---
title: "What AI Comic Dramas Lack Most Is Not Models or Tools, but “These Three Kinds of People”"
author: "Unique Research"
sourcePublication: "Unique Research Substack"
originalPublishedAt: "2026-01-26T12:03:40+00:00"
canonical: "https://ffcap.cn/en/research/src-20260126-01html"
source: "https://uniqueresearch.substack.com/p/src-20260126-01html"
language: "en"
---

# What AI Comic Dramas Lack Most Is Not Models or Tools, but “These Three Kinds of People”

_Original · Unique Research · 2026-01-26_

_Historical edition: This complete January 26, 2026 text preserves the analysis and all eight discussion topics from the Chengdu panel. Production figures, prices, client relationships, awards, labor-market judgments and future targets are the speakers’ or original report’s historical claims, not current measurements or guarantees. A-, B-, S- and S+-tier are source market labels, not independently certified quality ratings. The summary calls the 30,000-yuan-per-minute solicitation AI-related live action, while Zhu’s detailed answer calls it live action; both formulations are retained. Company and work names without confirmed official English forms are transliterations or descriptive renderings. Wukong AI and Wukong Culture Media both appear in the source; they are retained as its labels. The source ends with five farewell remarks despite six panel guests; it supplies no separate final remark from Sun Tingyan, and none is invented. No content is omitted from the original textual body._

Tools Are Getting Cheaper; Capabilities Are Becoming More Valuable

A panel at Unique Research Chengdu Open Day reached a clear-eyed consensus: stop focusing all your attention on whether "the model has been upgraded again." What truly determines whether you can remain at the table is where you stand in the industry chain and whether you can continuously deliver content that people will consume and pay for.

Moderator Song Kaifa works almost entirely in overseas businesses—overseas short-drama dubbing and voice-cloning services—so his questions took a relatively "commercial" angle: no discussion of parameters, but how to capture opportunities and secure a position. The panelists were Xu Long, head of AIGC at Wukong AI; Yang Xiaofeng, founder of Huanzhou AI; Sun Tingyan, founder of AIGC company Chengdu Xinshijue; Zhu Wenxu, general manager of Chengdu Aimenweisi; Luo Linfan, general manager of Yuguang Creative Films; and Chen Ye, director of a teaching and research section at the Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts of Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

Some People Make "Series"; Others Build "Systems"

The guests' introductions had already divided the industry into two types of players.

The first type thinks like a content company. Xu Long of Wukong Culture Media put it plainly: they are a traditional film and television team that entered AIGC in 2024. The tools and processes changed, but their thinking and aesthetics remained traditional. They chose science fiction not principally to chase a trend, but because the creators love it, and they are still exploring. This statement matters: science fiction is not a "shortcut" for them, but a "long-term project."

The second type thinks like a systems company. Yang Xiaofeng of Huanzhou AI took another path: first make the internal workflow function, then turn the tools into an external platform. He emphasized that the moat lies in "general-purpose tools for professional scenarios"—enabling someone with no training to begin producing comic dramas within 30 minutes, with a goal of raising output to 200 works per month in 2026.

A third type stands in the middle, handling projects while also building systems. Luo Linfan of Yuguang Creative Films treats the inability to recruit people as an opportunity, producing series, providing vocational education, and building a multimodal platform in an attempt to preserve experience within an industrial workflow.

You will find that the key dividing line in the industry is not "whether you can use AI," but whether you regard AI as a tool for a work or as part of a commercial system.

Will Live-Action Performers Be Replaced or Repriced?

Director Sun Tingyan's answer brought the "replacement thesis" back to reality. He still shoots live action, but AI can already replace 50%–60% of CG work. Traditional CG is too expensive for fantasy subjects; if AI can tell the story clearly and improve efficiency, it is worth using.

He predicts that the future will involve "integration," not an either-or choice. Creators' aesthetic preferences and companies' efficiency goals will determine how deeply AI is used. Low-cost, low-standard live-action content will be squeezed faster; premium productions that combine "AI+ live action" will expand because they depend on narrative, aesthetics, and organizational capabilities.

