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Calgary Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Made for smartphones, verticals are bringing much needed work to Hollywood North
Article content Actor Nic Westaway's resumé has a notable thread running through it. Article content 'I think I've played 10 billionaires, maybe 12,' he said. Article content Since last year, the Vancouver-based actor has been a sought-after star in the world of verticals, also known as micro-dramas. The Australian transplant, who did four seasons on the hit Australian soap opera Home and Away, has starred in 19 verticals in the last 1½ years. Article content Article content Meant to be watched on your phone, verticals are feature film-length stories typically broken down into 70 to 150 episodes of 60 to 90 seconds each. Article content Article content 'It's this weird mash up. It's like, if Hallmark and telenovela had a throuple with a B movie is how I like to describe it,' said Vancouver actor Alicia Read, who has made 10 verticals to date. Read, along with a few others, has formed the Vertical Film & Short Series Alliance ( to help TV Land film people navigate the exploding world of verticals. Article content The stories are watched using vertically oriented apps such as ReelShort, FlickReels, DramaBox and GoodShort. Each platform usually offers between 10-20 free, cliffhanger-packed, episodes to hook the viewer. After that, it will cost you US$20 to US$40 to continue to view. Article content 'They know when people are clicking. They know how far they go in before they start to lose interest,' said Vancouver casting agent Monika Dalman, who notes she has lost count of the number of verticals projects she has worked on since 2023. Dalman's stopped counting after number 40. 'They know what specific cliffhangers are making people pay for the rest of it.' Article content They also decide via data what the next scripts will be. Article content Article content Article content 'I'm all in on this sector,' said Jimmy Wu, a producer/cinematographer and founder of Vancouver production company Vertical film Vancouver/Section Cinema Inc., which has 20 vertical projects to its credit. Article content An early adopter, Wu produced his first vertical in December 2023. For each project, Wu employs anywhere between 20 and 40 cast members, 95 per cent of whom are local. Article content Article content The way things typically work is a company reaches out to a producer and gives them a script from a previously produced project, most likely from an Asian market. It is then westernized. Article content The plots lean toward revenge or rags-to-riches stories, with a soap opera/telenovela flavour. There are hidden identities, lost loves, unknown fortunes — and sometimes werewolves, vampires, and more billionaires than Mar-a-Lago's membership list. The narratives are big on dramatic gasps and slapping.
Vancouver Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Made for smartphones, verticals are bringing much needed work to Hollywood North
Actor Nic Westaway's resumé has a notable thread running through it. 'I think I've played 10 billionaires, maybe 12,' he said. Since last year, the Vancouver-based actor has been a sought-after star in the world of verticals, also known as micro-dramas. The Australian transplant, who did four seasons on the hit Australian soap opera Home and Away, has starred in 19 verticals in the last 1½ years. Meant to be watched on your phone, verticals are feature film-length stories typically broken down into 70 to 150 episodes of 60 to 90 seconds each. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'It's this weird mash up. It's like, if Hallmark and telenovela had a throuple with a B movie is how I like to describe it,' said Vancouver actor Alicia Read, who has made 10 verticals to date. Read, along with a few others, has formed the Vertical Film & Short Series Alliance ( to help TV Land film people navigate the exploding world of verticals. The stories are watched using vertically oriented apps such as ReelShort, FlickReels, DramaBox and GoodShort. Each platform usually offers between 10-20 free, cliffhanger-packed, episodes to hook the viewer. After that, it will cost you US$20 to US$40 to continue to view. 'They know when people are clicking. They know how far they go in before they start to lose interest,' said Vancouver casting agent Monika Dalman, who notes she has lost count of the number of verticals projects she has worked on since 2023. Dalman's stopped counting after number 40. 'They know what specific cliffhangers are making people pay for the rest of it.' They also decide via data what the next scripts will be. 'I'm all in on this sector,' said Jimmy Wu, a producer/cinematographer and founder of Vancouver production company Vertical film Vancouver/Section Cinema Inc., which has 20 vertical projects to its credit. An early adopter, Wu produced his first vertical in December 2023. For each project, Wu employs anywhere between 20 and 40 cast members, 95 per cent of whom are local. The way things typically work is a company reaches out to a producer and gives them a script from a previously produced project, most likely from an Asian market. It is then westernized. The plots lean toward revenge or rags-to-riches stories, with a soap opera/telenovela flavour. There are hidden identities, lost loves, unknown fortunes — and sometimes werewolves, vampires, and more billionaires than Mar-a-Lago's membership list. The narratives are big on dramatic gasps and slapping. 