"Short Drama + AI + Globalization" – When these three rapidly growing fields intersect, they collide to create a new track full of imagination and limitless potential.
Founded in 2021, CreativeFitting is on this challenging yet opportunity-filled path: using AI to redefine the way short dramas are created and pushing this model to the global market. The founder of CreativeFitting, Zhu Jiang, has years of practical experience in overseas content platforms, tool products, and user growth, and the team has gathered a group of members who are not only technically skilled but also know how to tell stories. In their view, the core value of AI is not to replace humans but to open up new creative possibilities for the content industry. Zhu Jiang believes that AI short dramas are approaching a critical development node, and CreativeFitting aims to be among the first players to successfully close the business loop in this industry transformation.
Unlike many AI projects that emphasize "efficiency improvements," CreativeFitting's focus from the beginning has been to solve a deeper issue: how to use AI to tell better stories. Traditional live-action short dramas are limited by long shooting cycles, high production costs, and a shortage of skilled professionals, making it difficult to scale into international markets. The emergence of AI short dramas has made content creation flexible and simple: no need for a large cast, no need to build complex scenes; with a good idea, one person can quickly produce a work and simultaneously launch it to the global market. The value of this transformation is not only reflected in technological breakthroughs but also in driving innovation in content expression, enabling technology to be truly applied in the creative field.
Of course, there are market concerns about the low quality of AI-generated content, as well as discussions about whether users are paying just for "novelty experiences" or real emotional resonance. With a focus on the new industry trend and a desire to explore these questions, we visited CreativeFitting and interviewed its founder, Zhu Jiang. We discussed the following topics: What is the outlook for AI short dramas? How can entrepreneurs seize the opportunities of this era? Have the essential skills for entrepreneurs in 2025 changed? And how can a Chinese team find its own voice in the global market?
We hope these insights will inspire you, whether you're an entrepreneur deeply involved in the overseas market, or someone with innovative ideas for AI+ projects. In an era of information overload and scarce understanding, EqualOcean is committed to delivering practical thoughts and industry insights from the front lines, rather than adding noise.
Here is the core content of this conversation (Part 1):
EqualOcean：How have you developed the insight to repeatedly position yourself at the right moment in the market?
Zhu Jiang: The core lies in going with the flow, which is a recognition I accumulated through practice. From 2008 to 2012, during the golden period when smartphones exploded and mobile internet emerged, I personally experienced a major industry transformation and deeply understood what it truly means to "go with the flow"—you need to align with the direction of the times. In 2020, the mobile internet company I co-founded, CooTek (Cayman) Inc. (OTC: CTKYY), went public. At that time, I keenly sensed several key signals of trend changes:
The technological turning point had arrived: Since we were working on the input method editor, we paid close attention to language model technology. As early as June 2020, we had already started researching OpenAI's GPT-3, which was much earlier than general industry awareness.
The form of entertainment content was changing: At that time, short video platforms (like TikTok) were competing fiercely for user time, putting great pressure on novel platforms. So we began filming exciting scenes from novels into short "drama ads" of several seconds and distributing them on platforms like TikTok to attract users to download apps. The ToC product I led, "Fengdu Novel", also used this method to acquire customers. In a way, the predecessor of short dramas was the "novel drama ads" invented by us novel industry practitioners. We were among the first to experience and promote this evolution.
The macro environment was shifting: The pandemic brought a global economic turning point, and the growth dividend of domestic mobile internet was visibly diminishing.
When looking at the bigger picture, I strongly felt that a major trend shift, similar to the one in 2008, might be coming. After conducting in-depth research, we concluded that the speed of technological evolution was accelerating, which was a deterministic trend. Based on this certainty, the uncertainty in other fields would also become clearer. Therefore, in 2021, I decided to start a new venture in the AI-driven entertainment field.
In summary, the key to insight lies in identifying changes in core drivers (such as technology, user behavior, macro environment, etc.) and finding deterministic trends (such as the acceleration of AI technology, especially in generative content).
EqualOcean：Has the most essential skill for entrepreneurs in 2025 changed?
Zhu Jiang: I believe the core competency framework remains the same, but the depth requirements and the scope of some skills have significantly expanded. Based on my firsthand experience with this new venture:
First, a deep understanding of AI has become essential, and the threshold has been significantly raised. Entrepreneurs in 2025 must truly understand AI: this is not just about understanding abstract concepts or being able to use tools, but about being able to assess the capabilities, limitations, and evolution direction of AI models. The development speed of AI is very fast and often exceeds expectations. As an entrepreneur, the core ability to strategize, seize opportunities, and mitigate risks lies in the ability to accurately judge what AI can currently do, what it cannot do, and what it will soon be able to do.
Second, the pace of competition and the speed of information flow have exponentially accelerated. One of the biggest differences I’ve felt during this entrepreneurship is how highly mature recommendation algorithms allow a new technological breakthrough or creative idea to be recognized, understood, and applied by global entrepreneurs and practitioners at a pace far faster than in the past. This means that even with experience, resources, or first-mover advantages, one must remain vigilant and learn and iterate with extreme efficiency to keep up with this “fast-paced” competition.
Finally, being "born global" has become the default option. A distinct feature of this AI venture is that China and the United States are essentially at the same starting line in terms of AI models and applications, inspiring each other and advancing together. The cross-lingual nature of AI, the universality of generative content, the global sharing of open-source technology, and the experience of previous ventures abroad make it technically and conceptually more feasible—and necessary—than ever before to create products aimed at global users.
Additionally, I have observed that the overall quality and background of people entering AI entrepreneurship today are stronger than in the previous era. This includes three types of people: young “genius kids” who master cutting-edge model knowledge; serial entrepreneurs like us with successful experience in mobile internet; and even successful entrepreneurs from earlier eras (such as the PC internet era) who are starting new ventures. This talent structure reflects the increased demands for skills in this wave of entrepreneurship.
