Cultural crossover with vertical short films

For Western audiences, a nosebleed does not signal that someone is falling in love.

However, for many Chinese viewers, a nosebleed is a cue that love is in the air — love at first sight. When a character gazes at their crush, blood trickles from their nose, an exaggerated yet familiar sign of heart-racing attraction. This metaphor, often used in Chinese and Asian films and television, has become somewhat of a cliche but is widely accepted by local audiences.

"The idea simply doesn't exist in American cultural contexts," Annie Lee, a vertical short series director based in New York, told China Daily. "A nosebleed carries no such metaphorical weight. Unlike in China, where these kinds of indirect symbolism are often used to convey emotion, but these associations are rare in the West."

Lee said that when filming vertical short films, one of the challenging aspects is making the content and plots more "understandable" to local audiences.

"Therefore, when directing short vertical films, we made several adjustments and incorporated localized elements to better resonate with the North American audience," she said.

This emerging form of storytelling — vertical short video clips, shot and formatted in a 9:16 aspect ratio optimized for smartphones — offers audiences a more accessible viewing experience compared to traditional horizontal films or big screens. With 60 to 90 episodes, each typically lasting around one minute or slightly longer, these concise narratives enable convenient, on-the-go consumption of serialized drama with a more intense pace.

Vertical short drama series, originally from China, are gaining significant traction in the global market.

Apps like Dramabox, Goodshort, Reelshort and Shortmax, which focus on vertically formatted short films and operate on a subscription model, have collectively built a user base of over 150 million monthly active users.

Shorter clips are also widely shared on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, often for free, which drives traffic to these paid subscription services.