A Signal of Reshuffling: RMB 30,000 per Minute

Zhu Wenxu offered a highly specific signal: AI-related live-action short dramas are being solicited at RMB 30,000 per minute. Platforms are buying less low-quality content, and the cost of A-tier short dramas is being compressed below RMB 350,000 per production.

That sounds like "more intense competition," but the panel's conclusion was closer to this: competition occurs within homogeneous segments. Zhu Wenxu said they do not produce low-cost B-tier series because everyone makes them, so the result has no value. They insist on S+ premium series, prize aesthetic ability, and connect super individuals so that distinctive people can serve brands directly in a decentralized model.

In one sentence: price wars eliminate only people "without differentiation."

The Simpler the Tools, the More Important Ideas and Taste Become

Yang Xiaofeng said that as reasoning capabilities improve, a single sentence may eventually generate longer videos. When production barriers fall, the contest is over ideas; people with better ideas are more likely to break through.

University teacher Chen Ye put the point more painfully: his strongest impression of 2025 was "AI slop." As AI production explodes, garbage content will multiply. Schools must bring back foundational composition, design elements, and critical thinking—tools are like two legs, but aesthetics and critical reflection are the soul.

The future barrier will therefore not disappear; it will merely migrate from "can you make it?" to "does what you make have taste?"

The Industry's Most Certain Dividend: A Long-Term Talent Shortage

When discussing "involution," multiple guests instead agreed that high-end production and the creator side are not overcrowded; the true scarcity is people.

Wukong Culture Media said science fiction is a blue ocean where the bottleneck is not market competition but talent—too few people understand both AI tools and audiovisual language. Luo Linfan likewise said many traditional film and television professionals are still watching from the sidelines, and the market's talent shortage will not ease over the next three years. Competition occurs mainly in the B-side scramble for contracts, but in higher-requirement markets such as S-tier work and AI + live action, there are not enough people.

Chen Ye added that half of students choose companies while half want to become independent creators. Many students hope to participate deeply in developing an IP; they want not only a position but also long-term creative assets.

This is also the most encouraging conclusion for ordinary people: you do not necessarily need to become a "top-tier model user," but you can become scarce "bridge talent"—someone who understands tools and also the underlying grammar of content.

Stop Asking "Will AI Replace You?"

If you feel lost now, do not throw yourself into the "information flood" yet. This panel made the paths clear:

• If you want to make content: treat AI as an efficiency amplifier, but do not forget that narrative and aesthetics confer pricing power.

• If you want to build systems: make the workflow function and productize the experience; that is more resilient than "inspiration."

• If you want greater stability: train yourself to become a "content person who understands tools" or a "tool person who understands content." This is the type of person that will be most scarce over the next three years.

Finally, two questions:

1\. Do you believe the future belongs more to "platforms/systems" or to "distinctive creators"? Why?

2\. If you had to choose one direction to cultivate deeply for three months, which would it be: science fiction/comic drama/premium live action/tool platforms/education/overseas services?

More Details from the Conversation

Song Kaifa:

I am Song Kaifa, co-founder of VMEG. Our company focuses primarily on overseas business, and 99% of our work is dubbing overseas short dramas, so it relates somewhat to today's topic. Our users include Indian production companies, Italian training companies, and French hospitals; they use our services when cloning voices.

Today we will not discuss technical details, but principally practical insights. In the AI content industry, how should we capture opportunities and position ourselves for the future? Next, each guest has two minutes to offer a simple introduction: who am I? What does the company do? And what do we want to do in 2026? Let us proceed in order.

Xu Long:

Hello, everyone. I am Xu Long, head of the AIGC department at Wukong Culture Media. Our business is relatively vertical and focuses mainly on short dramas in science fiction. Roughly two or three works have already been released on video platforms. Regarding 2026, our direction for the overall market will not change. We still hope to cultivate the science-fiction field deeply and forge a path for Chinese science fiction.