'I lost count of how many times I've slapped and been slapped. It's crazy,' said Read. 'There's actually a fan account called vertical slaps. It's hilarious.' Wu confirms the high slap count. 'My first script, I counted 50 slaps,' said Wu. 'It's ridiculous, but that's what people watch.' Started in China about seven years ago, verticals began to gain steam in North America during the post-pandemic shift away from TV screens and home computers to phones as people began to commute and travel again. Some of the shows are getting hundreds of millions of views. According to Variety, the 2024 global market (excluding China) for verticals/micro-dramas was worth US$2 billion. That number is expected to double in 2025. China is the world leader in verticals. According to Variety , Chinese state media reported the sector had total revenues of US$5.2 billion in 2023, about 70 per cent of the country's theatrical cinema market. It has been estimated that 30-40 vertical projects are shot in Los Angeles each month. In Vancouver, the number is around 20 a month. 'In British Columbia, where the motion picture industry combines a long history of creation and production, a strong independent scene, and a world-class production ecosystem, vertical productions have exciting potential for existing and emerging talent to explore scalable content for global markets,' Prem Gill, CEO of Creative B.C., said in an email to Postmedia. While budgets are low on verticals, the level of expertise on the shoots is top-notch. 'I can trust the crew,' said Dom Cutrupi, a producer-writer-director who has worked on many Hallmark and Lifetime movies and has made 12 verticals. 'I've done two (vertical) rom-coms and my camera team had the experience of like, 60 Hallmarks each.' With budgets usually running from US$120,000 to US$200,000, verticals tend to average around eight days of shooting. That tight schedule, says Westaway, is a heck of a training ground for young cast and crew. 'What comes out the back end, I think, is super impressive,' said Westaway. 'People are setting up and delivering so quickly with such a limited time … getting through the amount of pages that we do in a script is crazy. So, you take that person in whatever position they're in, and you put them on a feature film or a Netflix series or something like that, and their skills are going to be so dialed in when you have more time and more takes and more space. You're going to be very wel-equipped to do an amazing job on whatever comes your way in your career.' The rise of verticals is well timed for those who work in TV/film production, as the business around the world is down by around 25 per cent. That slump has left many workers here in Hollywood North struggling since the halcyon days of half a decade ago, when streamers were practically backing up trucks filled with money. 'What they're saying is how much they're grateful for them,' said Sammie Astaneh, founder/producer of Service Street Pictures, of local cast and crews. 'They would be out of work. They would have to maybe get jobs at a restaurant or anything to make ends meet.' Aryn Mott, a Vancouver intimacy coordinator, has done 30 verticals. Mott is one of the TV/film production workers who is thrilled to see verticals taking off here. 'Over the past several months, verticals have provided consistent, meaningful work at a time when traditional production has contracted across the globe,' said Mott. Mott, who has worked on such mainstream titles as Shōgun and Resident Alien, has heard different feedback from others in the business. 'Some see verticals as an exciting, accessible frontier; others see them as a space with underdeveloped standards. Both perspectives have merit,' said Mott. 'As the format grows, we're witnessing a clear divide between companies that prioritize ethical, values-based collaboration and those that operate purely from a product-driven standpoint.' Verticals are non-union productions. The local Directors Guild and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees allow members to work on verticals while the unions try to figure out agreements. 'We have to sort of navigate how we're going to classify productions like this,' said Crystal Braunwarth, business representative at IATSE Local 891. 'I actually went to a vertical set and did a visit and opened dialogue with producers on tailor-making a union agreement with the council, so with the Teamsters, with us and with the camera union. We're actually working on a contract right now for a vertical production team . … A lot of our members are working on these shows anyway, so it makes sense for us to tailor and make an agreement.' Actors with UBCP/ACTRA, the B.C. branch of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, are not working on these projects. 