As an emerging segment of the online audiovisual industry and a new form of popular art in the internet era, micro-short dramas have seen explosive growth in recent years. With their compact format, brisk pacing, and rapid dissemination, they have won broad audience appeal. As a major cultural province, Liaoning has abundant resources for stories rooted in real life and a solid foundation for film and television production. Recently, the province issued the “Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of Liaoning’s Micro-Short Drama Industry” to support the creation and wider dissemination of high-quality “Liaoning-style” micro-short dramas.

This year, Liaoning will open submissions for the “Northbound” micro-short drama series. Centered on the theme of talented Liaoning natives returning home to start businesses, the project aims to tell inspiring stories of people from different backgrounds and industries who return to their hometowns to strive for success. By doing so, it seeks to challenge stereotypes about Liaoning, present a modern province full of vitality, opportunity, and warmth, and develop a new group of high-quality “Liaoning-style” micro-short dramas that showcase the province’s distinctive character in the new era.

At the same time, the Measures set out a range of incentives, including support for script development, subsidies for production and location filming, and awards for the broadcast of high-quality productions, in order to encourage the creation of more outstanding works. Subsidies will also be provided for micro-short dramas produced with AI technologies and for AI-generated animated dramas. With a focus on international communication, the policy also aims to strengthen global outreach and improve support services for overseas expansion, with subsidies covering such areas as international filming location coordination, multilingual localization, cross-cultural consulting, and access to overseas distribution channels.