James Franco, the first Hollywood headliner to shoot a duanju on Shortical
James Franco is a well-known American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the film 127 Hours (2010), in which he played a mountaineer trapped in a canyon. He has also won two Golden Globe Awards: one for the television film James Dean (2001), and the other for The Disaster Artist (2017), a film he directed and starred in. He also appeared in Milk with Sean Penn , and in Spring Breakers .
This renowned actor currently stars in Love, Lies & Frank , a series broadcast on Shortical since August 12, 2026.
Shortical is an Israeli mobile app specializing in short-form series, known for its highly automated production approach. It has raised $100 million from Singaporean fund PvX Partners and claims 20 million episode views per month.
The series airs in short episodes on Shortical. Franco plays Jimmy Franks, the head of an advertising agency who must confront both criminal and supernatural threats. He stars alongside Eric Guilmette and Neela Jolene, two actors already familiar with this type of series.
Franco isn't the first well-known actor to venture into this format. Taye Diggs was one of the first, even creating his own micro-series app. More recently, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, and Issa Rae have also gotten involved, as producers, actors, or content creators.
For Guy Shimoni, CEO of Shortical, Franco's arrival marks "an important milestone for the vertical entertainment industry".
The filming of "Love, Lies & Frank" falls within this new union framework. At the end of 2025, SAG-AFTRA launched the "Verticals Agreement," a specific agreement for productions with budgets under $300,000, which guarantees actors a minimum wage, regulated filming conditions, and protections regarding the use of their image and their on-screen credit.
Prior to this agreement, productions of this type operated in a legal gray area, lacking a clear framework for actor status and potential broadcast rights. The studio also clarifies that "Love, Lies & Frank" contains no AI-generated performances or stunt doubles, while Shortical also produces content entirely created by AI.
