DUANJU  NEWS

With the Walkman, music left the living room, the hi-fi system, and shared listening, to enter the rhythm of movement. It became part of the body. Headphones on, you no longer "put on" music: you wear it. Shuhei Hosokawa, a Japanese researcher and theorist of musical cultures, described in the early 1980s this individualized listening zone which partially cuts off auditory contact with the outside and transforms the street into a scenery to be passed through, rather than a space to be lived collectively. Michael Bull, a British sociologist specializing in the use of sound technologies (from the Walkman to the iPod), has shown how these devices allow users to create scenarios for their daily lives, producing a carefully chosen soundtrack that restructures their experience of the city. The smartphone extends this scenario-making to images: we no longer simply overlay music onto our day, but rather overlay faces, scenes, and tensions onto moments that were once "empty." Fiction is undergoing the same transformation, but through images. The smartphone is not just a new screen: it's a portable stage, a personal booth, a prosthesis for attention. The common thread is not the technology itself, but mobile privatization: access to a work becomes personal, instantaneous, chosen on the fly, consumed within a moving bubble. On the subway, on a bench, in a queue, you can watch a fictional story without creating a "TV moment." You start a stream, then pause it. You resume. You pause again. The experience fragments, but doesn't disappear: it reconfigures itself around the gaps. Extended time is no longer imposed as a single viewing session; it is recomposed through micro-accumulation. This shift is also reflected in attention figures. In the United Kingdom, a survey reported by The Guardian indicated that by 2025 time spent on mobile devices will have surpassed time spent watching television, with mobile use being more constant throughout the day, more spread out, and closer to the body. Historically, music didn't disappear from the collective because of the Walkman; it redefined its spaces of sharing. The concert wasn't killed; it changed in value, function, and desire. Fiction could follow a similar trajectory: the personal screen doesn't abolish the shared screen, but it establishes an autonomous, intimate, mobile practice that coexists with other forms of viewing. The real change is not just the format. It's also the way the public carries the work, triggers it, cuts it, resumes it, and lets it coexist with the world. Article written by Guillaume Sanjorge #GuillaumeSanjorge Sources: • Cambridge Core – January 1984 • Taylor & Francis eBooks – September 23, 2019 • The Guardian – June 25, 2025 • ResearchGate – April 27, 2018 • SpringerLink – 2006

Disney+ is preparing to add a stream of short videos in vertical format, full screen, scrolling, quick discovery, and continuously refreshed content. The idea is to make the application a daily reflex, including between two "long format" viewing sessions, by adopting the swipe mechanics popularized by TikTok. Disney+ plans to mix several types of content: original short programs, clips designed for social media sharing, and "reformatted" scenes from films and series in its catalog. The ambition isn't simply to add a feature; it's to increase usage frequency, and therefore time spent in the app, with a direct benefit for user retention and, for ad-supported offerings, for advertising inventory. 41% of consumers consider both social media videos and streaming services as "TV time," and 35% say they spend more time watching videos on social media than on streaming services, a gap particularly pronounced among younger people. In this context, vertical content becomes a tool for winning back audiences: capturing micro-moments of attention without requiring viewers to switch apps. This is also a strong indicator for the duanju ecosystem: the codes of ultra-short storytelling (immediate hook, tight pace, scenes understandable in seconds) are no longer confined to specialized apps. They are becoming established at the heart of general platforms, where the competition between streaming and social uses now takes place. On the product side, Disney is already relying on an experiment on ESPN with the vertical “Greens” tab, and other players are moving forward with comparable approaches, with Netflix also having tested a vertical feed format. Source : • Deadline – January 8, 2026 • The Verge – January 8, 2026 • Marketing Dive – January 12, 2026 • 01net – January 8, 2026

