Filmmaker Chris Cahilig shares insights on future of vertical series

Filmmaker Chris Cahilig, the director of the Puregold CinePanalo festival, believes that some production companies have overlooked the essence of vertical series, resulting in a loss of novelty and innovation.

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FILMMAKER Chris Cahilig

"They copied one another using the same formula. And I think that's the end of it. Vertical shorts will be over-saturated next year," said Chris during an interview at the First Hakot Relay Run at Rizal Park recently.

A vertical series is a short video series filmed in portrait format, specifically designed for viewing on smartphones, similar to content on apps like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Chris added, "Other companies want to monetize. The flow of material is exaggerated and no longer natural. The novelty is also gone. Before, it had novelty because the form was new.

"When we did vertical series, monetization was not our primary purpose. It's simply for pure entertainment. So next year, there will still be a lot of content, but only a few will succeed," Chris said.

Others are still making mistakes, he said. "If you adopt the US and Chinese formula, the No. 1 mistake would be using celebrities.