Yang Xiaofeng:

Hello, everyone. I am Yang Xiaofeng, founder of Huanzhou AI. Huanzhou principally develops professional tools for generating short dramas, while also producing large numbers of short dramas ourselves. Current monthly output is roughly 50 to 70 short dramas.

Sun Tingyan:

Hello, everyone. I am Sun Tingyan, founder of Chengdu Xinshijue AIGC. Our principal direction is CG comic drama. We are a content company, and because I began as a director, I have been filming for years, from the era of online films to today's short-drama era. Regarding 2026, we have two principal directions. First is the "premiumization" of short dramas, with an emphasis on premium live-action series. Second is combining traditional film and television with live-action technology. We have now formally begun this work and were among the earliest to start on video platforms in China. We recently made an IP called I Became a Fangxian, using approximately 60% AI technology, which was also our first attempt.

Zhu Wenxu:

Hello, everyone. I am Zhu Wenxu, general manager of Aimenweisi. We are an AIGC content-and-creative-marketing company. Our team’s average birth year is around 1997 or 1998, and we formed one of China's earliest teams of super users, super creators, and geeks after Stable Diffusion's breakout at the end of 2022. We serve leading brands including Yili Group, Chando, and Disney, as well as CCTV; for last year's CCTV online Spring Festival Gala, we were the only AIGC technical-services provider. In 2026, like our senior peers here, we are committing 50% of our effort to AI video production. We currently have an annual framework agreement with Tencent to undertake its S-tier premium series and will move toward "near-live-action" short dramas. We also draw on a very large geek community, including the well-known WaytoAGI, with a creator community of more than 200,000 people. We also help brands and model vendors organize large creator competitions.

Luo Linfan:

Hello, everyone. I am Luo Linfan of Yuguang Creative Films. Our company principally provides AI technical services, education, and a full-process AI multimodal platform. Like many peers here, we focused mainly on short video and advertising TVC in 2024. But beginning around April or May last year, we invested heavily in producing "series"; now 70%-80% of our effort goes into series, and the market has exploded rapidly. Unlike some others, we also provide AI vocational education. We found that we could not recruit people and that the education market had not developed this specialty, so we built a system integrating production and education. Finally, there is our multimodal platform, based on industrial workflows summarized from more than a thousand commercial cases. In 2026, we will focus on three directions: first, production, including "live action + AI" and "AI + live action," using AI to revive or create live actors; second, education, promoted to universities nationwide and lower-tier markets; and third, large-scale application of the multimodal platform.

Chen Ye:

Hello, everyone. I am Chen Ye, a teacher at the Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, where I currently teach in the Art and Technology Department. I am somewhat unusual among those onstage because I represent university talent incubation. The Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts has incorporated AI technology into its curriculum since 2023. Over the past two or three years, we have incubated many works through AIGC methods such as digital illustration and digital exhibitions, winning countless awards. Our advantage is our Chengdu base and our use of Sichuan's cultural heritage, including Sanxingdui and pandas, to cultivate talent. We focus on developing interdisciplinary people who "understand technology, command the humanities, and excel at innovation." In 2026, we hope to continue linking academia deeply with the AI industry. We also welcome companies to campus to co-create excellent works along the path connecting industry, education, and research, and even take them overseas.

Topic One: Why Did a Traditional Film and Television Company Choose Science Fiction?

Song Kaifa:

My first question is for Mr. Xu. We have observed that your parent company is a traditional media company with a radio and television background. Why did you choose science fiction? How large an opportunity did you see?

Xu Long:

Even now, I believe we are a very traditional film and television company. Although we entered AIGC production in 2024 and the tools and workflows changed, the team's thinking and aesthetics remain very traditional. The first reason we decided to pursue science fiction was the principal creators' passion for science fiction and film. Before this, we had never produced short dramas, animation, or AI content; we explored our way forward step by step. Relative to the market, we remain in a state of exploration and learning.

