RisingJoy at Hangzhou AI Micro-Drama Conference

RisingJoy CEO Cassandra Yang took the stage at the Third Micro-Drama Ecosystem Conference in Hangzhou, moderating a roundtable at one of the industry's largest gatherings. Hosted by Micro-Drama Study Room and co-organized by the China International Cartoon and Animation Festival Exhibition Co., the two-day event drew nearly 3,000 attendees and over 6,200 registrations, covering the full industry chain from content production and platform distribution to AI technology and overseas services.

Three insights from the stage

During the session, Yang shared three observations on where AI and micro-drama intersect:

• AI is democratizing production, lowering the barrier to entry for creators worldwide.

• As tools become more accessible, producers with sharp aesthetic judgment will become the scarce resource — not those who operate the technology, but those who know what good looks like.

• For traditional media professionals, AI represents the most equitable opportunity in the next two years — a window to enter a fast-growing format without the legacy cost base.

A maturing industry

The conference agenda reflected an industry at an inflection point. Discussions across the domestic market, overseas expansion, and AI production tracks converged on a shared theme: the shift from scale-driven growth to content-driven competition.

With micro-dramas now reaching nearly 700 million users and the sector written into national policy frameworks, the conversation in Hangzhou was less about whether the format would last, and more about who would define its next phase. AI's role — from script generation and storyboarding to full production — was the dominant thread, with speakers across the programme examining how human creativity and machine efficiency might coexist.

Why we were there

RisingJoy's participation in Hangzhou reflects the company's commitment to engaging with the broader micro-drama ecosystem — not just as a distributor and producer, but as a voice contributing to the industry's evolving creative and technological standards.