Microdrama giant COL adds to production facilities as FlareFlow platform flies high

Chinese digital publisher COL Group, a leader in the burgeoning microdrama space, is expanding its production infrastructure with the opening of several new facilities at the same time as another of its platforms reaches the top of the app download charts.

Ray Tong

FlareFlow landed in the top five of Google Play’s app downloads in the US earlier this month, and on September 23 the microdrama platform hit a single-day revenue high, according to COL Group, as well as climbing to the top of the free entertainment app charts on both iOS and Android in the US.

In addition, according to digital insights company Sensor Tower, FlareFlow entered the top three in Germany, top four in Australia and top five in Canada for shortform and entertainment apps between August 22 and September 20.

FlareFlow has now surpassed 15 million downloads globally since it was launched in April, with the monthly user spend increasing by more than 500% in that time, according to COL Group.

The company said the results demonstrate a “fundamental change in global viewing patterns. Audiences who once defaulted to longform series or films are increasingly turning to bite-sized, serialised storytelling that fits seamlessly into daily routines.”

The Beijing-based outfit also revealed it will open the industry’s first dedicated microdrama production studio in Hengqin, an island located primarily in Zhuhai in Macau’s Guangdong Province. The 10,000sq m facility will be purpose-built and feature 30 soundstages. It is scheduled to be operational before the end of the year.

In addition, it now has some 30 international production teams spanning LA, New York, London, Canada and South-east Asia, while it is also opening post-production facilities in Beijing and LA.

COL Group, which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, has become one of the companies at the centre of the microdrama revolution that swept China and other parts of Asia and is now making its way to the West.

The company is a backer and partial owner of Crazy Maple Studio, which owns the ReelShort platform. Most recently, COL Group launched a content distribution division https://www.c21media.net/news/chinas-col-launches-microdrama-distribution-division/ with more than 1,000 titles available in English and Chinese languages.

“This is not a passing trend in China or the US – it’s a global shift in storytelling,” said Ray Tong, CEO of COL Group.

“COL and FlareFlow are at the forefront of this evolution, scaling production and reshaping our content strategy to meet diverse worldwide demand. People have consumed vertical content since Instagram Stories and TikTok, but what’s evolving is the storytelling itself. FlareFlow is shaping that evolution for audiences everywhere.”