On the subway, time often stretches out in fragments: a platform, a carriage, two stations. It is precisely in these interstices that a format originating in China, and now discussed in France during prime time, thrives: micro-dramas, also called duanju. On Thursday, February 5, 2026, in LCI's morning show, Sandra Marconi, trends columnist, delves deeper into the subject and describes a consumption designed for vertical screens and for continuous viewing. On air, Sandra Marconi sums up the core of the model: short, fast-paced episodes designed for mobile phones, built on repeated plot twists. She points out that these stories are "filmed vertically," for episodes of one to three minutes, with the implicit promise of being able to watch dozens of them during a short commute. Beyond the Chinese phenomenon, the segment highlights a French example. Sandra Marconi cites Guillaume Sanjorge and his series *Les aventures avec ma voisine* (Next Door Adventure), presented as a French micro-drama that has already found its audience, and as an early example: that of a Frenchman who entered this field as early as 2023, broadcasting on Chinese apps. She specifically mentions the series reaching 400,000 views in France and places this milestone within a broader trend: duanju is no longer just observed from within France; it is also beginning to be produced and exported. The segment includes an excerpt from episode 1 of the series, directed by Jérémy Haeffele and starring Lana Sfera. To place this sequence in an editorial continuity, a report by TF1 had already presented the duanju format, describing its narrative codes and its distribution via specialized applications, including Stardust TV, highlighting the rise of these mini-series on mobile.

Micro-dramas have long thrived on the fringes of platforms, fueled by clips, shocking scenes, and cliffhangers recycled for acquisition. TikTok is changing tack. With PineDrama, the company is no longer simply serving as a marketing highway for third-party apps: it's creating a dedicated space where users consume fiction like a stream, episode after episode, without ever leaving the world of mobile devices. A separate application to structure the experience PineDrama presents itself as a standalone app focused on ultra-short series, designed for full screen and vertical scrolling. The implicit goal is to reduce fragmentation: instead of stumbling upon an isolated clip, the viewer is guided through a continuous narrative, with episodes of approximately one minute and a storyline designed to maintain retention. The product adopts the familiar interface of TikTok, while replacing creator-driven content with a catalog of serialized fiction, making the experience more akin to scrolling through streaming than a simple social feed. Brazil as a testing ground outside the United States The simultaneous launch in the United States and Brazil is no coincidence. By choosing a market where smartphones are already the primary screen for a large portion of video consumption, TikTok is creating a large-scale laboratory to test the appeal of vertical storytelling for continuous viewing and to observe what truly converts viewers: the frequency of episodes, the pace of plot twists, the length of story arcs, and recommendation mechanisms. For now, free and ad-free access resembles an installation phase. The central question going forward will be monetization: when and in what form will TikTok seek to capture value without disrupting the seamless flow that is the strength of this format? Sources: • TechCrunch – January 16, 2026 • Franceinfo – January 19, 2026 • Business Insider – December 26, 2025 • The Hollywood Reporter – January 20, 2026

Between France and sub-Saharan Africa, the landscape of platforms, fiction, entertainment and streaming is changing. Canal+ is a French subscription group (pay television and app-based services), present in more than 70 countries. It is headed by Maxime Saada and operates within the media ecosystem associated with Vincent Bolloré. The deal, valued at around $3 billion, allows Canal+ to take control of MultiChoice, a South African player that dominates pay television across much of Africa with DStv (premium offering) and GOtv (more accessible offering). MultiChoice owns Showmax, its recently relaunched but loss-making streaming platform. Canal+ has already indicated its intention to review its business model, as Showmax is the natural gateway for converting TV subscribers to app-based viewing. Canal+ is also aiming for significant synergies: around 150 million euros in annual savings from 2026, and more than 400 million euros per year from 2030. The idea is simple: to pool technology, suppliers and part of the costs, in order to invest more effectively in the digital offering. In terms of content, the benefits are twofold. Canal+ brings its powerful production and distribution capabilities for fiction, notably through STUDIOCANAL. MultiChoice contributes a significant volume of African fiction and a local commissioning system, with a streaming platform via Showmax. The agreement can therefore accelerate the circulation of series between Africa and Europe, leveraging an existing subscriber base. “The key issue is distribution,” summarized Gérald-Brice Viret, head of programming and channels at Canal+ France, on January 16, 2026, regarding the battle between channels and platforms. After losing C8’s terrestrial broadcast frequency, which the group deemed “unfair” and “political,” Canal+ is therefore strengthening its international presence and streaming services: a way to rebound in areas where public access is less dependent on a national frequency. Sources: • Reuters – January 29, 2026 • Business Insider Africa – January 29, 2026 • Broadband TV News – January 29, 2026 • CB News – January 29, 2026 • BFM TV – January 29, 2026 • The Media Leader – January 16, 2026

