Why Is Everyone Talking About Vertical Microdramas?
At the center of that conversation is Alicia Read and Monika Dalman, who collectively have cast, produced and/or performed in more than 100 completed Vertical Microdramas worldwide that have accumulated billions of views.
By: Taylor Fox
February 3, 2026
Articles
For an industry that’s spent the last several years in a state of recalibration, Vertical Microdrama has quietly and then suddenly become one of the most talked-about formats in entertainment. Designed for phones, built around serialized storytelling, and consumed in one-to-two-minute bursts, Vertical Microdramas are no longer a niche experiment. They’re a global business, a growing employment engine, and a format that major studios like Netflix and Disney are now launching.
At the center of that conversation is Alicia Read and Monika Dalman, who collectively have cast, produced and/or performed in more than 100 completed Vertical Microdramas worldwide that have accumulated billions of views.
What are Vertical Microdramas? and Why are they so popular?
At its most basic level, Vertical Microdrama is narrative content produced specifically to be watched on a phone, vertically, inside an app. But the simplicity of the format masks a surprisingly sophisticated ecosystem.
Vertical Microdramas are a direct response to where audience attention is moving. As social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram prioritize vertical video, this format speaks the native language of modern viewing habits and Vertical Microdramas are delivering movie-length stories designed to be experienced in short, mobile-first chapters.
As Read explains, “It’s repackaging of soap operas, telenovela – outrageous material, coupled with this revenue generating formula, which is movie length, broken up into 60 to 80 episodes, approx. one and a half, to two minutes long.”
While Vertical Microdramas feel new to many North American creatives, the format itself has been evolving for over a decade. “They’re actually about a decade old and they started in Asia,” Dalman says, noting that many English-language projects today are localized versions of stories that first succeeded overseas.”
What’s fueling the popularity isn’t just shortened attention spans, it’s lifestyle. “I don’t feel like verticals are a result of shortened attention span,” Dalman adds. “I feel like they’re the result of continuous external demand.” The format caters to viewers who are constantly interrupted, multitasking, and looking for storytelling that fits into the margins of their day rather than demanding uninterrupted hours.
Vertical Microdrama is also deeply data-driven. Because it lives entirely inside apps, audience response is immediate and measurable, allowing platforms to refine content at speed, a major shift from traditional development cycles.
Not a Replacement, A Parallel Track
One of the most persistent misconceptions around Vertical Microdrama is that it exists to replace traditional film and television. Both Read and Dalman are unequivocal on this point.
“Vertical Microdrama was never, ever intended to replace traditional film and TV,” Read says.
“Instead, it happens to have popped up at a time where traditional film and TV are sort of shifting and changing and learning and adapting to new consumer behavior.” Dalman shares.
The distinction matters. Vertical Microdramas are primarily a solo viewing experience, watched on a phone, alone while traditional film and TV remain communal. “You watch a Vertical Microdrama on your phone by yourself,” Dalman notes. “No one’s trying to replace anything.”
For an industry navigating contraction, that parallel track has become a lifeline. Vertical Microdramas has created a steady volume of work for actors, crew, writers and directors during a period when many traditional pipelines slowed dramatically.
Inside the Craft: How Vertical Microdrama Changes Storytelling and Performance .
Despite its phone-first delivery, Vertical Microdrama production looks far closer to a made-for-TV movie than to influencer content. “These are professional productions, with crew members from Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix and Amazon,” Read says. “Sometimes we shoot with two units, and I’ve been on set with 50+ people at a time. These are not small sets”
For directors who are entering the Vertical Microdrama space, they’re using it as an opportunity to learn what’s new in anticipation of eventually doing this with major productions.
What does change is pacing and performance. There’s no slow burn, no ambiguity, and no wasted moments. “There are no wasted moments in a Vertical Microdrama,” Dalman explains. “It comes at you right away.”
For actors, that intensity is part of the appeal. “All eyes are on you. You’re in the frame fully,” Dalman says. “It’s all about your reaction.”
Why Building Community Matters in Vertical Microdramas
Read and Dalman have come together to create VFSSA, a professional community united to support and elevate the vertical format. The group was also founded by Andy Chu, Sammie Astaneh, and Dani Barker, and has been an advocate for the future of Vertical Microdramas globally.
“When I first started casting these, I was very leery about some of the conditions that I was hearing about on set,” Dalman says.
As Read puts it, “This is a business, and this is a business that’s thriving and that’s keeping people sustained and alive and working. We wanted to educate the traditional film and television industry at large about what Vertical Microdramas were and who were making them. We saw the future, that this format would soon run alongside traditional film and tv, and so having a recognized community who helped build the system and skill set was going to be necessary to help essentially onboard legacy studios and networks.”
A Business the Industry Can’t Ignore & The Bigger Picture
The financial scale of Vertical Microdramas is no longer theoretical. The format has been valued in the billions and is expected to scale with hundreds of platforms operating globally and dozens producing English-language content. Major studios are paying attention, launching incubators, acquiring original IP, and quietly experimenting with their own platforms.
Dalman points out that comparing Vertical Microdramas to traditional film and television is like comparing a Michelin-star restaurant to a bubble tea café. They serve entirely different audiences, fulfill different needs, and create different experiences and judging one by the standards of the other misses the point entirely.
Vertical Microdrama isn’t trying to be prestige cinema, and it isn’t pretending to be. What it is doing is far more relevant: meeting audiences where they already are, speaking a visual language designed for modern consumption habits, and opening the door to new creative paths, new jobs, and new opportunities in a rapidly evolving industry.
It seems like everyone is talking about Vertical Microdramas. But its real power will be decided off-screen by the people willing to build it. The creators, the casts, the crews, and the communities forming around it are what will turn Vertical Microdramas from a moment into a movement, and from a format into a major player in the attention economy.
