Vertical Microdramas Are a Multibillion-Dollar Business. Canada’s First Vertical Film Festival shows Why It Matters.
That realization became the foundation for the Canadian Vertical Film Festival: introduce filmmakers to the full potential of the format and let the work speak for itself.
By: Taylor Fox
August 13, 2026
Articles
Six months ago, most conversations about vertical microdramas started with a defense of the format. Now, they start with a number. Global microdrama revenue reached roughly $11 billion in 2025 and is projected to climb to $14 billion this year, according to analyst firm Omdia. As investment has surged, so has the conversation around vertical storytelling, not just as a business, but as a legitimate filmmaking format. Last week, that conversation reached a new milestone as Canada’s first Vertical Film Festival put the format on the big screen, and the industry showed up to watch.
The Canadian Vertical Film Festival, founded by Chris Chisholm and Jackie Taylor of Volare Media, a Vancouver Island production company developing original stories across commercial and scripted formats, is built on the belief that the vertical boom doesn’t need to stay confined to Vancouver, Toronto, or Los Angeles. At a time when the industry has been focused on scale, Victoria is making a compelling case that innovation can come from anywhere.
From Skepticism to a Standard
Jackie and Chris never set out to launch a film festival. About a year and a half ago, a union contact at Iatse 891 encouraged them to take a closer look at the rapidly growing vertical market. That moment came full circle when Iatse Local 891 became the first Gold sponsor of the festival.
Her first impression of verticals wasn’t encouraging. “Like a lot of people, the first verticals I came across were poorly translated, made on very small budgets, and didn’t reflect the quality of filmmaking I knew was possible,” she said. “I honestly didn’t think the format was for me.”
That changed when she discovered creators experimenting beyond romance dramas. “As a horror fan, I watched my first horror vertical and everything clicked,” she said. “I realized this wasn’t a genre. It was simply another way to tell a story. The only thing that really changes is the style of the hook.”
That realization became the foundation for the Canadian Vertical Film Festival: introduce filmmakers to the full potential of the format and let the work speak for itself.
It appears to have worked.
One established filmmaker who had loudly dismissed vertical storytelling before attending, approached Jackie after the screening. “He said, ‘I get it now. I finally get it.’ Then, he went home and cut together a vertical congratulations video for the festival using old footage. That was one of my favourite moments of the weekend.”
Shera Skinner, one of the festival’s coordinators, arrived at vertical storytelling from an unconventional path. A lifelong actor, she built a successful career as both a lawyer and government executive before making the decision to pursue acting full time.
Since entering the vertical space in 2024, she’s worked on roughly ten productions and has since expanded into producing, joining the team behind the Canadian Vertical Film Festival.
“It’s been exciting to watch the format grow so quickly. Verticals gave me the opportunity to work consistently, challenge myself as an actor, and collaborate with an incredible community of filmmakers,” Skinner said. “Commuting to Vancouver for work gets expensive and exhausting,” she said. “Watching Jackie and others build production infrastructure on the Island made me think, why can’t we make verticals here?”
Why Vancouver Island?
For Jackie and Chris, the opportunity extends well beyond vertical storytelling. Vancouver Island has already earned the trust of major platforms like Netflix, Disney, and Prime Video, with experienced crews contributing to some of the industry’s biggest productions. Yet many of those crew members regularly leave the Island to find work elsewhere.
As vertical production continues to grow, Jackie sees an opportunity to bring more of that work home, while creating a stronger work-life balance for crews, at the same time giving producers access to world-class talent, diverse locations, and an established production community. If global platforms are already choosing Vancouver Island for premium productions, she believes vertical storytelling is a natural next chapter.
The question isn’t whether Vancouver Island can support vertical production. The industry has already proven it can support world-class filmmaking. The question is who will recognize the opportunity first?
Why Canada Can be a Leader
For Jackie, the vision extends beyond Vancouver Island. She believes Canada has everything it needs to become a leader in vertical storytelling. Productions like Beneath Crimson Sails and the DramaBox series Shade Escape have already demonstrated the quality of Canadian crews, while companies like Blink49 Studios launching dedicated vertical divisions signal that the industry is taking the format seriously.
“There’s no reason why Canada can’t become a leader in vertical storytelling,” Taylor said. “We have world-class crews, incredible locations, and storytellers who are ready to embrace what’s next.”
Her vision for the festival is equally ambitious.
“In five years, I hope the festival has grown beyond us,” she said. “Success means it has become part of Canada’s film industry and something that belongs to the community, not to any one person.”
Skinner believes one of the format’s greatest strengths is that it’s still evolving.
“There’s less gatekeeping right now, and that’s incredibly exciting,” she said. “It gives emerging filmmakers, actors, and creators an opportunity to tell stories and build careers in ways that didn’t exist before.”
As investment in vertical storytelling continues to grow, the next chapter may not be defined by the biggest production centres, but by the communities willing to embrace the opportunity. If the inaugural Canadian Vertical Film Festival proved anything, it’s that the talent is already here. The future will belong to the people willing to build it.
The Canadian Vertical Film Festival will return in 2027.
