China's New Business: Pay ~$31, Star in Your Own Vertical Drama

China's New Business: Pay ~$31, Star in Your Own Vertical Drama

Hengdian World Studios — China's largest film/TV studio complex, in Zhejiang — launched a new service in August letting tourists pay as little as $31 to become the lead in a short vertical drama, complete with a real director, professionally written script, nice sets, and supporting actors.

The backstory explains why: vertical dramas (short, phone-formatted series) boomed in China, pushing related studio jobs up 237% to over 4,000 people. But AI-generated content exploded even faster — by Q1 2026, 95% of new Chinese vertical dramas were AI-made, gutting demand for human-made ones. Roughly 80% of vertical-drama studios sat empty, and 3 in 4 crew members lost work. This new "be the star" tourist service repurposes that idle capacity into a new revenue stream.

For the money, participants get a choice of 20-40 professionally written scripts (rewritten daily, customizable) spanning popular genres — palace power struggles, martial arts, espionage, CEO romance, reincarnation, sweet romance — plus over 1,000 costume options and a full crew (director, cinematographer, makeup, lighting, editor, extras). The director coaches non-actors scene by scene, down to exactly when to blink or smile.

Four packages:

• Basic: 218 yuan (~$31) — script + 1 hour filming, no hair/makeup

• With hair & makeup: 388 yuan (~$55)

• Family/small group: 3,800 yuan (~$535)

• Corporate/company: 12,000 yuan (~$1,690)

In its first month, over 2,000 people used it — mostly older Chinese women domestically, plus tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea. It hasn't moved the needle on Hengdian's overall revenue yet, but demand has grown enough that it expanded into 19 more studios, while also boosting nearby hotel, restaurant, and ticket sales.