers.

According to a report from Guoyuan Securities, the production cost of live action short dramas is about 3000 yuan per minute, while AI production costs about 800 yuan; Traditional animation costs range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan per minute.

The expenses for actors, venues, etc. have decreased, but the expenditure on computing power has increased. According to Wei Lian's calculations, generating a video costs about 1.5 to 1.6 yuan per second, and it costs 20-30 yuan to generate a 15 second shot. If the effect is not up to standard, it needs to be regenerated. Run for thirty seconds, you can treat two people to a meal

IP、 Production and distribution

Wei Lian chose to move Guanghe Xingmeng to Changsha, partly because he had worked in Changsha and was familiar with the local film and television industry; On the other hand, Malanshan has a complete industry chain from traditional film and television to anime production, and the relatively low cost of living and employment in Changsha is more in line with the needs of start-up companies.

The upstream of anime is script and IP, and online literature platforms such as Yuewen, Tomato, and Yanyan Story are important sources. According to a report by Guoyuan Securities in December 2025, IP authorization usually adopts the "guaranteed bonus account" method, with copyright acquisition costs of about 10000 to 50000 yuan and adaptation costs of about 10000 to 100000 yuan.

In October 2025, Mango TV launched the "Short Drama 1000 IP Joint Creation Ecological Plan" in Malanshan. The first batch of partners include Yuewen Group, Qimao Chinese Network, Migu Digital Media, Himalaya, etc. The plan is to promote the adaptation of short dramas from literary, film, animation, and gaming IPs through investment, traffic support, and revenue sharing incentives.

The "Micro Drama+AIGC Creation Plan" released at the same time proposes to open up 120 copyrighted scripts and the "Shanhai AIGC Platform", and provide creators with a graded investment of 100000 to 1 million yuan. The copyright holder provides the story, the production team is responsible for adaptation, and the broadcasting platform participates in investment and distribution. Small and medium-sized teams have the opportunity to obtain copyright, funding, and broadcasting channels through cooperation.

With the script, the production team also needs to generate tools, computing power, and collaboration systems.

In March 2026, Malanshan Audio and Video Laboratory released "Smart Ma Manying", which integrates functions such as script disassembly, storyboarding, image generation, dubbing and music on the same platform. Public data shows that the platform has over 3000 registered customers.

The product manager of the platform introduced in April 2026 that the system can unify the management of characters, scenes, props, and other production materials, provide functions such as task allocation, multi person collaboration, and cost recording, and facilitate different production personnel to connect shots.

Unordered Network uses this platform to produce short dramas, while Wei Lian's team mainly adopts market-oriented models and adjusts the process on their own. We need to study the new model as soon as it comes out. If you wait for others to come out and make changes at night, you will basically be eliminated, "Wei Lian said.

The focus of production has shifted from studios to computers, and the demand for computing power, storage, and data transmission in enterprises has also increased.

In August 2026, the Hunan government announced that the video park has built its own AI computing power of 116PFlops and can dispatch external computing power of 95PFlops, with a total storage capacity of over 400PB; The park has built a 400G high-speed computing and storage backbone network, achieving network coverage from 100G to buildings and 10G to desktops.

The park has launched a computing power resource empowerment plan, where enterprises can enjoy up to 30% deduction for purchasing computing power and storage resources, with an annual cap of 5 million yuan; Purchasing tokens and AI tools can enjoy a maximum deduction of 20%, with an annual limit of 1 million yuan.

In the online stage, Malanshan has established a Radio and Television Audiovisual Art Guidance and Pre review Center, which provides content inspection services for enterprises before their works are launched through the "China V-Chain" AI pre review system.

From the production team to project-based production

Changsha, where film and television talents gather, also faces the challenge of employing AI animation talents. Wei Lian found that some traditional film and television practitioners cannot find jobs, but animation companies find it difficult to recruit people who can independently deliver projects.

Guanghe Xingmeng has encountered many applicants who can independently produce AI short films of three to five minutes, but commercial orders usually require five or six people to collaborate and complete 60 to 120 minute works within a month. The leader not only needs to break down the script, control the generated effects, but also coordinate personnel and clients.

A person with strong abilities may not necessarily be able to lead a team in our company, "Wei Lian said.

Traditional film crews usually rely on positions such as photography and lighting to collaborate with directors to complete the visuals, while AI animation directors need to make their own judgments on composition, lighting, color, and camera language. Wei Lian believes that without experience in film and television production, directors are easily led by AI generated images.