'Our members remain committed to upholding industry standards we've fought for so long to establish, including minimum rates, health and safety protections, and limits on the use and exploitation of our names, images, and likenesses. They also rely on the union and collective agreements to safeguard these vital protections,' Keith Martin Gordey, president of UBCP/ACTRA and vice-president of ACTRA national, said in an email to Postmedia. 'For that reason, our members only work on productions signed to a union collective agreement.' But that could change. Gordey's statement also said the union has consulted with vertical platforms and producers, and the union hopes producers will sign on to a union agreement. The union is working to sign an agreement with one producer. According to the tracking site Appfigures, ReelShort is No. 1 in revenue with $52 million in the first quarter of 2024 with DramaBox No. 2 at $35 million. Together that's just over 60 per cent of the revenue of the top 10 apps. 'Investors see this as a smaller and lower-risk investment as opposed to traditional movies, which are a big, larger-risk investments,' said Wu. 'You can make one of these with a 15th of a budget of an indie movie. 'So, instead of one chance of release and seeing how it goes, you have 15 chances.' Wu said tone in 10 of these series will become extremely popular. 'That's why I think investors are looking into this sector and really pumping this sector out,' said Wu. While production budgets are low, companies often spend 10 times the production budget on promoting a series. Figuring out the most successful verticals is difficult as the apps keep viewing figures secret. According to Jen Cooper, a verticals expert who runs the U.K.-based Vertical Drama Love YouTube channel and Instagram account, one of the biggest hits is The Divorced Billionaire Heiress with Mariah Moss and Hunter Kohl, which has had over 360 million views worldwide. Actors have wide-ranging payment experiences for these projects ranging from a few hundred dollars for a 12-hour day to a few thousand dollars for the most popular players in the verticals world. The average union day rate for a principal performer in Hollywood North is just $1,000 for eight hours. But those in the business have seen changes in just a year. 'I know for me, and I don't want to speak specifically dollars, but I can tell you that my rate has tripled since I first started,' said Read. 'I've been able to successfully negotiate much higher rates, things like transport to set, you know, stuff like that, on my own. Because I'm known to the clients, and I'm known to the producers.' Westaway, who is top of the acting food chain in the sector, has been able to secure bigger payments. 'I've done my best to negotiate for higher rates along the way,' said Westaway. In his first two verticals, he was paid less than a production assistant. 'It did start off with quite tight budgets as they sort of investigated how successful they were going to be up here.' According to industry insiders and some reports, women are by far the largest audience for verticals in North America. Because of this, Dalman points out casting of movie-of-the-week regulars is common. 'They have a number of actors that have been in Hallmarks,' said Dalman. 'And they have a huge fan base.' Cooper is part of that demographic and says even before she began her website and YouTube channel, she was hooked on verticals. 'Vertical dramas vary hugely in quality, but they contain some real gems — sharp comedy, clever in-jokes, pitch-perfect romances. Some of the most talented people in the business are working here,' Cooper says. 'They deliver the escapism and dopamine hit I'm looking for, all in 90 minutes on my phone — and then I can get on with my life.' Vancouver's Read had all but given up on a screen career until verticals appeared. 'To be honest, I wasn't really taking it seriously until this quote-unquote mid-life category opened up for me,' said Read, who is 50. 'What was happening when they first launched was that they were skewing very young … Then they started to open up this category that they called the mid-life category.' The apps, which are home to thousands of these series, are almost entirely owned by overseas companies. Aside from Quibi, Jeffrey Katzenberg's ill-fated — too long at 10 minutes and too expensive — short-form streaming service that went away after six months, the major American studios haven't crossed the digital breach. But experts say it's inevitable. 'There was a lot of industry excitement about Netflix looking at verticals, but at the moment, they are just reformatting some of the horizontal content into vertical format for marketing,' said Cooper. Cooper has heard that Disney is looking closely at verticals. The category was a popular topic at Cannes this year. 'A lot of the players in the space, have come from a tech background rather than studio background, so Meta is looking at it, and tech companies in India had just got seed funding,' said Cooper referring to Mobile entertainment startup ReelSaga. Those in the business agreed that verticals are set to grow as more people shift to watching content on their phones. 'It's a massive change of where the business is going,' said Cutrupi. 'This one is actually growing in front of our face.' Dgee@
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘A new space to play in': can vertical dramas save the UK's TV sector?
