There was a period, way back in the olden days, when the only way to become a star was to be “discovered” by a movie studio and have your pretty face projected up on the silver screen. That pathway to stardom seems almost quaint nowadays. Today, folks become famous for something as little as a TikTok video splashed across a certain number of smartphones. Of course, those quick-fame phenoms can become unfamous again a minute and a half later.
The one thing that never changes in the world of entertainment, though, is the fact that entertainment is always changing. And the newest trend is something called micro-dramas or vertical dramas.
If you haven’t seen these short form productions tiptoe into your social media feed, you will soon. They’re the spearpoint of an industry that’s pulling in around $8 billion (as of the end of 2025) and projected to grow to $20 or $30 billion in the next several years.
What are they?
Vertical dramas are essentially 90-minute soap operas that are divided up into one- to three-minute episodes. And they’re designed to be viewed, well, vertically on your smartphone of choice. No need for CinemaScope or VistaVision with these narrow-framed 9:16 flicks.
As far as the serials themselves are concerned, micro-dramas can run a pretty wide gamut of genres. But because of the heavy use of emotional cliffhangers, the dramas you’ll find most often will entail high-stakes, fast-paced melodrama. You’ll find romance/revenge stories, family betrayal tales, power fantasies and supernatural yarns in the list of categories. “My Firefighter Ex-Husband Burns in Regret,” “How to Tame a Silver Fox” and “Curse of the Dragon King” are all current, popular vertical drama titles.
OK, but where do you actually find these chest-thumping mini productions?
All right, so if you’re paying for these micro-dramatic bites like you might pay for a movie or a streaming service, then what’s the draw?
Part of the answer to that question stems from how we consume media these days. Let’s face it, short-form video has become a dominant, defining aspect of our modern society. Some 80% of Gen Zers profess to predominantly engaging with short-form video and little else. And vertical dramas fit snuggly into that fast-moving, short attention-spanned, always-scrolling culture.
Another “selling point” for the micro-drama vibe is that this form of entertainment is easy to create. Micro-drama creators can produce entire 60-80 episode series in as little as one week.
They’re high-speed and low-budget productions. So there’s no long wait for another season or a long-anticipated sequel. In fact, user feedback can potentially impact vertical dramas if the creators set things up that way.
They’re just a fad, right?
If you’re thinking that this new mobile entertainment trend will be short-lived, you might want to think again. One testament to the long-term success of vertical dramas is the fact that Hollywood’s biggest union, SAG-AFTRA has joined in. SAG-AFTRA announced that it will soon introduce a new contractual framework for any vertical drama creators who hope to use professional union actors for their work. So, yeah. Things just got serious.
Now, I’m not suggesting that vertical dramas are going to eclipse Hollywood or make movies and TV shows obsolete. Frankly, I’ve watched some micro-drama offerings and “soap opera” is a very good descriptor. However, it’s easy to see that producers in this domain are hoping to fill as much of your in-between time as they can—and translate that interval into some handy profit.
In other words, vertical dramas may be micro entertainment tailored for short attention spans, but they’ll come packing high-octane shows that make it easy for you to gobble up “just one more” juicy cinematic bite. And in turn, they will pack your ever-dwindling day just a bit more tightly.
When will you venture outside, enjoy the sunshine and smell the flowers?
Well, that’s a difficult question to answer. There might be an open slot between the last episode of “Found a Homeless Billionaire Husband for Christmas” and the beginning of “No Escape from the Mafia King’s Embrace.” (Sadly, those are real titles of vertical dramas.) But parents will want to teach their kids discernment in the micro drama category—potentially previewing any series their kids want to watch, since Plugged In isn’t currently reviewing this form of entertainment—just as they would any other form of media or entertainment.
