China's First Primetime AI Long-Form Drama: 100 People Did the Work of 2,000
创业邦 · wechat · 2026-09-14
A deep interview with director Li Dongkun of 'Hou Xi You Ji,' China's first AI-generated long-form drama to air on satellite primetime (Hunan TV / Mango TV). 30 episodes, no human actors; produced in 3 months with 100 people doing the work of 2,000, at a fraction of S-level live-action cost and 70% faster. Key points: 109 characters and 143 scenes standardized as reusable digital assets (a 'software logic' for content), humans lock keyframes while models fill in, compute/token costs can hit 70% of budgets, production airs in parallel with review and audience feedback loops, and early results include stronger-than-expected male user acquisition plus ad and merchandising deals. Remaining challenges: long-range consistency, manual QA, and an unchanged ad/membership revenue model.
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