They're a Chinese cultural phenomenon which keeps millions of viewers glued to their phones, but the runaway success of 'vertical dramas' is providing an unlikely source of employment for film and TV crews here in the UK. The bite-size melodramas have breathless titles such as A Flash Marriage with the Billionaire and My Firefighter ex-Husband Burns in Regret, and are chopped into one minute episodes for avid consumption on viewers' vertically held smartphones. The UK is an increasingly popular location for these typically low-budget productions, reflecting the popularity of British actors in a genre proving a smash with US audiences, the popularity of UK locations for dramas with a royal or aristocratic theme, and the lower cost of filming compared with the US. The emergence of vertical dramas has coincided with a dip in the UK's film and TV employment market, with almost a fifth of industry freelancers saying they are out of work. Dan Löwenstein, a British film and TV director, has shot 16 vertical dramas over the past year including a version of Pride and Prejudice for ReelShort, a US-based platform with a Chinese-backed parent. Löwenstein spoke on a location shoot in Kent for Obsessed with My Scheming CEO, a remake of a Chinese hit about a relationship between a scion of a crime family and a lawyer. Löwenstein says the vertical drama genre is providing 'income and opportunities' for actors and crew. 'It's bringing income to people, giving opportunities. For actors, it's giving the opportunity to have a leading role in a film. For crew, if you're in with a production company or in with a producer, you could work pretty much full-time at the moment because there's so many being produced in the UK.' A key difference with conventional drama is production pace. Löwenstein says it is normal to shoot three pages of script a day on a standard feature, but with a vertical drama he has gone as high as 25. Obsessed is shooting 77 pages in seven days, cramming in lines like 'I'm about to be engaged, you're about to be married. One last round?' and 'Wayne! You and your lawyer bitch are dead – you hear me? DEAD.' Löwenstein acknowledges the gap in quality between fast-moving, telenovela-style vertical dramas and conventional TV fare. This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. 'That's where the question of quality comes in, because you're flying so fast that the quality obviously suffers from that. But as a director it's interesting to battle that, and still keep the quality in a way that keeps moving the story forward and keeps production value.' But there is still a 'taboo' around the genre in the UK, he says. 'Some people frown upon it still … Within the filming community, some actors, some crew, it's not for them. And sometimes it's not for me either. It depends on the script. But it is becoming more legit. As times goes on the scripts are getting better. ' He adds that he likes experimenting with new formats and finds vertical dramas an 'interesting new space to play in' although he is also developing multiple feature films. Demand for vertical content is increasing rapidly, with a significant audience in the US. Global downloads of vertical drama apps like ReelShort and FlexTV rose 460% last year, while monthly user numbers for those apps have reached nearly 600 million so far this year, up 131% on the same period in 2024, according to data from Sensor Tower. Obsessed has a crew of 22 and the budget comes within the typical range of vertical dramas of $150,000-$250,000 (£110,000-£185,000). Zoey Edwards, a hair and makeup artist who worked on Löwenstein's Pride and Prejudice and whose previous experience includes Bridgerton, has worked on five vertical dramas in the UK. She says the work came at a time when the whole UK TV and film industry was struggling with the impact of the 2023 Hollywood writer and actor strikes. 'It was nine months that I didn't work in film and TV. But once film and TV production came back the industry did not get back to the level it was at before. Vertical drama filled a gap in my work.' She adds: 'It's not the most exciting of jobs or most gripping of scripts but it was still fun to do what you are qualified to do and be around people who understand your profession'. Tom Walder, who was worked as a director of photography on more than a dozen UK-shot vertical dramas over the past year including the Austen adaptation, says vertical dramas have been a vital addition to an industry that he says has been stuck in a post-Covid lull. 