Micro dramas waiting for a breakout moment

MICRO DRAMAS OR VERTICAL DRAMAS (THEY'RE WATCHED ON VERTICAL MOBILE SCREENS) FIRST EMERGED IN CHINA THREE YEARS AGO

- Shuchi Bansal

riter, producer Shibani Keshkamat-Tait's energy is infectious. She is even more lively lately as her micro drama series on Indonesia's popular streaming service Vidio has become a hit barely two weeks after its release on the platform. Each episode of the micro drama titled 'Pura Pura Nikah' (My Fake Wedding) lasts one and a half minutes and the 100-episode series was dropped all in one go.

Though familiar with India's entertainment industry, Shibani moved to writing for Indonesia's television and streaming platforms 25 years ago. After her micro drama series success, she's getting queries from the India market where the chatter around such bite-sized content is rising. Both short-format video platforms and large streaming services seem to be looking for writers, directors and producers to make micro drama series.

Micro dramas or vertical dramas (they're watched on vertical mobile screens) first emerged in China three years ago on the back of increased consumption of short vertical videos by mobile users. The trend reached the US where ReelShort became the go-to platform for micro drama series.