We had already followed this project when it was called StoryTV, at the time when Alexandre Perrin and Adrien Cottinaud presented it as a French initiative dedicated to vertical micro-series. The name has since evolved to StoryShort, an English title for a French application featuring series in French. This reflects a desire to position itself in a global market while avoiding confusion with similar names, particularly in India with the “Story TV” application. During the screening organized by Studio Phocéen in Paris on June 14, 2025 , the two directors explained their method: 9:16 full-screen video, frontal acting, close-ups, micro-episodes, and a dramaturgy designed for mobile attention, with very close cliffhangers. Three months later, the French context was hardening: at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival, the president of the CNC, Gaëtan Bruel, described micro-dramas as "the perfect counter-example." It is in this climate that StoryShort emerged, choosing to move forward despite institutional reluctance. A few months later, the project changed scale. StoryShort is no longer a platform in development or a simple distribution concept: it is an application distributed on stores, driven by the idea that duanju is no longer just imported or commented on in France, but that it can now be produced, organized and marketed locally. In terms of form, StoryShort takes up the fundamentals of the duanju language: full screen vertical, very short episodes, accelerated narration, editing designed to hook immediately, and seriality structured by the permanent rebound. The featured catalog clearly prioritizes readability, with titles that offer archetypes and immediate promise, typical of vertical dramas: forbidden love, power figures, secrets, and status reversals. The strategy is clear: to produce simple, immediately understandable narrative triggers that allow the viewer to become engaged within seconds and continue watching. The mobile version of a soap opera, and the idea of a format that breathes new life into television From a French perspective, this style evokes established television series such as: Au nom de la vérité , Mon histoire vraie , Si près de chez vous , Face au doute , Le jour où tout a basculé , and their spin-offs like Petits secrets entre voisins . The same logic of short stories focused on intimacy, the same domestic situations, the same ordinary secrets that escalate into dramas, the same efficient production and storytelling designed for repetition and seamless transitions. The difference is that the writing speed acts like a dusting off. The DNA of the popular series is retained, but compressed, made more dynamic, more compatible with fragmented attention spans, and more directly monetizable in an app-based environment. In other words, it's not just a new medium: it's a way to modernize a familiar television language by making it natively smartphone-ready. This is precisely where StoryShort's future could be of interest to producers and media outlets already familiar with this type of storytelling. Companies that create narratives based on clear stakes, immediate hooks, rapid plot twists, and narrative performance could see this type of application as a complementary outlet or a testing ground. If StoryShort manages to establish a regular publication schedule and sustainable consumption, it could become, in the medium term, an attractive platform for French players looking to rejuvenate their formats, test new uses and capture a mobile audience without abandoning popular fiction. Discover the app on Google Play Sources: • Full screen – January 22, 2026 • Business Insider – September 17, 2025

Holywater has just announced a $22 million funding round to accelerate the development of its applications, such as MyDrama, and its content dedicated to the short vertical format: Duanju. A fundraising round is a process where investors buy a stake in a company to finance a growth phase. In practice, there is almost always a lead investor, the one who provides the largest share of the capital and leads the round. They manage the analysis of the business plan, negotiate the terms of entry, and then other investors join the round under the same conditions. In the case of Holywater, Horizon Capital is leading the transaction. The fund indicates it is investing $16 million of a total of $22 million. The remaining $6 million comes from other announced participants, including Endeavor Catalyst and Wheelhouse. Who are the investors mentioned? Horizon Capital is an investment fund that finances growth-stage technology companies. Its role is to provide capital, but also to help structure scaling up: objectives, management, recruitment, and partnerships. In its announcement, Horizon explains that it is supporting Holywater to accelerate the production and development of a suite of applications dedicated to vertical fiction. Endeavor Catalyst is the investment fund linked to Endeavor, an organization known for its international network of entrepreneurs and creative industry professionals. This type of investor often seeks two main benefits: financing and access to a business and entertainment network. Wheelhouse. It's an American company positioned at the intersection of production, talent, and investment, founded by Brent Montgomery. Its "entertainment" profile aligns with the current logic of the sector: produce quickly, industrialize formats, and optimize distribution. Genesis. In Horizon Capital's press release, Genesis is presented as a long-standing supporter of Holywater. Horizon specifies that it has known the team for over ten years through its relationship with Genesis, which positions Holywater within an already established product ecosystem, rather than simply as a recently launched application. What does this change for the public? This funding should translate into a noticeable upgrade: more original series, more serialized storylines, a more recognizable cast, and a more premium production quality while remaining true to the vertical format. The objective is clear: to capture the daily consumption habit on smartphones, with short episodes designed to immediately trigger the next one. Beyond Holywater, the signal is broader. A $22 million funding round confirms that duanju is no longer a marginal format. It is becoming a fully-fledged investment segment, where catalogs, applications, and integrated monetization mechanisms are being financed, with ambitions comparable to those of streaming platforms, but adapted for mobile devices. Sources: • Holywater – January 15, 2026 • Business Wire – January 15, 2026 • Axios – January 15, 2026 • The Hollywood Reporter – January 15, 2026 • Vestbee – January 16, 2026

