On the evening of August 6th, an inspirational AI short drama independently produced by a local team from Cangxi, titled "Returning to Gaokao, I Am Only There For Myself," launched on the major domestic short drama platform Hongguo. After its release, the drama saw its popularity climb rapidly, reaching as high as 16th place on the new drama chart, with a peak popularity score of 46 million. It has also maintained a stable level above 40 million, establishing itself as a surprising dark horse in the niche short drama sector recently.
Behind this short drama is a group of young local talents from Cangxi, all born after the year 2000. None of them have a formal background in film or television, yet within just a few months, they learned to use AI tools to create movies. This group of complete beginners managed to produce a massive hit.
Located in the Cangxi Hang-Guang East-West Collaboration Digital Industrial Park, the atmosphere here differs from a typical film set. The sounds of keyboard typing and images being generated frame by frame on screens replace the usual hustle and bustle. Before, creating a short drama required a major production with cameras, lighting, and actors all essential. Now, with AI tools, simply inputting ideas and commands can generate scenes and add voiceovers, considerably lowering the barrier to creation. Sitting at the computer is Yang Ruiqi, who months ago never imagined he would be connected to filmmaking. Now, he is a core member of Cangxi’s first AI short drama creation team.
Yang Ruiqi was one of the first four people to travel to Hangzhou for training. On May 6th of this year, he and three other companions flew to Hangzhou, where they underwent over a month of AI short drama entrepreneurship training in Yuhang District. Starting from scratch, they learned AI scriptwriting, AI image generation, and intelligent voiceover, discovering how to use code and algorithms to create content. On June 13th, the four returned, using a mentorship model to unite 16 young people from Cangxi into a capable AI short drama team.
Nan Luoran, a 23-year-old economics graduate, is one of them. Her university major had no connection to film and television production. She joined the team two months ago to learn by doing under the guidance of more experienced colleagues and can now independently handle the entire production process of one episode. She initially had not considered this career path due to the need for opportunities, but her interest in this field made her eager to join.
Producing a single episode from image generation to initial editing takes about one to two hours, and with voiceovers, subtitles, and music added, it takes around three to four hours to complete fully. The team is full of versatile members. According to team leader Luo Jie, for a 60-episode series, each person is responsible for about five episodes, managing everything from character design and video generation to editing, dubbing, music, and subtitles all alone. None of the 16 members have professional film training. Luo Jie emphasizes that in the AI short drama arena, insight and artistic taste are what matter most, and these young people have proven this through their work.
The drama "Returning to Gaokao, I Am Only There For Myself" is adapted from a Tomato IP novel and focuses on themes of Gaokao and youth. The team intentionally chose a release time to coincide with the period when students are filling out college applications after finishing their exams. They wanted to test their team’s capabilities and the platform’s traffic at that moment. The outcome exceeded all expectations, with the drama’s popularity continuing to climb after its release, reaching as high as 16th place on the Hongguo new drama chart and achieving a peak popularity value of 46 million, steadily remaining above 40 million. Luo Jie estimates the drama will generate around 100,000 yuan in revenue.
This East-West collaboration has opened up new career pathways for young professionals in small cities. For Nan Luoran, the job’s appeal goes beyond its novelty, offering real financial benefits. The salary here is reasonable compared to what is typical in the area, and avoids the costs of renting and commuting that come with working elsewhere. With a base salary plus performance bonuses, the average monthly income is 5,500 yuan, with eight-hour workdays and minimal overtime, making this a highly desirable job among peers in Cangxi.
Behind this successful "small-town blockbuster" lies a clear path of collaboration. In June, leveraging the Zhejiang-Sichuan Hang-Guang East-West collaboration mechanism, Cangxi launched the first "I Can Fly" AI short drama entrepreneurship training session in its digital industrial park. Experts from Hangzhou’s Alibaba public welfare team and professional AI technical teams provided hands-on instruction to local young entrepreneurs on using cutting-edge technologies like AI scriptwriting, AI image generation, and intelligent voiceover for short drama creation.
Duan Xiaolan, deputy director of the Cangxi County Commerce and Economic Cooperation Bureau’s marketing center, notes that the contribution from Yuhang includes not only funding but also valuable experience and platform resources in the digital economy. Cangxi is seizing the opportunity presented by the East-West collaboration to establish the Hang-Guang Digital Industrial Park and an AI short drama incubation hub, aiming to transform the county into a new hotspot for digital content creation.
The young team has already expanded from 16 to 20 members and is currently developing three new dramas covering genres such as time-travel romance, women’s growth, and rural prosperity. Luo Jie states that the team selects scripts based on big data trends from the Hongguo platform and relevant policy directions.