Microdramas Head to Movie Theater Pre-Shows Through NCM Deal

“Movie theaters have always been where people go to lose themselves in storytelling,” National CineMedia Chief Revenue Officer Mike Rosen said in a statement reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “This partnership reflects that same impulse, just in a new format.”

The Hollywood Reporter reported that National CineMedia, the company behind the Noovie pre-show, will work with aTwist to promote the company’s microdramas before movies and develop branded content for advertisers. The previews are expected to begin this summer and end with a QR code directing viewers to the aTwist platform. NCM’s Noovie pre-show currently runs across more than 18,500 screens in more than 1,650 theaters, including circuits run by AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. and Regal Entertainment Group.

aTwist was founded by Hollywood veterans Jana Winograde, Susan Rovner and Lloyd Braun. Winograde, the former president of Showtime, serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. “We built aTwist around the belief that great storytelling should meet audiences wherever they are,” she said in the statement. The NCM deal gives aTwist a way to reach moviegoers before the platform’s launch later this summer.

For families heading to theaters this summer, the arrangement is worth noting: the pre-show is no longer just trailers and trivia. Branded serialized stories are coming to those minutes before the lights go down.

The Rise and Popularity of Microdramas

Microdramas — defined by NPR as “vertically filmed, under minute-long clips that together are often movie-length soap operas” — initially rose to prominence in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2023, the format had grown into a $5 billion industry. The format’s expansion to the U.S. followed quickly after a crowded Chinese market and government scrutiny pushed producers to seek new audiences abroad.

Related: The No. 1 Place to Watch Microdramas Isn’t TikTok

Today, three of the most popular microdrama apps — ReelShort, DramaBox and DramaWave — were downloaded 34 million times in a single month, grossing $78 million in revenue across Apple and Google’s app stores, according to analytics firm Appfigures. A separate report cited by NPR found that 28 million U.S. adults are now watching microdramas, with more than half of viewers between the ages of 18 and 34.

“Despite the cheesy acting, the clip ended on a cliffhanger, and I desperately wanted to see what happened next,” viewer Britton Copeland told NPR, describing her experience with the ReelShort series TRUE HEIRESS VS. FAKE QUEEN BEE. “It’s a lot easier to lose track of time when you can consume hundreds of videos in half an hour versus watching essentially a full film.”

Actor Marc Herrmann, who has starred in several microdramas including BILLIONAIRE CEO’S SECRET OBSESSION, told NPR the format is engineered to pull audiences in: “The way these are broken down into the minute and minute-and-a-half episodes, it’s not requiring a lot of you to say, ‘I’ll watch this episode.’ And then the next thing you know, a half an hour or two hours went by, and you just watched a whole movie.”

That addictive structure is no accident. Sasha Kaletsky, managing partner at Creator Ventures, has described the pricing model as “aggressive freemium” — content that is technically free to start but engineered to make paying feel unavoidable. Some series cost viewers $10 to $20 a week or up to $80 a month to complete.

Movieguide® has been tracking this trend closely. Our earlier coverage noted that nearly half of microdrama viewers — 44% — are watching on YouTube, not TikTok, reflecting the format’s reach across every major platform. A separate Movieguide® report found that Gen Z viewers are spending 54 percent more time on social platforms than traditional TV — and microdramas are a significant driver of that shift. Movieguide® has also reported on how legacy Hollywood studios are now investing in the vertical format, with SAG-AFTRA releasing a new contract covering actors who work in the genre.

A Content Warning for Families

Families should be aware that the microdrama genre carries significant content concerns. The format was already scrutinized in China, where government officials removed more than 25,000 microdramas between 2022 and 2023 for what authorities described as “violent, low-style or vulgar content,” according to NPR’s reporting.

In the US market, the concerns are equally real. Many microdramas contain excessive foul language, graphic violence, and implied sexual relationships. The genre frequently leans on storylines built around supernatural and occult themes — including vampires, werewolves and witches — which represent worldview concerns that Movieguide® readers will want to consider carefully before watching or allowing their children to watch.

The appeal of these stories — emotionally driven, serialized, and designed to be consumed quickly — can make it easy to underestimate how much content is being absorbed. A viewer who sits down to watch a few short clips may end up consuming the equivalent of a full movie’s worth of material in a single sitting, with little time to reflect on what the story is affirming or teaching.

As microdramas push into movie theater lobbies and pre-show slots, families who arrive early may encounter this content in a setting they previously considered safe. The format’s arrival at the multiplex is a reminder that discernment doesn’t start when the feature presentation begins — it starts from the moment you walk in the door.

Movieguide® will continue to monitor how the microdrama format evolves and what it means for families seeking entertainment that reflects their values.