Promotional material of nanyuanbeizhe Photo: Sina Weibo

Chinese film directors including the well-known Feng Xiaogang, Chen Kaige and Wong Kar-Wai have shifted toward directing streaming dramas as the film industry continues to shrink amid the COVID-19.

According to reports, Feng is set to direct online drama nanyuanbeizhe, which tells the story of five women who find love while setting up their own restaurant business. 

Scheduled to be released in 2021, the drama series will be the latest that Feng directed after yidijimao, which he directed 25 years ago. 

With the slowing growth of the Chinese box office and the rise of streaming dramas in recent years, an increasing number of filmmakers have begun to become more involved in the production of drama series. 

Due to the pandemic, Chinese theaters have been closed for more than five months and recovery is expected to be a difficult task after they reopen. Meanwhile, some short but high quality streaming dramas have results from the creative pursuits of many filmmakers who have turned to streaming, which in turn has attracted more filmmakers to turn to online platforms.

According to reports, Wong began to film a new series Blossoms at Hengdian World Studios in East China's Zhejiang Province in early July, and will spend the next five years taking part in the drama's development, preparation and scripting. Meanwhile, Chen has helped supervise Chinese Netflix-like platform iQIYI's online drama The Eight.