Bohan Crystal Yang and Tianze Edward Sun have seen their fair share of trends in the film industry. As industry leaders, it often falls to them to discern what is likely to be just that—a trend—and what is more likely to have staying power. But even more so, the pair quickly understood that real, impactful leadership would require setting these trends rather than simply following them.
Yang was among the earliest producers to introduce premium vertical short-form drama to the U.S. market and scale it into a viable entertainment category. Sun has been a key figure in the format’s professionalization—building production systems that align with established industry practice and helping advance short-form drama toward recognition within U.S. union/guild frameworks.
Fast forward to the founding of 24K ONIONS, led by Yang as Chief Producer and Sun as Chief Editor. The pair built 24K ONIONS into an industry-leading production company that specializes in premium vertical-format dramas and has often been at the forefront of developing production standards for the format. With Sun and Yang at the helm, 24K ONIONS continues to push vertical storytelling toward a more cinematic, repeatable production model.
The Rise of Vertical Storytelling
More and more, consumers have shifted into an audience that primarily receives their content on a smartphone. Whether scrolling social media, reading a book, or following news updates, most audiences can now be found, phone in hand, enjoying their preferred content on a mobile device.
While the preference for vertical format might have been quickly noticed, earlier content seemed to lack the cinematic value and production consistency found on larger screens, a gap both Yang and Sun felt needed to be addressed immediately. The pair recognized that a smaller screen should not result in reduced quality, but rather this new model represented a chance to form an entirely new cinematic language.
Big Vision and Better Discipline
Both Yang and Sun are longtime stalwarts of the film industry. Having graduated from the American Film Institute, they bring well over a decade of experience in film, somehow infused with the starry-eyed enthusiasm one would expect of industry newcomers rather than seasoned veterans.
Beyond enthusiasm, Yang and Sun are consummate professionals, merging exceptional Hollywood craft with considerable cross-cultural appeal in their storytelling abilities. Under their guidance, 24K ONIONS has grown, consistently releasing excellent content and demonstrating the company’s scalability and creative authority.
A New Production Standard
Sun and Yang are undoubtedly aligned in producing exceptional productions in vertical format, but they bring with them diverging skillsets. Sun has created the industry’s premier scalable post-production systems for vertical drama format, innovating editing for vertical content, and integrating much-needed workflows to optimize performance.
Yang has spearheaded premium storytelling, looking across different genres and markets to create something wholly new. Yang’s focus on cinematic storytelling and pacing has sought to revolutionize filmmaking for new audiences and a new format all at once.
Defining Success and Looking Ahead
Putting the pair together has resulted in an elevated standard of production for vertical-first film creation. These elevated standards have resulted in a serious industry impact, with Dumping the Racing Star scoring the number one spot on DramaWAVE within five days of its release. Lauded for its visual style and production value, Found by the Lycan King racked up 17.3 million views to become number three on Kalos TV’s trending charts. Hear My Love Again has been noted for its strong reception in the industry with a heat score of 856,000.
That momentum is also visible at the scale of the studio’s slate and audience reach. 24K ONIONS has produced more than 45 series across Goodshot, Flareflow, DramaBox, and DramaWave, clearing 500 million views and building multilingual fan communities that follow the studio across platforms. In a market where commercial value is tightly tied to performance and retention, that view volume—paired with repeatable delivery across multiple distribution partners—signals measurable business impact for the vertical-drama ecosystem.
These successes are clear indicators of 24K ONIONS’ ability to understand what is impactful with audiences and create systems and productions set to exceed these expectations. As veterans of the film industry, both Yang and Sun know just how quickly trends can change. Instead, the pair looks to create a lasting legacy of excellence, at once defining and redefining what cinema is today and what it could be tomorrow.