Film auteurs embrace booming short-form market

Feb 25, 2026, 07:46 am

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“My Child’s Dad Is a Male Friend” (left) and “Sexy Marriage.” /Lezhin Entertainment · Pan Entertainment

Prominent film directors are increasingly turning to the fast-growing short-form drama market, signaling a structural shift in Korea’s content industry.

Short-form content, once regarded as a testing ground for emerging creators, is now drawing established feature filmmakers. Lee Byung-hun recently headlined the launch of Lezhin Entertainment’s short-form platform “Lezhin Snack” with My Child’s Dad Is a Male Friend, while Lee Joon-ik joined the format with Father’s Home-cooked Meal, based on a webtoon.

Major production and distribution companies such as Showbox, KT Studio Genie and Pan Entertainment have also entered the market, collaborating with global short-form platforms or producing original bite-sized series. Production entities long centered on feature films are now pivoting decisively toward shorter formats.

At the core of this shift is a change in audience behavior. As content consumption migrates from theaters and long-form series to mobile-based platforms, formats that compress conflict and emotion into short running times are becoming mainstream. In an environment that favors rapid pacing and immediate immersion over slow-burn narratives, directors are compelled to follow audiences to the platforms where they spend their time.

Production structures are evolving as well. Big-budget films and long-form series carry high financial risks and heavy recovery burdens. Short-form projects, by contrast, offer flexibility: creators can test story worlds and characters within shorter production cycles and expand strategically based on audience response. Directors are increasingly expected not only to deliver a finished work but also to design and scale intellectual property in line with platform ecosystems.

The grammar of storytelling has also changed. In short-form drama, scene density and rhythm are paramount. Exposition must be stripped down, with core conflicts placed front and center. In this compressed environment, a director’s narrative instinct and scene construction skills are laid bare.

Cultural critic Park Song-ah described the trend as less a choice than a matter of survival for star directors. “With viewing habits shifting away from theaters and OTT platforms toward short-form platforms, directors have little option but to move where audiences are,” she said. “Short-form is no longer a promotional add-on but a format that reveals directing skill and narrative sensibility without filter.”

She added that the shift is prompting the broader film and OTT industries to reconsider long running times and slower pacing, demanding greater density and instant engagement. “Directors are being redefined — not just as creators of works, but as designers and expanders of IP tailored to platform environments,” she said.

The rise of short-form content suggests that bite-sized storytelling is no longer secondary. Instead, it is emerging as a central arena where filmmakers reconnect with a transformed audience.

#short-form drama #Lee Byung-hun #Lee Joon-ik #Lezhin Entertainment #Showbox