AI short drama brief, Nov 13: Seedance 2.5 flash at about 0.99 yuan a second, EU wants real prices on coins, Peacock wants a microdrama a week

Three lines for today

1. Models: Volcano Engine released Seedance 2.5 flash on November 12 at about 0.99 yuan a second for 720p text- or image-to-video, roughly 34% below flagship Seedance 2.5, at twice the speed and up to 30 seconds per clip; the Ark API opens on November 15 at 14:00 Beijing time.

2. Rules: the European Commission proposed its Digital Fairness Act on November 11. Apps that sell coins to unlock content would have to show the real-money price, paid coins would be off by default in products aimed at minors, and users would get a way to switch off autoplay. It is only a proposal so far.

3. Buyers: Peacock says its mobile overhaul will bring at least one new microdrama a week, mostly licensed from third parties, and a Dutch public-broadcaster vertical series is a Rose d'Or finalist. Friday's list of places to submit or sell is at the end.

Models and pricing

Seedance 2.5 flash splits the series into a volume tier. Volcano Engine's Ark documentation says Seedance 2.5 flash model details are now public and that online use and API calls open at 14:00 Beijing time on November 15. Sina Tech's November 12 report of the official briefing gives about 0.99 yuan a second for 720p text- or image-to-video, the same as Seedance 2.0 and about 34% below Seedance 2.5, with twice the generation speed, clips up to 30 seconds, up to 10 images, 5 videos and 5 audio clips as references per request, and only 480p and 720p. Dreamina, LibTV, Updream, Creao AI and TapNow are rolling it out from that day. ByteDance calls it the closest model to the flagship and better than 2.0; that is the vendor's claim and we have not compared them.

For scale: Runway's developer price list, read November 12, has flagship Seedance 2.5 at $0.30 a second at 720p and $0.68 at 1080p. At about 7.1 yuan to the dollar, flash's official 720p price is about $0.14 a second, less than half Runway's hosted flagship rate. We have not seen flash on Western hosting platforms yet, so teams outside China will be budgeting at flagship or platform prices for now.

No official change at the other sources we checked: Seedance 2.5, Kling 4.0 and Wan 3.0 on Runway's developer list match our November 11 price table.

Platforms and channels

The EU's Digital Fairness Act proposal takes aim at coin-unlock models. Article 14 of the Commission's November 11 proposal, COM(2026) 1100, says a trader selling paid virtual currency for its own products must show the corresponding real-money value, in the currency the user first paid in. Where products are aimed at minors, or the trader is reasonably certain minors use them, paid currencies must be off by default and switched on only with a parent's or guardian's approval. Article 17 requires products likely to encourage compulsive use to offer tools that turn off autoplay and uninterrupted viewing. Article 14(1) exempts social networks and video-sharing platforms, so standalone drama apps are more directly exposed than series distributed on TikTok or YouTube. The proposal still has to pass the Parliament and the Council, the text can change and no start date is set.

Peacock becomes a weekly buyer. NBCUniversal's November 11 release says Peacock's mobile overhaul is in testing now and will roll out through early 2027, with franchise hubs that carry games, microdramas and live moments. Vertical Observer, citing Deadline, reports that at least one new micro title will arrive each week, mostly licensed from third parties and some made in-house. Licensing terms and genre preferences are not public.

Adaptation and IP

Big Indian studios enter with their own IP. The Economic Times reported on November 12, citing people familiar with the plan, that Aamir Khan Productions and Excel Entertainment will launch a joint microdrama venture combining their existing IP, original stories and exclusive deals with digital creators, with a large telecom partner already signed and a focus on premium production. Redseer projects India's microdrama market to grow from Rs 2,300 crore in FY26 to Rs 25,000 crore by FY32. The companies have not confirmed it.

Charts and hooks

No new weekly chart today; see our November 10 brief. One quality signal: The Last Summer, a 10-episode vertical series made by Every Media for Dutch public broadcaster NPO and released on NPO Start, TikTok and YouTube, is a Rose d'Or finalist for multiplatform series. The producer says it has passed 20 million views. It is up against SBS, ZDF and the Financial Times, with winners announced in London on November 30.

Methods and workflow

ByteDance is now describing a two-tier workflow: flagship Seedance 2.5 uses Draft mode to make a sample, then renders the chosen take at 1080p or 4K, while flash handles high-frequency and batch work. For a short-drama team, one split worth trying is flash for animatics and the bulk of transition shots, with the flagship kept for the key shots that need resolution. That is our reading of the official positioning; we have not tested the two on the same scene.

Friday: where to submit or sell this week

PilotRush (microdra.ma): wants episode one of an original vertical series, 9:16 and 50 to 80 seconds, with AI-made imagery (motion control and human voiceover allowed). Entry is free, the prize pool is $5,000, creators keep ownership and grant only a non-exclusive showcase license, and work published in the past 24 months qualifies. Entries close November 19 at 22:00 Israel time.

China NRTA 2026 International Micro-drama Competition: open to producers, platforms and individuals in China and abroad, with five units including original scripts aimed at overseas distribution; works aired abroad need proof of broadcast. Entries close November 30, per Vertical Observer's summary of the September 30 notice.

Peacock: at least one new title a week, mostly licensed (see above). There is no public submission route, so it goes through distributors or agents.

What it means today

1. If you generate Seedance shots in bulk: once the API opens on November 15, run the same storyboard through flash and through flagship Draft mode, log retakes and cost per clip, and then decide which shot types move down a tier.

2. If your app or overseas release unlocks episodes with coins: work out what each episode costs in euros and build an autoplay off switch now, while the change is cheapest.

3. If you have an AI-made first episode: PilotRush closes November 19 and takes no rights, which makes it a cheap way to test buyer interest; with an original script, look at the NRTA competition's script unit.

What remains unclear

Seedance 2.5 flash pricing and quality come from the vendor and press reports, we did not read itemized prices on Ark's price page, and dollar figures use about 7.1 yuan to the dollar; the EU act is a proposal whose text and scope can change; Peacock's weekly figure comes from press accounts of a briefing and is not in the official release; the Indian venture is reported from unnamed sources; The Last Summer's views are the producer's figure. We generated no test footage and contacted none of the parties.

Related research & methods

AI short drama brief, Nov 12: Seedance 2.5 4K reaches Krea and Picsart, Luma halves video-to-video rates, a one-person AI series passes 100 million views

AI short drama brief, Nov 11: video model prices per second side by side, HeyGen's new model under 2 cents a second at 768p, Kunlun says 70,000 yuan a series goes on model calls

AI short drama brief, Nov 10: TikTok wants five new series a month for exclusives, Gemini video drops to about 7 cents a second, AI-tagged titles hold half the weekly top 10