Short-drama content licensing
· All partnership enquiries · How we test
Two kinds of business read this page: people who own finished vertical drama and want it licensed, and platforms that need catalogue and would rather not cold-email thirty producers. We sit between them because we already track 22 services in this category and talk to the operators behind them. This page explains what each side is actually asked for, so the first conversation starts further along than "tell me about your catalogue".
What a licensing package contains
The content is the easy part. What decides whether a season gets shelved is everything around it.
| Element | What a licensee expects | Where enquiries fall down |
|---|---|---|
| Masters | Episodes already cut to 9:16, consistent length, clean audio | 16:9 material offered as "easy to reframe" — it is not, and the licensee knows it |
| Structure | Stated episodes per season, stated season count | "Around 60–80 episodes" — a platform cannot plan a release slate on a range |
| Languages | Audio and subtitle languages already produced, not planned | Dubs described as available when they would need commissioning |
| Metadata | Synopsis, cast, genre tags, key artwork at usable resolution | The most common gap by a wide margin — no artwork, no synopses, nothing to build a shelf page from |
| Rights | Territories free, term, exclusivity position, chain of title | Overlapping grants the owner has lost track of |
| Evidence | Where the title has run and how it did | Nothing at all — which is survivable for a new producer, but it changes the terms |
How these deals are shaped
Three shapes come up again and again in the enquiries that reach us. A flat fee per season, simplest and the one new producers usually prefer, because the money is not contingent on someone else's monetisation. A revenue share on what the licensee earns, which pays better on a title that performs and nothing on one that does not. And a minimum guarantee against a revenue share, which is the compromise: a floor that is recouped out of the share.
Which one is on the table depends less on genre than on proof. A season that has already run somewhere and has numbers attached gets offered different terms from one that has not, regardless of how good it is. That is the single most useful thing to know before the first call.
We do not set terms, quote prices or negotiate any of this. The numbers are between the two sides.
If you are the platform
Tell us the genres and languages you need, the volume per month you can actually shelf, the territories you operate in and the deal shape you are willing to do. We pass that to licensors whose catalogue fits it, rather than forwarding it to everyone. The reason to be specific is self-interested: a vague brief comes back as thirty decks, and you will read none of them.
What we do, and what we do not
- We make the introduction — to the side most likely to want what the other has — and we are paid for making it, per enquiry or under a standing arrangement.
- We are not an agent, broker or representative of either side, and we are not a party to any agreement that follows.
- We do not negotiate, hold funds or verify title. Due diligence stays with the parties, and so does every term of the deal.
- Nothing is passed on without your consent — the tick box on the form is the legal basis, and we will name the recipients on request. Privacy, section 7a · Terms, section 4a
- Nothing about your catalogue is published unless you ask us to.
Start the conversation
Preset for a licensing enquiry. Change the first field if yours is something else — the rest of the form follows it.
What gets a faster answer
A link to a screener beats an attachment. The episode count, language list and free territories in the message itself beat a promise to send a catalogue sheet later. And the ask in the first two lines beats a paragraph of positioning — we read everything, but an enquiry that states its business in one sentence gets answered the same day more often than not.
Frequently asked questions
What does a short-drama licensing package usually contain?
In the enquiries we see: finished episodes already cut to 9:16, a stated episode count per season, an audio and subtitle language list, key artwork, a synopsis and cast metadata, and a defined rights window by territory. What is missing most often is the metadata — platforms will not shelf a season they cannot describe, and a catalogue sheet without synopses and artwork stalls at the first conversation.
How are these deals normally structured?
The three shapes that come up repeatedly are a flat fee per season, a revenue share on the licensee's earnings, and a minimum guarantee against a revenue share. Which one a licensee offers depends far more on whether the title is proven somewhere else than on the genre. We do not set terms, quote prices or negotiate — we introduce the two sides and step out.
What do platforms ask for before they look at a catalogue?
A screener they can watch without signing anything, the episode and season count, the languages already produced, the territories still free, and whether the content has performed anywhere. An operator who has to request each of those separately usually stops asking.
What exactly do you do, and what are you paid for?
We make the introduction, to the side most likely to want what the other has, and we are paid for making it — per enquiry or under a standing arrangement. We are not an agent, broker or representative of either side and we are not a party to any agreement. We do not negotiate, do not handle funds, and do not verify anyone's title to the content. Section 4a of our terms sets this out in full.
We are not sure our catalogue is a fit. Is it worth writing?
Yes, if you can answer the five questions above. We would rather say no in two days than leave an enquiry unanswered. What is genuinely not a fit: catalogues that exist only as a deck, content without a clear rights position, and anything that needs an NDA before the first look.
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