EqualOcean：The vision of CreativeFitting is to become the "world's largest AIGC platform." How do you define "largest"? Is it in terms of user scale, IP value, or ecological influence?
Zhu Jiang: The "largest" in our definition is centered around the scale of creators and the value of content, rather than just user numbers or commercial metrics. Specifically, first, the "largest" means attracting the most creators to produce high-quality content using AI tools. This stems from our early experience in the free novel industry, where, despite different marketing and monetization methods, users were ultimately only attracted by truly high-quality content in the long term. Second, in the AI era, we believe technological innovation will lead to a dual improvement: on one hand, AI can significantly lower the creation threshold, enabling more people to become creators; on the other hand, AI assistance will systematically improve the average quality of content, providing users with a better content experience.
EqualOcean：To be frank, the quality of AI-generated content still lags behind real-life filming. Could this affect the user experience?
Zhu Jiang: We started seriously considering this question in the second half of 2023: Can users really engage with AI-generated short dramas? And is there potential for commercialization in the future? If we only look at that specific point in time, the answer is certainly that there is still a significant gap, and the user experience was not great. However, if we view the evolution of AI technology from a developmental perspective, we can see that AI-generated content has already been accepted and consumed by users in certain specific types of content.
More importantly, from today's standpoint, we can confidently say that, for AI-generated content, in the foreseeable future, the vast majority of users (we estimate over 90%) will inevitably accept it. We can also clearly observe that the naturalness and realism of AI-generated content are continuously and significantly improving.
This is exactly the core principle we adhere to: we must get our hands dirty, deeply engage with the underlying models, and refine them. This level of involvement allows us to accurately perceive the boundaries of the current model's capabilities. As early as 2023, we were already confident that AI would profoundly reshape the film and entertainment industry, ultimately producing high-quality content that immerses users.
EqualOcean："AI-generated virtual actors are beautiful but lack unique memorable traits." How do you view and address this issue?
Zhu Jiang: I believe that AI actors can actually take many great works a step further in terms of character development. Right now, we treat AI actors as part of the crew in the drama, but in reality, viewers form deeper emotional connections with many characters because each character may carry its own set of values or have emotional tags that resonate with the audience. Traditional short dramas were relatively shallow in this regard, largely due to cost considerations. Now, with AI actors, we can fully explore the character's persona and the spiritual symbols they represent.
AI actors can appear in different dramas, and this also adds richness to the content. Simply put, this is similar to the path taken by the film industry — early on, the focus was on content creation, and later, it shifted to creating stars. So, we believe that in the short drama field, AI actors can actually reshape the relationship between content and characters, allowing great characters to eventually become AI "stars" loved by the audience, bringing greater user value and commercial value.
Evelyn, the AI short drama star created by CreativeFitting
EqualOcean：Will AI stars replace human actors?
Zhu Jiang: I believe that in the context of AI-generated short dramas, human actors will not disappear; on the contrary, they will continue to exist and play a key role. AI technology will raise the average quality of the entire industry, forcing talented human actors to enhance their acting skills. This is due to the competitive pressure brought by AI, which requires human actors to excel in emotional expression and character development in order to avoid being replaced.
However, AI will indeed bring fundamental changes. It will give rise to new roles such as AI directors and AI actors, offering unprecedented opportunities to many talented but marginalized individuals. Specifically, many individuals may have outstanding story ideas or aesthetic abilities, but due to the high entry barriers of the traditional film and television industry, they are unable to break in. At the same time, existing practitioners in the industry face limited upward mobility due to cyclical fluctuations in the entire industry, such as unstable project funding or market volatility, making it difficult for capable talents to find opportunities. With the help of AI tools, these individuals can more directly participate in the creative process, take control of content creation and realization, thus unlocking their potential and driving product innovation.
EqualOcean：In addition to actors, good scripts and good directors are also key to high-quality content. How many directors does the company currently have fixed collaborations with?
Zhu Jiang: We use an open, ecosystem-based cooperation model, rather than the traditional film and television company model that relies on fixed director partnerships. Any creator with a desire to create can register through the self-service process on our official website, become an "AI director" on the platform, and submit their works. The platform will systematically screen and review all submitted works. Approved works will be distributed to our overseas Reel.AI platform for global audiences and will generate actual commercial revenue for creators through the platform's traffic and business model.
Currently, this open model has attracted and nurtured a substantial creator ecosystem—there are already hundreds of active AI director creators on the platform. Our relationship with creators is similar to the collaboration logic between novel platforms and writers: after creators submit their works, the platform uses data analysis and content evaluation to label and categorize the creator and their works from multiple dimensions. For creators whose works are particularly creative and align closely with the platform's strategic direction, we proactively reach out and promote partnership agreements. Signed creators not only receive deeper operational support but also see a significant increase in their revenue share from their works. For creators who prefer to maintain their independence, the platform also provides a complete self-publishing channel for their works. After passing the basic review, creators can independently manage the release schedule and receive corresponding revenue shares. This model ensures flexibility and freedom for creators in terms of content ownership.
In the next article, we will continue to explore the reasons behind the global expansion of "AI + short drama" companies, the forms and cycles of content creation under the "Born Global" context, the opportunities and challenges faced by companies going global, and our outlook on future industry trends.
Since 2018, EqualOcean has been dedicated to tracking and analyzing the global expansion of Chinese enterprises. We welcome contributions from industry professionals to share your expertise and insights. Companies seeking international growth, media exposure, or discussions on overseas strategies are also encouraged to contact us directly.
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