On the heights of Goudes and Callelongue, in the heart of the calanques of Marseille, facing the island of Maïre, two anachronistic figures reenact the comedy of the Middle Ages. This is Jean-Pierre Castaldi who plays a massive, gruff but kind-hearted knight, accompanied by a squire overflowing with energy played by Jordan De Luxe. Together, filming for the series King Gandolfi , they revive the spirit of the great adventure duos. The scene unfolds against a backdrop of limestone cliffs, dry grasses, and the marine horizon, all bathed in Mediterranean light. By contrast, the interiors of a medieval castle required different shots, which were filmed in a studio using a green screen. In 2016, several media outlets, including Télé Loisirs and Télé 2 Semaines , presented the project under the title Chevaliers Academy, broadcast on several cable channels. Since then, the universe has evolved: the series has been redesigned in the Duanju format under the name King Gandolfi , vertical and tight, designed for phone screens. The story refocuses on the kingdom's sovereign, whose peace is disturbed in a few episodes by this duo of adventurers. Jean-Pierre Castaldi has been a familiar figure in French cinema since the 1970s. A former resident of the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique, he has distinguished himself in both theater and screen, from Claude Zidi to Claude Lelouch. He has influenced several generations with his popular roles, notably in the film adaptations of Asterix "Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar" (1999) and "Asterix at the Olympic Games" (2008), where he plays a now-iconic Roman centurion, often featured in trailers and television clips. Jordan De Luxe, now recognized as a TV host and commentator, from Voltage to C8, including W9 alongside Cyril Hanouna, successfully tries his hand here at a different register: fiction and comedy. During a radio appearance on Voltage, the actor with the prolific filmography, Jean-Louis Barcelona, also congratulated his interviewee, Jordan De Luxe, for his performance. A program on a Canal+ channel revived a memory of filming marked by a minor accident: Jordan De Luxe injured his eyebrow after a false swing with his sword, an episode that Jean-Pierre Castaldi recalls with fondness, to the detriment of the person concerned. With the participation of Jean-Pierre Castaldi and Jordan De Luxe, King Gandolfi  gains both depth and personality. The series embraces a taste for parody, fantasy, and popular satire, transposed into the Duanju format. It stands as a direct heir to the serialized comic books of the 1960s. Much like Astérix the Gaul, born in the pages of Pilote  magazine, where each week a “to be continued” kept readers in suspense, Roi Gandolfi follows a fragmented, episodic rhythm. Its creator, Guillaume Sanjorge, openly claims this symbolic connection with the world of Uderzo and Goscinny. He also took part in the Canal+ documentary Astérix on Uderzo’s Couch , dedicated to one of the fathers of the legendary Gaul, extending the legacy of popular storytelling reimagined for the vertical screen. Watch the full series on Duanju Kids .