Song Kaifa:

That shows the opportunity is substantial—you already have works despite still learning.

Topic Two: The Moat and Business Model of a Tool Platform

Song Kaifa:

Next, a question for Mr. Yang. There are many platforms producing content. Huanzhou has its own tool platform and offers it externally. What is your moat? In the future, will you build a closed loop of your own IP content, or provide the picks and shovels to others?

Yang Xiaofeng:

We have spent eight years working across the entire children's-animation chain, which gives us a foundation. In 2024, we built a complete AIGC production-line workflow and internally produced dozens of animated works that were released across the internet. We later discovered that the tools could produce not only children's animation but also animation for adults, so we turned our internal tools into an external platform. Our moat is that this is a "general-purpose tool for professional scenarios," allowing anyone without prior training to begin producing a comic drama within 30 minutes, without professional instruction. We now mainly invite professional teams to create and plan to reach monthly output of 200 works in 2026.

Topic Three: The Impact of AI Short Dramas on Live-Action Short Dramas and Their Integration

Song Kaifa:

A question for Director Sun. AI short dramas are now replacing some low-cost live-action productions. What direction will AI-human dramas take in the future—for example, high customization or interactive storylines? What impact and trajectory will they have relative to live-action series?

Sun Tingyan:

That is a broad question. Because I am a director, live action has always been in my DNA, and I now also use AI. First, AI will not completely replace live-action content, but it will certainly have an impact. For example, in the films we now make, shooting remains 100%, but AI replaces 50% to 60% of CG effects. The future will involve more "integration," not an either-or choice. AI gives creation more possibilities while reducing costs and improving efficiency. In fantasy projects, for example, traditional CG is expensive. If AI enables us to tell the story well and improve productivity, why would we not use it?

We test on set and find AI and live action highly integrated in every shot. In the future, AI may even meet performance-level needs, but creation fundamentally depends on two things: first, the creator's characteristics, because some directors simply prefer a film look; and second, the company's characteristics, because a company operating for efficiency will certainly use AI extensively.

Topic Four: Market Demand and the Essence of Creativity

Song Kaifa:

Mr. Zhu, you have many customers. Much overseas live-action short drama is currently low quality. What proportion of the live-action market will AI short dramas squeeze? Moreover, is AI an engine that expands creativity or a stylistic shackle?

Zhu Wenxu:

First, the market. Some time ago, we received a message from Douyin Group that its live-action short-drama line was vigorously soliciting work at RMB 30,000 per minute. That is a signal of market demand. Large platforms are reducing acquisitions of poor-quality content, forcing everyone to keep costs below RMB 350,000. Regardless of whether today's AI-generated "near-live-action" has an uncanny-valley effect, overseas demand for emotional short dramas is very large. That is simply the reality. We are still testing AI in near-live-action short dramas, but I believe model capabilities may break through overnight, providing live-action short dramas with another boost. On the second question, our circle often has this philosophical discussion: is AI an expression of your will, or an algorithmic response? We lean toward seeing AI as a very good collaborator. It is neither a shackle nor an engine. The best idea always comes from a human mind. AI's empowerment lies in broadening creativity and extending it efficiently.

Topic Five: Opportunities and Pain Points in the AI Education Market

Song Kaifa:

Luo, what new opportunities have you identified in education?

Luo Linfan:

We entered education because of a pain point: we could not recruit people. The market severely lacks directors and artists who understand both aesthetics and AI thinking. We do three things in education:

• University partnerships: cooperate with media and arts universities nationwide on program development, faculty training, textbook publication, and competitions.

• Industry training: many traditional film, animation, and gaming companies began transforming into short-drama producers last year. Demand is high, but talent is scarce.

• Corporate training: teach companies' marketing and publicity staff to use AI, change their thinking, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.

Topic Six: How Should Universities Balance Tool Use and Aesthetic Education?