'Vertical dramas have definitely helped me become more financially free,' he says, adding they have provided a 'multitude' of film professionals with more opportunities as vertical drama filming has taken off this year. 'It's a pleasure to be one of the pioneers of such a novelty,' he says. Sign up to The Guide Get our weekly pop culture email, free in your inbox every Friday after newsletter promotion Charles Alexander, a lighting technician on the Obsessed film, moved to the UK from Australia last year and says vertical dramas provided much-needed work. 'When I got here the industry was really quiet and a lot of people seemed to be struggling and leaving the industry,' he says. 'So it's been good for me to find this work and I like a lot of the crew that I have worked with on these productions.' Tim Barber, an actor in Obsessed, who worked in the telecoms industry for two decades before turning to acting, says he has done five vertical dramas since February and the genre has given him a quick introduction to professional acting. 'If you want to get a show reel together as a beginning actor, this feels like a great niche for people fresh from drama school.' Describing the vertical dramas he has worked on, he says: 'Quite a lot of these are like Mills & Boon for a new generation.' Obsessed is a co-production between Feuer Media, a company owned by the Chinese-born Canadian Tramy Han and FlexTV, a popular vertical drama platform owned by Mega Matrix, run by tech entrepreneur Yucheng Hu. Mega Matrix forecast last year that the short drama market, worth $5bn in 2023, could reach $36bn by 2027. Han admits there have been problems on shoots. Vertical dramas got off to a bad start when they first started shooting in the UK, she says, with issues such as inexperienced producers and crew. 'At the very beginning a few of the companies were not very professional and there were safety concerns,' she says. A British TV crew member who has worked on vertical dramas over the past year said there was 'an element of the wild west' about this industry niche, amid concerns over safety, long hours and low pay. Another says vertical dramas can be 'rushed film sets' and 'accidents always happen when you are rushing'. But, says another crew professional, the choice is sometimes between working on a vertical drama or a 'pub job'. The Guardian has also been told of one UK-shot vertical drama where crew members are still awaiting payment. Pengyu Lyu, a producer on Obsessed for FlexTV, says the reason for shooting in the UK is simple. The target audience is located in the west so you shoot 'anywhere the mother language is based.' There is the option to use China as a 'western' location but it 'looks like China', he says. FlexTV has shot three vertical dramas in the UK over the past year. Asked about safety, hours and pay, he adds: 'Whichever country we film in, we will follow the local law and working requirements, so unsafe filming conditions, low pay and long working hours are not really happening.' Wenting Yuan, a head writer and producer at FlexTV, says the reasons for shooting in the UK can depend on the theme of the drama as well. From Lost Heiress to Royal Highness, a FlexTV drama, was shot in Britain because the UK is 'more suitable for themes related to royalty and aristocracy. Currently filming costs in the UK are somewhat lower than in the US,' she adds. Some in the industry see a direct link between the rise of the cheap dramas in the UK and the long-running crisis in traditional television production, which has seen many experienced people out of work. According to one senior producer, 'there's definitely a swing to cheaper alternatives as fewer people are actually watching broadcast TV and vertical dramas are a good example. But for people in the industry who are used to their work paying for their mortgages and feeding their children, there's just not enough money being earned from them.' In the meantime, Löwenstein says vertical dramas are a medium worth getting a 'grasp on' because of the sheer amount of phone use in modern society. 'There are two end goals: to drive up the quality level of vertical dramas and to work on films and high-end TV more often.'
