The Micro-drama Gold Rush Is Here

As shoots dry up for features and episodic TV in Los Angeles, there have been a few big-money bets placed by Hollywood veterans that soapy, short 'vertical' stories are the next big thing

- BY KATIE KILKENNY

Micro-dramas might be produced on micro budgets, but some veteran Hollywood executives are betting that in the long run they will pay big dividends. These series, also called “verticals” because they are filmed in portrait orientation and are intended to be viewed on cellphones, first took off in China during the Covid-19 pandemic. But in the past few years, upstart platforms like ReelShort and DramaBox have begun building an American following for these typically low-budget, soapy series in a way that Quibi never did. And while most major players have lingered on the sidelines of the growing format, content to let others put out such series as Captured and Bound by My CEO and Rules of Protection: The Bodyguard I Hate, that’s changing.

Just in the past month, Fox Entertainment announced an equity stake investment in the Ukrainian verticals company Holywater, owner of the My Drama app, committing to making more than 200 shows for the platform in two years. On 23 October, former Miramax CEO Bill Block revealed a new venture, GammaTime, a micro-drama app that has raised $14 million from such investors as Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. And in August, former WME and ABC Entertainment head Lloyd Braun, ex-Showtime president Jana Winograde, and former NBCUniversal Television and Streaming entertainment chairwoman Susan Rovner unveiled MicroCo, a startup that also aims to bring Hollywood know-how to the burgeoning format.