🎧 The Netflix of Microdramas: Who Gets There First?
Hollywood vets want in on the vertical drama boom. Plus: Richard Rushfield pops in to talk TIFF highlights and his Sydney Sweeney selfie
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There’s a multibillion-dollar business growing right under Hollywood’s nose: microdramas, those soapy, 60-second episodes Gen Z binges on their phones with storylines that can sound like bad Twilight fan-fiction. Vertical dramas are a booming market in China, and now entertainment vets stateside like Lloyd Braun and Susan Rovner are getting in on the action. Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty tackle the big questions for the micro-curious: How seriously should Netflix view microdramas as a rival? Can anyone actually make a profit? And will it take household names to make them succeed — or is this another Quibi-in-waiting? Plus, Richard Rushfield makes his glorious return to the podcast with tales of TIFF: the best films, the Criterion Closet and his all-important Sydney Sweeney selfie.
This has proven to be viable, so needs to be embraced. North American viewers have already done so, and proven it by the revenue they’ve generated for these companies, which is clearly displayed for all to see. Hollywood needs to get over Quibi and get on to new ways of making entertainment. This is one of those ways.