In Hengdian, the center of China's microdrama industry, the production environment is changing radically due to AI video generation tools. In the first quarter of this year, more than 120,000 microdramas were released, 95% of which were AI-generated. The industry, which was worth nearly $15 billion last year, previously offered opportunities to young actors like Junlin and Bi Zhiqiang, but live productions are now plummeting rapidly. Actor Zhuang Wenjie noticed that auditions virtually dried up after the Chinese New Year celebrations. Director Guo Ertai emphasizes that microdramas offered ordinary people a chance at quick fame, but AI is now undermining that accessibility and wiping out thousands of jobs.