Overseas orders also require production personnel to be familiar with the aesthetic of the target market, preferably able to read English scripts directly. There are few people with these abilities, and they are also very expensive.

The new members of Guanghe Xingmeng will first learn from the group and then gradually lead the team independently. Some investors hope to invest in supporting the company's expansion, but Wei Lian is worried that talent development may not keep up and has not accepted.

The order volume and market preferences change rapidly, and Guanghe Xingmeng is also unwilling to hire a fixed team for a long time based on peak business volume.

Therefore, the photosynthetic star moe adopts a project-based approach. About 60 production personnel collaborate as "One Person Companies" (OPC) and are not formal employees. Five or six people form a group and divide according to the agreement after completing a drama; Core personnel such as Wei Lian are responsible for receiving orders, communicating with customers, conducting technical testing, and reviewing projects.

It is impossible to have an OPC come in and communicate with Party A. ”Weilian said that the core team will continue to test new tools and methods, and then hand them over to the project team for use. The theme requirements of the client also often change. "The elements of elves are popular during this period, but they may become mafia next week.

The project-based approach reduces the pressure on enterprises to maintain a fixed team. Wei Lian believes that when there are sufficient orders, the income of collaborators may be higher than the fixed salary; When there is no project, there is no income. This approach reduces personnel costs, but cannot solve the problem of a shortage of team leaders. Whether the project can be delivered on time still depends on whether the team leader can coordinate personnel, control production progress, and ensure the quality of the finished product.

The policies of Malanshan are also adapting to this employment method. The video park will launch the "0731 Full Power" plan in March 2026, providing up to 12 months of free shared workstations for AI creators and one person companies. Eligible creators who use large models, cloud and computing resources within a specified range can receive up to 30% of the cost subsidy, with a maximum annual limit of 100000 yuan per entity.

Weilian said that Guanghe Xingmeng is one of the first five operating entities of the "0731 Full Power" plan, providing free training for participants and settling according to the project. The OPC policy has basically solved our employment problem. ”

According to public reports in May 2026, the AIGC Film and Television OPC Community in Malanshan Huoshi has more than 80 registered OPCs, gathering over 500 practitioners and building IP pools, order libraries, and supporting services to help individuals and small teams connect projects.

Guanghe Xingmeng will also be selected for the seventh batch of "Maju Plan" in the park in November 2025. According to the revised method in 2024, eligible enterprises can receive entrepreneurship subsidies not exceeding 100000 yuan, with rental subsidies of 80%, 70%, and 60% for the first three years respectively; The special fund can also screen projects and provide equity or convertible bond investments ranging from 200000 to 1 million yuan.

Two Modes

The unordered network and the photosynthetic star are several tens of meters apart, but their sources of income are clearly different.

Unordered network mainly undertakes domestic business. The company previously disclosed that it promotes five or six AI short dramas simultaneously every week, with an order amount exceeding 16 million yuan by 2025.

Domestic comics are mainly broadcasted on platforms such as Hongguo, with advertising revenue split. A comic series producer said that in the business they deal with, as the number of series increases, the revenue sharing of individual works significantly decreases. In the past, you could earn tens of yuan for ten thousand plays, but now it usually only costs one or two yuan. Exceeding ten yuan is already a relatively high level.

Guanghe Xingmeng mainly undertakes production orders for overseas short drama platforms. Unlike the domestic model, overseas short dramas and comics adopt a fee sharing model. Wei Lian said that Guanghe Xingmeng is a whitelist partner of Kunlun Wanwei's overseas short drama business, and orders mainly come from overseas platforms under Kunlun Wanwei; In addition to accepting orders, Guanghe Xingmeng produces an average of one self-produced drama per month.

According to DataEye data cited by AVIC Securities, DramaWave, a subsidiary of Kunlun Wanwei, had a revenue of 195 million US dollars in the first half of 2026.

Overseas clients also have different requirements for performance, image clarity, and production stability. The screen is blurry, people don't even look, "Wei Lian said.

Wei Lian particularly values the consistency of character images, as the same character cannot change faces in different shots, and clothing colors cannot be changed arbitrarily. He said that some domestic manufacturers have a high tolerance for these defects, but overseas customers may reject them as a result.

There is also pressure in overseas markets. According to DataEye data, overseas short drama dual end internal purchase revenue will reach 2.279 billion US dollars in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 129%; In the first half of 2026, the overseas short drama dual end internal purchase revenue was about 1.27 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth rate of 13%. However, this caliber covers the overall overseas short dramas, not just AI animated dramas.

