ReelShort, the short-form drama app operated by Crazy Maple Studio, is projected to generate $1.05 billion in revenue in 2026 — a 34% jump — and post its first meaningful profit at scale, according to a report by Singapore-based research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA) Variety.

The report, titled "ReelShort / Crazy Maple Studio: Inside the US$1B Micro-Drama Machine," traces a steep climb. ReelShort's revenue went from $97 million in 2023 to $400 million in 2024 and $785 million in 2025. Despite that growth, the company booked an estimated $12 million net loss in 2025. MPA now projects $63 million of EBITDA (a measure of operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) and roughly $40 million of net profit for 2026.

The trajectory steepens from there. MPA forecasts revenue of $1.4 billion in 2027 and $1.7 billion in 2028, with EBITDA reaching $306 million — an 18% margin — and net profit hitting $225 million by that year.

Microdramas are short, vertically-shot episodic series, often running one to two minutes per episode, designed for viewing on a phone. ReelShort makes money when viewers pay to unlock episodes or subscribe; consumer payments and subscriptions account for 85% to 90% of revenue across MPA's forecast period, with subscriptions making up 60% to 70% of that viewer spend. Advertising, still a smaller slice, is expected to grow to around 15% of revenue by 2028. Because advertising carries no app-store commission, MPA estimates 65 to 70 cents of every ad dollar flows straight to ReelShort's earnings.

The broader category is growing even faster. MPA sizes the outside-China microdrama market at $3.6 billion in 2026, up from $2.7 billion in 2025, and forecasts it will reach $9.5 billion by 2031 — a 21% compound annual growth rate. The U.S. market alone is expected to more than double from $1.5 billion to $3.7 billion over the same period, while Asia Pacific ex-China is projected to triple to $2.4 billion.

What is driving ReelShort's improving margins? MPA points to five factors: hit franchises and their sequels drawing audiences without paid promotion and supplying ad creative; telco and local-market partnerships adding cheaper subscribers; more billing shifting to ReelShort's own web store, bypassing app-store fees; improving creative testing and hit rates; and a maturing paid-social ad auction. User acquisition and marketing costs, which sat just over half of revenue in 2025, are expected to fall below 45% by 2028 — with each percentage point of decline worth roughly $10.5 million of EBITDA.

Asia is the fastest-growing region in the forecast, contributing 12% of ReelShort's revenue in 2026 and rising to about $200 million, or 14%, in 2027. A partnership with Thailand's AIS has been live since April 2026 and has driven significant subscriber and engagement growth. Further telco partnerships in Indonesia and the Philippines are expected to launch by the end of 2026, contributing for a full year in 2027. Local production and distribution deals in Japan and Korea — including a co-production with South Korea's Showbox — are set to launch in the fourth quarter of 2026.

For a format that barely registered outside China three years ago, the numbers are startling. A billion dollars in revenue, a real profit, and a market projected to nearly triple within five years. Whether microdramas settle into the streaming landscape or burn out is a question for another report. MPA's numbers say the audience — and the money — are here now.