Hey everyone,
I just wrapped up reading Kay’s latest Stage 32 blog on vertical microdramas, and honestly, my mind is spinning a bit. The speed at which this space is moving is wild, and it's clearly starting to shift how people consume content.
You can read here: https://www.stage32.com/blog/the-vertical-microdrama-screenwriting-chall...
With platforms like ReelShort, DramaBox, and ShortMax blowing up, vertical content isn't just some indie side hustle anymore. It’s turning into a legitimate revenue engine driven by lightning-fast turnarounds and immediate ROI.
As producers are used to the long grind of traditional development, this ecosystem feels completely different. It’s high-volume, highly addictive, and the micro-transaction model honestly feels closer to mobile gaming than traditional Hollywood. For anyone looking at cash flow, sustainability, and keeping a slate active, it’s hard to ignore.
I’m really curious about how you see it or actually produce in this new ecosystem:
- Are you actively looking into producing vertical content? Or better yet, have you already dipped your toes in?
- Do you see this as a viable new lane for development and monetization, or is the format too restrictive for the stories you want to tell?
- Are you sticking strictly to features and traditional TV, viewing this as a totally separate beast?
- Where do you see the industry going as these platforms rake in more cash and audience attention?
- Is this a legit complement to what producers do, a passing distraction, or the next major frontier for independent producers?
I’d love to know how you're all positioning yourselves right now.
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Thank you so much, Sandra, for highlighting vertical micro-dramas and linking Kay’s excellent article. Interactive Films, the company I represent, needs content – short story and script submissions – to produce vertical web dramas. Please reach me about how to submit your work. Thank you for your interest and consideration!
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Hi Charles,
Thanks for jumping into the conversation! It’s fantastic to see a company like Interactive Films actively hunting for content in this space. It definitely proves that the demand for vertical scripts is very real right now.
Since this is a public forum, I'm sure a lot of the writers and creators here in the Stage 32 community would love to know more. Could you share a little bit about what specific genres or hooks Interactive Films is currently looking for?
I'll definitely shoot you a message to connect, and for any writers reading along, make sure to check out Charles' profile to see how you can get your work in front of him!
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Truly the future!!!
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It is truly the future, Sydney S. I am very excited with all of this new world :)
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Hey, Charles Weng ! We're hosting a series of events in the Stage 32 Writers' Room to help funnel more writers and material to vertical producers. I just DM'd you with my email - drop me a line and let's see if we can set you up with the writers who are prepping their material now!
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An associate of mine who has been in the short-short and "vertical" space as an investor/booster several times over the last decade recently noted that, once again, there is no money being made in the space, despite claims of how big it is. He was in on Quibi and others (there have been at least 8 big budget platform attempts to create vertical entertainment over the last 10 years and all have gone under, most sooner than later). We all want to discover something new... but this is not new. Short-shorts have been around since the beginning of the 120+ history of film, and never made money. The "vertical" has been around since the early 2000s, when techies first put a widescreen on its side for advertising use in malls (one of my relatives, no less!). No narrative vertical platform is making money for the producers (or the platform)... don't kid yourselves. Where they work is where they have always worked - as advertisements and trailers. Mr. Beast et al, for example, use them to drive traffic to their long form work, which they do make money on. So while it's a nice flavor of the moment... good luck. IMO it's creative and distribution bubble gum.
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Valid points, Shadow, and this is the risk we producers face. Verticals have come a long way since their earliest days - to the point that video game makers (my background) admit that games, streaming content, social media and AI chat boxes are now all competing against each other for your screen time. I will let Interactive Film's record and solid start with its Salty TV channel (online since 2024) speak for themselves.
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Sandra Isabel I do think parts of the current microdrama wave feel a bit like a flash, especially with how quickly the market is expanding. At the same time, I can see the format evolving into new genres beyond romance and melodrama, particularly action, comedy, and even gaming-inspired storytelling. Interesting perspective, Shadow Dragu-Mihai. I do agree, though, that short-form and vertical content are more effective as advertising for a larger project.
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One thing I keep coming back to in these vertical debates: we tend to judge the format by what it used to be instead of what it has become.
Short-form video has existed forever. But the version making money now isn’t “short films on phones.” The real innovation is the business model: free episodes, cliffhanger, paywall, coins to keep watching. That’s mobile gaming economics, not old ad-supported short-form.
And the numbers aren’t nothing. DramaBox reportedly did $323 million in revenue and $10 million in net profit in 2024. ReelShort users are spending more daily time in the app than Netflix mobile users. Premium titles are landing in the $400K to $600K range, and Fox, Paramount, Lionsgate, Hallmark, and NBCUniversal are all at least exploring the space.
That doesn’t make the skepticism wrong. User acquisition costs look brutal, the hit rate is probably ugly, and revenue at the platform level doesn’t mean producers, writers, actors, or IP owners are sharing in the upside.
So “is there money?” isn’t the useful question anymore. The money is real. The better question is who captures it: platforms, ad networks, producers, writers, actors, or rights holders. That's one of the most important, if not the most important parts worth talking about.
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Ask all your friends, family, and co-workers if they're watching any micro-dramas or vertical dramas. They all may say, "What's that?" The churn - output - is very demanding, worse that TV production. Talk about shortened shooting schedules to meet the demand for 1 season. Many producers are shooting entire seasons, and they hoping to sell their show. The shows are quickly released as it's on-demand viewing, meaning the viewer wants the next episode "right now." So a producer must have several seasons in the can, as they will be quickly consumed. The question is the money. The platforms make it, and how much are the shows bought for? How much is the production spending v. purchase price? That's the numbers that need to be made known.
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Lindbergh Hollingsworth A moment with a pencil and paper should tell anyone anything they need to know about what money there is and is not in it... literally nothing yet. Unless they failed basic math.
IMO it's a weird movement fueled by wannabes and hobbyists on the one end and a cadre of truly demented tech-adjacent investors on the other end (and I know some of them personally). That people will watch verticals and shorts is not a question. Of course they will. But the idea that verticals can be monetized reliably is just plain delusional, contrary to 120+ years of financial history in the industry and ignores the way the format is treated by those who truly do know about it: TikTok, Youtube, and a host of successful "influencers" none of whom make money on them other than as advertising tools. Of course I can be wrong... but I am not likely.
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Shadow, spot on! The influencers make money on advertising dollars and not "likes." Always cracks me up when people have thousands of likes, and the money made from likes is ...? Well, pencil and paper as you mentioned ...
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I believe that vertical deployments are more than just entertain, they have the power to actively solicit and monetize audience involvement as part of A Multi-Platform Ecosystem, designed to be more than a linear TV series or Film; The IP grows its own audience via an interactive mobile game that leverages The vertical narrative and social media with live action deployments at relevant events. (like ComiCons).
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I agree 100% with your POV, Dwayne Williams 2. For me, all formats are good, but they are different, and they serve different audiences. We only need to choose what business strategy we want to follow as screenwriters, producers, and directors because, at the end, everything depends on our goals and choices. Verticals are no exception :)