After production, the work needs to go through translation, copyright authorization, promotion, and distribution before entering the overseas market.

There are already enterprises providing related services in Malanshan. Donglin Film and Television operates the Sparkling Play overseas short drama platform and carries out overseas copyright authorization business; Juheng Digital Technology Group operates the ToonShort platform, providing multilingual adaptation, promotion, and settlement services.

On May 8, 2026, Malanshan Group initiated the establishment of the Cultural Industry Overseas Alliance, with more than 30 members in the first batch, including Mango TV, Zhongnan Media, Zhongguang Tianzhe, Malanshan Audio and Video Laboratory, Donglin Film and Television, etc. Its business involves content creation, AI production, platform operation, cross-border distribution, and compliance services. The website of the Hunan Provincial Government disclosed in September that the number of contracted members of the alliance has increased to 47, and more than 3000 micro drama IPs have been negotiated.

Expansion And Shuffling

By 2025, AI anime orders will rapidly increase. Previously, Guanghe Xingmeng produced home-made dramas for Tiktok and Mango TV, which usually took two or three months for a project. Wei Lian recalled that by 2025, the team would receive personnel from three to four platforms every day, and Tencent, iQiyi, Mango TV, Huawei, and others would all seek AI production companies.

The continuous iteration of video generation models is driving the expansion of AI anime production capacity. On September 30, 2025, OpenAI released Sora 2; During the same period, many domestic and foreign companies are also updating their image and video generation tools. The improvement of the model in character, camera, and visual control gradually changed the early supply structure dominated by sand sculpture and commentary comics.

According to a report by Guoyuan Securities, in November 2025, AI simulated live action anime will surpass PPT anime for the first time. According to DataEye data, the popularity of AI simulation dramas on the Red Fruit platform has increased from 14.38% in January 2026 to 68.56% in April; Previously, sand sculpture and 2D comics, which accounted for over 70%, totaled less than 5% by June.

Wei Lian said that in the second half of 2025, some anime companies will expand their teams to two to three hundred or even five hundred people, and concentrate on purchasing hundreds or even thousands of scripts, with each book costing 8000 to 10000 yuan. According to his observation, there were over 40 companies engaged in AI anime production in the Malanshan Park at one point.

The IP has also been repeatedly adapted, known as "script washing" in the industry. The same IP may have thirty to forty versions, some of which have been adapted and sent overseas. Wei Lian said, "Nowadays, many foreign dramas are adapted from China." In the business he deals with, AI has also lowered the cost of screenwriting. In the past, a script cost about 15000 yuan, but now it only costs a few thousand yuan. Experienced writers can write ten dramas in a month.

Low cost works are more suitable for batch trial and error. A comic production person said that the "sand sculpture drama" with about 100 episodes in a season mainly combines emoji style images and voice acting, with a cost of 20000 to 40000 yuan, and can be completed in about a week. This type of business is probability accounting, with 100 units produced. If only one or two units are produced, it may cover the entire batch of investment.

According to DataEye's statistics, the monthly number of new AI dramas on Tiktok end increased from 19600 in January 2026 to 46700 in March, and fell back to 37700 in June; The monthly playback increment during the same period increased from 15.459 billion to 155.78 billion.

Playing growth does not mean that every drama can make money. DataEye uses 50 million views as a reference line to analyze the commercial performance of anime dramas. Only 2886 new dramas reached this view count in the first half of the year, accounting for 1.3%. This is not a universal breakeven standard for all works, and whether a project can be profitable still depends on production costs, settlement methods, and actual revenue sharing.

The heat is concentrated towards the head. In the first half of 2026, there will be 127 AI anime producers that can be associated with Hongguo, with the top four producers having a total popularity of 5.408 billion, accounting for more than 60% of the total popularity of the top fifteen.

A comic production person said that some companies that hoarded scripts and expanded their teams in large quantities in 2025 will withdraw in early 2026. According to his observation, there are only over 10 active anime production companies left in Malanshan today. He also mentioned that in some areas of Guangzhou, 30 to 40 new companies are still established every month, and peers even compare who loses more when they meet.

Wei Lian predicts that the reshuffle will continue until 2027. He believes that the remaining enterprises may be divided into two categories, one capable of producing longer and higher quality works, and the other possessing large-scale and standardized production capabilities.

He remembered the situation ten years ago when big online movies were on the rise. Picking up money is also fast, but it becomes increasingly difficult later on. In his opinion, AI anime will also experience similar competition and integration.

(Author Tian Guobao)