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Short Form Dramas Become Bigger Part Of The Entertainment Industry
'30 Days With The Vampire's Kiss' was created for the U.S. market, in response to an interest in ... More vampire stories. Micro dramas are having a moment. With episodes that last barely a minute, this form of mini-entertainment owes its newfound popularity to various factors, including our ever-shrinking attention spans. When psychologists and researchers began tracking attention spans in 2004, the average attention span on any screen was about two and a half minutes. In recent years that's dwindled to 47 seconds. Social media platforms and entertainment companies have taken notice, producing an increasing number of short, mobile-first dramas for viewing on smartphones. Fast-paced bite-size content is designed to fit into a hectic schedule and satisfy shorter attention spans. Although the trend began in Asia, short-form video content tailored to mobile viewing is now being produced and consumed worldwide. Such dramas can be viewed on TikTok and Instagram, on dedicated apps such as Drama Box and ReelShort or Korean platforms such as Top Reels. In ultra-connected South Korea, it's estimated that nearly 42% of smartphone users enjoy short dramas at least five days a week. However, short form dramas may become even more popular in the U.S. Neil Hyuk-jae Choi, CEO of SpoonLabs 'Globally right now there are almost 300 companies that are doing short form dramas and all of these companies think that this business has great potential," said Neil Hyuk-jae Choi, CEO of the Korean content creator SpoonLabs. SpoonLabs launched the streaming platform Vigloo in July 2024, offering short romances, mysteries, thrillers and comedies from Korea, Japan and the U.S., subtitled in eight languages. The U.S. market already generates 50% of the company's revenue and Vigloo is set to release over 100 original English language titles by the end of the year. 'Because a lot of U.S. users are very accustomed to TikTok, they took in the content really fast," said Choi. 'And short content really made strides in the U.S. at a very fast pace.' He compares Vigloo's production model to that of Netflix in the way that the company tailors content to local markets. 'It's the same for us,' said Choi. 'We create all the content locally and we also upload some of our episodes on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube or on our channels or via ads. And people see it there and then if they're attracted to the content, they come to our service.' Using the payment model employed by webtoons and some drama platforms, viewers can see the first few episodes for free and decide if they want to subscribe to see the rest. Storylines that span one to three minutes have to pack in a lot of content—and some dramatic cliffhangers—in just minutes if they hope to keep viewers coming back for more. Choi compares long and short form content to running a race. Normal long form content is like a marathon, while short form content is a sprint. 'So, just to give you an example of how fast paced it is, in one minute, one can meet someone, fall in love and even have a baby,' said Choi. The platform's top U.S. genres include romance, with popular sub-genres such as cross-cultural workplace romance (working abroad in Korea) and thrillers (betrayals and revenge plots). Some of Vigloo's most-watched dramas in the U.S. include Fight for Love, The Billionaire Cowboy's Runaway Bride, and Escaping the Bridezilla. According to Choi, the audience so far is mostly female. Short form content such as 'Those I Wish To Kill' is becoming more popular. 'Our target audience is women in their 30s and 40s,' said Choi. 'So the genre that works best in all formats, as of now, is romance, especially those kinds of romance that give you the pleasant fantasy of meeting Prince Charming. One of the tropes that is really common in short drama is you meet this guy and then he turns out to be very rich, but it's like a hidden identity you didn't know at first.' While this type of content is popular worldwide, there are some subjects that U.S. viewers enjoy that may not be as popular in other countries. 'For example, in Korea or in Japan, romances with vampires or werewolves are not that popular,' said Choi. 'In the States they are.' Content for the U.S. is created with production companies based in the U.S. 'Locally, when it comes to storytelling, we have internal teams with executive producers who try to weave in the stories for the US audience.' Not only do micro dramas mesh well with overtaxed attention spans, short content may prove increasingly attractive for producers. According to Choi, short dramas appeal to producers caught in a tight market because shorter content costs so much less to produce. With an average 2.5-month production cycle and a growing creator network, short form content has the potential to redefine storytelling for the streaming era. 'A lot of the OTT and film industry is not doing that great, not only in the States, but in Korea and Japan as well,' said Choi. 'There are a lot of creators who can't produce anything at the moment. So, a lot of producers and creators are actually coming to short form. Korean content is doing really well globally and the storytelling really includes a lot of people. The goal is to really use and leverage this know-how and this expertise, but at the same time really work tightly with the local producers. By the end of this year we are planning to make the most content in the States.'
