Zhao Lusi's producerial debut short drama airing on Douyin

On October 11, Zhao Lusi's producerial debut short drama Sonder: I'm Not an NPC (literal title) premiered exclusively on Douyin.

The drama follows a group of women who discover that they are living inside a prewritten script, with their fates already predetermined. NPCs in a game — with their only purpose being to serve as background characters for the protagonists — they refuse to play along any longer.

The short drama was filmed in a horizontal format. Zhao Lusi has reportedly planned only the first season so far. The main roles are played by actors signed to her studio. 

Sonder: I'm Not an NPC consists of four segments: "The Bao Wei Office", "Eight Days in a Week", "The Legend of Bao Mao", and "This Cold Palace Isn't So Cold" (literal translations). Their stories unfold in parallel within the same fictional universe. The title Sonder refers to the realization that every passerby has a complex life of their own.

All four segments share the same fictional universe: a group of women in ancient times discover that they are living inside a prewritten script, with their fates already predetermined. Each segment is directed by a different director. The styling and makeup team worked on My Journey to You, with Guo Jing Ming handpicking the team's aesthetic.

The drama's official Douyin account has already released the full episodes, with one episode for each of the four segments. Each episode runs for approximately eight to nine minutes, and a new episode is released every day.

Source: The Paper