While the Chinese short drama market exploded, the prevailing perception in Korea was that it lacked narratives and was simply low-budget, experimental content. One person has identified this gap: Noh Kyung-ho, CEO of Coco Media, who spent nine years working in drama and digital content production in China. Returning to Korea in 2022, he established a cross-border content studio that transforms web novel IP into short dramas and distributes them globally.
The global short-form drama market is estimated to be worth 10 trillion won. Platform competition is intensifying, particularly in North America and China, and content consumption is rapidly shifting toward mobile-based short-form narratives. Targeting this trend, Coco Media secured approximately 1,500 Chinese web novel IPs as of the end of February. This strategic pipeline, selected based on genre, target audience, and potential for video conversion, is not simply a collection. The company aims to build a database of 10,000 IPs by April and 50,000 by the end of the year.
What Representative Roh felt most strongly on the ground in China was ‘speed.’
"China has a very fast cycle from planning to production, distribution, and data feedback. A structure that assumes failure and quickly corrects it has already been established. In contrast, Korea has a strong focus on perfection and a risk-averse approach. While this has its advantages, speed is a competitive advantage in the mobile environment."
Initially, he worked on traditional broadcast and web drama projects, later shifting his focus to formats optimized for mobile consumption. His decision to start a business stemmed from witnessing in China that short dramas were becoming established as an industry, not just a fad. Upon returning to Korea, he discovered that the domestic market still viewed them as experimental content. He saw this as a failure of design, not a limitation of the format. While leaving behind a stable career in China, he was driven by the belief that few people could create a structure that connected Korea and China.
“The opportunity was not just being a simple production company, but being able to design a structure that would encompass everything from securing IP to localizing, making short dramas, and then distributing them globally.”
CEO Noh's unique strength lies in his direct experience with the production and distribution structures of both Korea and China, gaining a deep understanding of the consumption patterns and revenue models of both markets. Coco Media's three-part structure is a product of this design philosophy. Coco Stories secures and localizes Chinese web novel IPs. Coco Media produces and distributes short dramas. Coco Stars handles celebrity and influencer marketing and a global MCN. Web novels provide an IP pipeline, short dramas provide rapidly recoverable content assets, and Coco Stars serves as a channel for traffic and commerce expansion.
"Domestic production companies are tied to a single-production revenue structure. Their IPs are not scalable, and they rely on external marketing. From the planning stage, we assume the potential for IP expansion. Our structure connects everything from web novels to short dramas, short-form clips, commerce, and even overseas remakes."
The criteria for selecting an IP aren't simply the number of views. They include a strong initial hook, the ability to utilize clichés, and the potential for structural compression during video transitions. These are the three factors.
“The key is whether we can redesign a 200-episode web novel IP into a 50-episode short drama, each lasting 2-3 minutes.”
What separates successful IPs from failed ones is emotional density. Even if a story is entertaining in text form, if the tension is weak when converted to video, the chances of success are low. It's no exaggeration to say that the first 30 seconds of the first episode are practically everything. "In the mobile environment, preventing early abandonment is everything," said CEO Noh. There's also a lesson learned from failure: overly respecting the original's emotionality can lead to a lack of compatibility with short-form formats. Now, instead of simply translating the original, the company boldly redesigns it for mobile-optimized formats.
The domestic short-form content market is just entering its early stages of industrialization. While revenue models haven't fully stabilized, CEO Noh sees this as an opportunity. "The domestic market is strong in IP-based consumption," he said. "Global MCNs are traffic-focused, but Korea has a strong narrative consumer base. This presents an opportunity for short-form dramas." Underperforming players share clear characteristics: a lack of understanding of the format, a weak initial hook, and slow production speed. These factors contribute to viewership but a lack of revenue conversion.
The use of AI is an extension of this structural advancement. During the IP selection stage, box office factors are analyzed based on data, and during the video conversion process, viewer retention and dropout data are reflected to redesign rewriting and editing structures. This is an attempt to transition from a sensory-centric production to a data-driven design industry.
"Content is not about feeling, it's about design. We emphasize a culture of rapid creation and rapid revision."
The same goes for the most important competencies when hiring: speed and structural design skills. This criterion, which prioritizes execution and revision over perfect planning, stems from the culture of rapid feedback acquired in the Chinese workplace.
Revenue is centered on production, distribution, and licensing, with the proportion of short dramas rapidly increasing. The most difficult decision recently was choosing between speed and stability. We've adopted a balanced strategy between rapid expansion and strengthening our revenue structure. Our short-term goal is to complete the structure. Over the next one to two years, we plan to focus on expanding short drama production, strengthening our global platform connections, and enhancing our IP film pipeline. We believe we prioritize IP asset accumulation over short-term revenue.
“In three years, Cocomedia will have grown into Asia's leading short drama IP studio.”
Information, trust, and structural barriers still exist between the Korean and Chinese markets. CEO Noh is taking on the role of building this bridge. Insights gleaned from nine years of experience in China are now serving as a bridgehead for connecting Korean short dramas to the global market.
Speed over perfection, design over feel. It remains to be seen how these two keywords he emphasizes will shape the next chapter of the Korean short content market.
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