Song Kaifa:

Director Chen, how do schools balance teaching tool use with cultivating aesthetics, especially when seeking to bring cultural assets such as intangible heritage and pandas to broader audiences?

Chen Ye:

This question directly strikes the pain point. We are now in a stage of "human-machine co-creative aesthetics." We place cultural heritage such as Sanxingdui and pandas at the center. The phrase that impressed me most in 2025 was "AI slop." AI generates enormous amounts of visual art, including much garbage content. In education, we must avoid creating such slop.

I therefore emphasize foundational composition and design elements, which have instead become the underlying core competitiveness. Tools are like two legs, but aesthetics, critical thinking, and artistic reflection are the soul. We cultivate interdisciplinary talent who not only use tools but also possess "taste," directing human-machine collaboration like chief designers.

Topic Seven: Industry "Involution" and Ways to Break Through

Song Kaifa:

Let us discuss business. Capacity is now excessive, industry competition is intense, and prices are very low. How can we avoid everyone working hard without making money?

Wukong AI:

In science fiction, there is actually no overcrowding. It is a blue ocean globally and a principal force for Chinese film and television going overseas. The greatest bottleneck is not market competition but talent. We lack people who understand AI tools and also possess foundational capabilities in constructing audiovisual language. Many people have emerged in the AI market, but there is still some distance to go in integrating tools and audiovisual language.

Yang Xiaofeng:

From a technical perspective, foundation models' reasoning capabilities are rising. Generating video previously required learning complex prompts; in the future, a single sentence may generate a one-minute or even ten-minute video. When production becomes as simple as shooting video, the competition is over ideas. Whoever has the best idea can break out. When content explodes, creativity is king.

Sun Tingyan:

I believe we should not act blindly. Everyone is making video, but you must ask who will pay within your consumption scenario. AI can indeed simplify generation, but I prefer to call it a "product" rather than a "video." A product must be consumed. This is an attention-economy era, and actual "viewing" matters.

Zhu Wenxu:

There are two ways to understand competition. First, return to the team's DNA. To survive, you must collaborate with good IP owners and strong screenwriting teams; making content king is how to resist involution. Second, decentralize. We connect super individuals and enable distinctive people to serve brands directly. Why do we not produce B-tier series, meaning low-cost series? Because everyone is doing so. When everyone does something, it becomes less valuable. We insist on S+ premium series because we prize the team's aesthetic capabilities and hope to elevate content production.

Luo Linfan:

Competition principally occurs on the B side, the enterprise side, where price wars are fought for contracts. But on the C side, the creator side, and in high-end production markets such as S-tier series and AI + live action, there is virtually no overcrowding. Many traditional film and television professionals are still waiting and have not entered. The market now has a severe talent shortage, and the talent market will not become crowded within the next three years. Last year, the AI comic-drama market traveled in one year the distance traditional short drama covered in three years, so the opportunity remains substantial.

Topic Eight: Students' Employment Choices

Song Kaifa:

Director Chen, which positions do today's students most want?

Chen Ye:

The current split is approximately 5:5: half enter companies, while half want to become independent creators. Students hope to participate deeply in developing a particular IP, such as Sanxingdui. Today's students do not merely want a job; they have a sense of mission, which, together with professional capability, enables them to go far in this industry.

Song Kaifa:

Finally, each guest will offer one sentence to the audience.

Xu Long: Stay grounded while looking up at the stars, and hope to bring everyone beautiful works.

Yang Xiaofeng: There is no need to wait and see in the future. Whoever made it, use it.

Zhu Wenxu: I recommend joining high-quality communities, such as Feishu groups. Always conduct market research and produce artistic, creative AI content, or foundation models will eliminate you.

Luo Linfan: Join hands with Yuguang and move together into the field connecting industry, education, and research in AI film and television.

Chen Ye: Give seriousness to AI and joy to the future.

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Original publication: https://uniqueresearch.substack.com/p/src-20260126-01html
On-site reading page: https://ffcap.cn/en/research/src-20260126-01html