DUANJU  NEWS

In a landscape where smartphones already dictate the pace of consumption, Nigeria appears as a natural candidate to bring duanju to Africa. However, Lagos-based project manager and producer Ajibola Olayiwola cautions that enthusiasm alone is not enough: without a method, the format will remain just a promise. Nigeria, a critical mass to transform. For Olayiwola, the potential is real, but contingent on industrial development. He states it clearly: “Nigeria can also get on boa

In the vertical drama ecosystem, Uganda sees the circulation of ultra-short series from Asia and the United States, but the founders of Binyuma TV, Edwin Ryonga and Ivan Kasagama, start from a local observation: African audiences are already watching, while a structured pan-African offering remains to be built. Their project positions itself as a platform response, designed with the continent's viewing habits in mind, with the ambition of expanding beyond the Ugandan market.

American producer Chris Wicke, who leads Embr Entertainment, is clear about the next milestone: developing their own platform and releasing an app. He says they already have what he calls a minimal viable product, but it still needs work before a public launch and before they can build a content slate designed specifically to feed the app. In the meantime, Embr continues producing for existing platforms, including a project completed for ReelShort and another script now movin

Ifeoma 'Oma Areh is working from a straightforward idea: if Africa is already consuming short-form mobile stories at scale, it now needs a method and an organization to produce, structure, and monetize that energy. Alongside Elijah Affi, she co-founded Digital Creator Africa Academy, a pan-African platform designed to train the next generation of digital storytellers specializing in microdrama and to fill a critical gap in Africa’s creator economy. Her starting point is perso

Wenwen Han met with Kristy Wang, a Los Angeles-based producer and founder of Tiklatam, to analyze how the short drama has established itself as one of the key post-pandemic formats and why it is now structuring a new mobile entertainment economy. For Kristy Wang, the starting point is a profound shift in usage. After the pandemic, leisure time became fragmented, and the phone became the primary screen. Short dramas fit directly into this reality: very short episodes, designed

Journalist Blessing Azugama met with Akolade Bamidele, a Nigerian screenwriter who writes fiction in vertical format, to discuss how duanju concretely changes writing, how to capture attention, and the perspectives it opens up on the African continent. In her view, duanju isn't simply a format constrained by length or the phone screen. It's primarily an opportunity for writers willing to abide by its rules. "If you know how to write for the vertical format, you're ready to wr

British journalist Jen Cooper met with Noah Fearnley, one of the most recognizable faces in Western Duanju. Behind a presence now familiar to millions of viewers, the American actor offers a candid account of his career, his relationship to work, and how the vertical format has profoundly changed his life. Noah Fearnley wasn't destined for acting. He grew up in Connecticut, moved between several American cities, and envisioned himself primarily in American football, with the

With twenty years of experience in Turkish audiovisual media, Selen Bazmanoglu explains that she has launched and developed film, TV, youth, and lifestyle channels on the country's largest platforms, then under in-house brands, and has advised companies such as beIN, Turk Telekom, and Turksat. She is currently continuing this career path in vertical drama as Head of Content for two short-form content apps, Short & More and WOMOD. Her presentation highlighted a clear industry

In an interview with journalist Wenwen Han, Scott Brown reflects on his transition from the world of YouTube to vertical video, a field he now considers one of the most stimulating in the American digital landscape. For years, he worked with some of the most influential creators, closely observing the evolution of user habits. Now, he sees short dramas as a profound shift in the way we relate to storytelling on mobile devices. For Scott Brown explains that American audiences

In a conversation led by journalist Blessing Azugama, Nigerian filmmaker Ebuka Njọkụ, known for his feature film Yahoo+  , offers a precise look at an African audiovisual landscape in transition. He explains how mobile habits, Nigeria’s creative energy and the rise of a new generation of filmmakers are paving the way for a truly pan-African Duanju ecosystem. Ebuka points out that vertical storytelling is already part of everyday life across Africa: comedy sketches, short TikT