Business Insider
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Hollywood's new obsession is a twist on the classic soap opera
Mini-drama apps made popular in Asia are surging in the US — and Hollywood is taking notice. These apps are best known for their soapy melodramas featuring princes, werewolves, and more, which are presented in bite-sized vertical episodes and meant for mobile phones. China-backed ReelShort is the most prominent purveyor of these, with typical titles like "The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband." Another top player is DramaBox. Hollywood has been trying to figure out how it can capitalize on the mini-drama craze, and studios like Lionsgate have been evaluating opportunities in the space. "I get an overwhelming number of questions about this topic every week," said David Freeman, head of digital media at CAA. " Talent is actively exploring the space, creators are drawn to it due to the low cost of content production, and major companies are evaluating their strategic approach." Freeman said some key questions were which categories work well and whether the format could be expanded to the unscripted realm. "In time, I anticipate that Netflix will find a way to successfully integrate vertical video and potentially make it part of their strategy to engage Gen Z audiences," he continued. As TV and streaming giants spend more money on sports at the expense of traditional TV and film, producers, studios, and other players are casting around for other entertainment markets and ways to serve audiences on the cheap. Social-media stars have already been getting a second look from Hollywood. And now, so are mini-dramas. Industry players said they'd taken note of the marketing on TikTok that the mini-drama apps are throwing behind their stars. App tracker Appfigures counts 215 short drama apps in the US and estimated US spending on them more than doubled in the past 12 months, to more than $100 million a month in gross revenue. Hollywood is curious about mini-dramas Agents and others told Business Insider that while Hollywood is buzzing about mini-dramas, companies are generally still in the initial stages of exploring the format. One traditional player that's making concrete moves in the space is TelevisaUnivision. It's planning to debut 40 telenovela-style minidramas on ViX, its streaming platform, and intends to expand to other genres like docs and comedy. Others are at least mini-drama curious. Lionsgate, for one, has been in the early stages of exploring the format, a person familiar with the studio's plans said. Hallmark is another studio that's discussed the format internally, a person familiar with the company's thinking said. Select Management Group, an influencer talent management firm, is looking for mini-drama actors to sign, primarily those prominent on ReelShort. Select's Scott Fisher said verticals have "become another place you find talent," much like YouTube birthed digital stars like MrBeast and Emma Chamberlain. People have questions Despite Hollywood's interest, it's unclear how these vertical dramas could fit into the traditional film and TV system, which emphasizes high production values and guild-protected talent. And people in Hollywood told BI they had plenty of questions. Here are a few: These mini-dramas often fall below the budget threshold that would trigger certain rules from the Hollywood guilds. But how can legacy companies take advantage of these productions' low costs without alienating the guilds and their members? Soapy melodramas are the most popular form of vertical series, but are they extendable to other genres such as reality TV, docs, and true crime? A+E Global Networks is taking the unscripted route, launching a slate of original series for mobile around its History brand in an effort to reach young viewers. Can they make real money? The appeal is that they're cheap to make, but how big of a business can they be? And what's the right mix of revenue between ads and viewer payments? ReelShort parent Crazy Maple Studio's founder Joey Jia said last year that viewers typically paid $5 to $10 a week. How should they distribute them? TelevisaUnivision has its own platforms to post such shows. But production companies that don't have their own distribution arms could use the likes of TikTok or YouTube and share the revenue with the platform. Are these dramas too far out of Hollywood's comfort zone for it to get right? Hollywood insiders remember how Quibi, Jeffrey Katzenberg's idea to make quick-bite shows, went down in ignominy. The big difference is that Quibi's episodes were more highly produced than today's vertical dramas and didn't employ a "freemium," pay-as-you-go model. 'It's just a matter of time' Some media insiders think it's inevitable that big streamers and studios will at least test the format's potential. They've already shown some willingness to play with different formats and distribution platforms. For example, Paramount put "Mean Girls" on TikTok in 23 segments lasting one to 10 minutes. And YouTube and Amazon's Prime Video could make sense as distributors because they're already set up as platforms that allow people to rent or buy individual movies or shows. "There's just a question of how far are they going to stray from doing what they normally do," Fisher said of the Hollywood players. Industry analyst Evan Shapiro sees mini, vertical-shot dramas as "toilet television," something made for watching on mobile phones and fitting the scrolling mentality. He added that he believes the format is a natural way for companies to incubate shows for TV. "It's just a matter of time before you see a drama from one of these players and a fast follow into other formats," Shapiro said. "The big question is, how do we monetize that. But if it takes off, it converts to a premium, wide-screen format for TV."