A familiar figure to 1980s TV viewers, Michel La Rosa made his mark as a host before turning to fiction. His unique journey resonates today with the revival of a series he proudly leads. Michel La Rosa established himself on television thanks to his ability to unite audiences and highlight prominent guests. His memorable interviews, now preserved at the National Audiovisual Institute (INA), demonstrate the diversity of the personalities he hosted: Jean Rafa, Isabelle Aubret, Odette Joyeux, Jacques Demy, and Darry Cowl. He then went on to popular programs: Tremplin on FR3 Méditerranée (1985-1987), then in 1990 on Antenne 2 with Matin Bonheur, Été Show, Villa de star and Ça va tanguer. A trajectory marked by success, abruptly interrupted in 1990, when he left television at the request of President François Mitterrand, at the time of the announcement of France's entry into the Gulf War. This decision pushed him to reinvent himself, cultivating a fresh perspective on creation and sincerity in his profession. The fame he acquired quickly opened up new horizons for him: he returned to the microphone on France Inter, then returned to TF1 as host of Shopping Avenue Matin and Télévitrine (1998-2013). Michel La Rosa joins the " King Gandolfi " series Under its former name, Draculi & Gandolfi, the series made its mark on cable and regional TV channels in the 2010s with its quirky tone and deep roots in medieval heritage. Regional and national press, from Var-Matin and Sud-Ouest to La Provence and including Télé-Loisirs and Premiere, extensively covered its spectacular film shoots. These productions were notable for their costumes, casting, and the large number of extras, particularly in Marseille, Les Goudes, the Frioul islands, the Gaou peninsula, the Château de Tarascon, and various other historical monuments in the south of France. In 2020 on Radio Maritima, Michel La Rosa talked about the series on the occasion of screenings in the South of France. The same year with Benjy Doti, Michel La Rosa discussed the success of the series on social media. June 14, 2025 Screening Michel La Rosa is participating in a screening organized by the Studio Phocéen association on June 14, 2025, in Paris. On this occasion, he spoke about his meeting with Guillaume Sanjorge, the director of the series King Gandolfi which was shown that evening. Their meeting was not a recent one, dating back about fifteen years, thanks to Frédéric Perrin, the director of the Le Prado cinema in Marseille. Michel La Rosa recalled being struck by the young director's passion and conviction: "This young man spoke to me with an obvious passion, with a desire, and I sensed talent." Convinced, he agreed to play King Gandolfi, the central character of the series' medieval universe. Discover Michel La Rosa's speech from the June 14 screening: Roi Gandolfi, a Saga Reborn Today, the story is being reborn under the title "King Gandolfi," adapted for current technology and the Duanju format: vertical, short, and fast-paced episodes designed to be watched on a phone. More than just a simple comeback, this project embodies the dialogue between television history and digital innovation, driven by the commitment of an actor, Michel La Rosa, who has successfully spanned the eras. Source : VarMatin , Auguste 26, 2020 Southwest , September 10, 2019 All Culture , April 28, 2016 Télé Loisir , Télé 2 Week on February 17, 2016 Provence , July 3, 2012 Premiere , August 20, 2010

During his opening speech at the 2025 La Rochelle Fiction Festival, Gaëtan Bruel, president of the French National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), addressed the phenomenon of micro-dramas, better known in China as duanju. Rather than seeing it as the emergence of a new audiovisual language, he described it as “the perfect counterexample” of what a national screen culture should defend. That reaction reveals a deeper confusion between a format and the commercial content that happened to accompany its first wave of international circulation. Judging a format by the earliest titles to travel is like judging cinema as a whole by its blockbusters. Fear of change rather than a real debate Duanju is neither an economic model nor a fixed aesthetic movement. It is a format, just like the short film, the series, or the feature. Ignoring it or dismissing it will not prevent it from becoming a social phenomenon. This kind of rejection says a lot about an industry that struggles to face the shifts in attention, viewing habits, and distribution. Months earlier, Gaëtan Bruel had already spoken about the format in a fatalistic tone, referring to a “prescriptive effect coming from Asia” without imagining a creative response. Instead of pitting models against each other, the better question is a creative one: how can duanju become a new showcase for storytelling, for authors, and for ideas across languages and markets? Here, we choose to shed light on, analyze, and highlight the artistic forms emerging around this format, rather than stoking fears or discouraging the people who want to engage with it. Article written by Guillaume Sanjorge #GuillaumeSanjorge #Duanjuphobia Sources : • CNC , September 19, 2025