In 2016, in Prague, when TikTok didn't yet exist and vertical was still seen as a framing error, Krystof Safer created Vertifilms, a festival entirely dedicated to films shot in 9:16. Interview with Krystof Safer, founder of the Vertifilms festival, conducted by Wenwen Han. For him, a vertical film is first and foremost a work conceived for a smartphone held vertically, without abandoning the conventions of classic cinema. The films selected for Vertifilms are shot with a rea

In an interview with Maëlle Billant, Wenwen Han, producer and founder of the Short Drama Alliance, discusses her career and the release of her two seminal works: Short Drama Writing 101 and Future Playbook: China's Short Drama Ecosystem and Insights for Global Business . The latter, published on October 22, 2025, is available in English on Amazon in Kindle format (49 pages). A complete 143-page version is also available on Payhip . These two complementary books are aimed a

American actor Michael Vaccaro discusses Game of Choice, a psychological thriller filmed for the Tallflix platform. In an interview with journalist Maëlle Billant, he recounts a demanding shoot that reflects the growing desire of creators to establish Duanju as a high-quality format capable of competing with cinematic productions. Filmed in Los Angeles with a crew and technical setup comparable to those of a feature film, Game of Choice illustrates a notable evolution in vert

American director and choreographer Jenifer Yeuroukis is establishing herself as a rising star in vertical cinema. Coming from the world of dance, she has already created several duanju films in the United States, notably for the MyDrama and NetShort platforms. Her ability to combine direction, choreography, and intimate direction makes her one of the rare creators capable of giving the vertical format a true emotional grammar. Today, she is preparing projects shot in Europe,

Interviewed by Wenwen Han as part of the roundtable organized by the Short Drama Alliance, Victor Potrel, Director of External Strategy at TheSoul Publishing, embodies a new generation of content strategists. Based in London, he closely observes the rise of short dramas, these ultra-short, vertical fictions that are reshaping video usage on mobile devices. For him, this format is neither a miniature version of cinema nor a passing trend, but a language in its own right, with

In London, Sea Star Productions is one of the young teams exploring the language of vertical storytelling. Under the creative direction of Bethany Thomson, the British company seeks to combine technical rigor with the joy of telling short stories. Between film and digital content, its ambition is simple: to create, learn, and bring new forms of storytelling to life. The vertical format as a testing ground Specializing in the production of micro-fictions shot for smartphones,

During the roundtable discussion, "Short Drama Forum 2025," organized by Wenwen Han, Sanidhya Narain shared his experience and vision for the Indian mobile drama market. As co-founder of Dashverse, a mobile-first entertainment service with products like DashReels, he represents a generation of entrepreneurs directly shaping the future of the format. A colossal and young market For Sanidhya Narain, India has an incomparable asset: an extremely young population, massively conne

In an Istanbul office, Ömer Abacıoğlu speaks with quiet energy about the ongoing revolution in the audiovisual industry. The developer of ReelPix, a new vertical short film platform, believes a new narrative language is emerging at the intersection of Turkish television and global mobile consumption. He spoke in an interview with Wenwen Han at a " Short Drama Forum 2025" event. From television to the mobile world After more than ten years in the television industry, with sol

Amid the hustle and bustle of American studios, one actor quickly made the leap into duanju: Michael Vaccaro. A New Yorker living in Los Angeles, he started out as a child, working in films, commercials, and theater, before finding himself, like many others, interrupted by the health crisis and the strikes that paralyzed Hollywood. It was then that he discovered a new playing field: verticals, or duanju, short fictions designed for mobile devices. As the first American vertic

Invited to the Short Drama Forum 2025, organized by Wenwen Han, Leonid Ovdiienko, founder of the DramaShorts application, shared his vision of a booming market. Leo Ovdiienko first launched Alpha Novel, an online marketplace for novels. He quickly noticed the rise of micro-dramas, particularly in the American market. The team then decided to adapt his books into short films designed for the vertical screen. DramaShorts began production in Europe before expanding to the United