Two years ago, when Craig Williams opened a production facility in downtown Los Angeles, he intended to rent the converted furniture warehouse for occasional music videos to support his fledgling film business. Instead, he was blindsided by the sudden rise of microdramas—serials shot vertically in two-minute episodes for mobile phones. "It started getting booked — and continued to get booked — with microdramas," said Williams, 65, a former music producer for Death Row Records.
"After a year, I was booked all the time. I said, 'I've got to build another one.’" Williams now runs three production facilities, rebranded as Vertical World Studios, catering to the soapy, fast-paced vertical format. He built out standing sets—a police station, hospital room, courtroom, and nightclub—purchased at liquidation prices from major studios like Paramount and Sony Pictures.
The trend arrives as traditional Hollywood contracts. Impending mergers threaten to cut film and television output, actors fear displacement by artificial intelligence, and streaming services lose ground to YouTube. Microdramas may be the sole expanding segment in Hollywood.
The format is set to generate $1.5 billion in US revenue this year and near $2 billion next year, according to research firm Omdia. Although traditional US television remains massive at roughly $125 billion, ongoing cord-cutting could shrink it by as much as $15 billion annually in the coming years, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The shift also reflects China's growing soft power.
Originating there, the format's rapid rise has given Chinese-backed apps, including ReelShort and GoodShort, a foothold in Hollywood. Overall vertical video, including TikTok, is projected to hit $150 billion in global revenue this year, excluding China, researcher Owl & Co. reported. The industry is creating work for actors, directors, writers, and craftspeople, while drawing investment from media companies, technology platforms, and studios.
"It has completely changed my circumstances financially," said actor Robert Palmer Watkins who found regular work again after the production drought that followed the pandemic and the Hollywood strikes. "I am so grateful." Still, traditional Hollywood shows minor signs of activity. US film production spending rose 4% in the most recent quarter, driven in part by tax incentives according to research firm ProdPro, though global spending remains down.
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