A young woman is desperate to raise US$50,000 for her mum\u2019s life-saving medical treatment. She will get the money, but only if she agrees to her stepsister\u2019s unusual proposal: to marry her wayward fianc\u00e9, who comes from a wealthy family but also has a criminal record.<\/p>\n
That is the plot line for an episode of The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband<\/em>.<\/p>\n It may sound like a telenovela. In fact, it is a popular series that appears on ReelShort, an app where audiences can view on their smartphones over-the-top, dramatic tales reminiscent of soap operas called micro dramas.<\/p>\n Unlike a regular television show, this drama unfolds over 60 episodes, each lasting one to three minutes. After six episodes, viewers hit a paywall, where they can continue watching ad-free with a US$20 weekly subscription, watch ads or pay as they go.<\/p>\n Already, the series has garnered more than 494 million views since it launched in 2022, and ReelShort says it has made more than US$4 million from the show.<\/p>\n These micro dramas \u2013 also referred to as vertical dramas because of the format they are presented in \u2013 lean heavily into sensationalism. Their budgets are typically less than US$300,000 per series. Many of them are filmed in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2025\/11\/13\/662633a8-bb7c-413b-8bbc-ece4edfa2411_1e8ae511.jpg\" "\\"A")
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