DUANJU  NEWS

Inter Medya, based in Istanbul, is one of the leading exporters of Turkish television series. In just over thirty years, the company has built a catalog of thousands of hours of programming sold in more than 160 countries. It is now launching a new line of work: micro-dramas shot directly in 9:16 and designed for quick viewing on smartphones. A new step for Inter Medya Its first original series, "Iki CEO Bir Araya Gelmemeliydik," strings together short, actor-centric scenes with direct dialogue and very tight editing. Inter Medya isn't simply reworking its soap operas: the scripts and filming are designed from the outset for this format, with the goal of eventually reaching a rate of six to ten micro-dramas produced each month. An economic bet on Duanju Inter Medya remains a content provider, not a consumer app. Its microdramas are offered to both specialized apps and its long-standing clients—broadcasters and platforms—who are looking for short formats for their services and social media. To gauge the potential of this rapidly growing market, the company relies in particular on analyses from Vitrina, a platform that tracks catalogs, deals, and economic trends in the global audiovisual sector. If this strategy proves successful, the vertical microdrama will become a lasting part of Inter Medya's offerings, alongside the serialized dramas that have built its international reputation. Sources: • ContentAsia , October 2, 2025 • BroadcastPro ME , October 2, 2025 • Vitrina , October 21, 2025 • C21Media , November 20, 2025

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 TikTok fiction, and micro-stories circulating from Lagos to Nairobi. The continent has no shortage of creative talent, but, as he notes, “there is still no platform where you can watch only vertical dramas.” Such a structure could bring together works from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa or Egypt within one coherent and accessible space. He also highlights a key advantage in Nigeria: very low production costs paired with solid technical expertise. With a modest budget by Western standards, it is possible to produce a high-quality vertical work. The remaining challenges are mostly technical and educational: improving sound, training crews for the demands of 9:16, and strengthening international collaborations to ensure consistent quality. In this context, a pan-African platform would not only be a marketplace for short formats; it would become a new way to structure and share the continent’s narratives. Ebuka also stresses the importance of an economic model adapted to African realities. International platforms face clear limitations, notably because, as he explains, “consuming data and paying to access content can be very difficult.” A mobile-oriented approach, however, could better match the public’s habits. For him, the future lies in dual access: a free version supported by advertising and a light paid version for those who prefer an uninterrupted experience. He also emphasises a key element of his creative sensibility: the influence of Afrobeats, a Nigerian musical movement blending African rhythms, electronic percussion and urban energy. This music shapes, he says, dynamic and fragmented storytelling designed to capture attention within seconds. Vertical format fits naturally with this aesthetic and with the way an entire generation consumes visual content. Interview conducted by Blessing Azugama. #BlessingAzugama

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: Link

After an initial local screening in November 2024, the evening of June 14, 2025, took on an international dimension. In Montmartre, the Studio Phocéen association brought together a local audience and guests from Europe, America, Asia, and Africa for an evening dedicated to mobile vertical fiction, still little known in France. In a friendly atmosphere, spectators and professionals discussed a format that is gradually establishing itself as a new narrative language. The evening's presentation was provided by Maelle Billant , podcaster and international law expert, who coordinates the events of the Studio Phocéen association, alongside Jean-François Fonlupt , renowned producer and winner of four Palmes d'Or at Cannes with the company Ciby 2000 in the 90s, having collaborated with filmmakers such as David Lynch, Pedro Almodóvar and Emir Kusturica. The animation was also provided by Sylvain Binetti , Parisian actor and cabaret singer. French projections and a global opening The evening began with the screening on the big screen of five French fictions produced by Sanjorge Production : Amber, Bro's Minute, Militia Men, King Gandolfi and Next Door Adventure. These series, for viewing on a phone, illustrate the evolution of a more direct and rhythmic visual writing. Also present at the evening were actors Jean-Louis Barcelona, whose rich filmography includes many popular films, and Magali Semetys, an actress familiar to television series audiences. Actor Michel La Rosa was also in the spotlight with the screening of King Gandolfi. A familiar figure from 1980s television, he now plays this central character in an adaptation of the Duanju format. His presence illustrates the transition of a face from the small screen to the world of digital fiction. Another highlight was the presence of Tony Leva, voice actor and founder of SyncLab Studio, who presented his work in French-language dubbing of mobile series for platforms such as Stardust TV and Netshort. His presentation illustrated how dubbing paves the way for a European appropriation of the format. An international vision of the format Several foreign guests shared their interpretations of the phenomenon. Mexican producer Yamile Vaena emphasized the need for a new narrative language, fast and bold, born from the constraint of writing in a few seconds. Her compatriot Veronica Angeles-Franco compared Duanju to Latin American telenovelas, seeing it as a condensed reinvention of great popular narratives. American screenwriter Jenny Rosen spoke about her transition from web novels to vertical dramas, highlighting the rapid growth of audiences and the inspiration this format draws from online literature. Californian producer Karla M. Rodriguez, who comes from the worlds of fashion and digital media, defended Duanju as a strategic ground for innovation and diversity for the new generation of talent. On the British side, BAFTA and Emmy-winning producer Adam Gee came specially from England to present the Smart Film Fest , an international festival dedicated to films shot on smartphones. For him, vertical storytelling is " the language of this generation " a new wave comparable to the energy of the French New Wave. Journalist Jen Cooper, founder of Vertical Drama Love, recalled how the format had reconciled female audiences with romantic fiction, offering immediate emotional effectiveness. Finally, Chinese producer Wenwen Han, founder of the Short Drama Alliance, placed Duanju within the heritage of online novels distributed in China since the 1990s. She emphasized the importance of screenwriters, who are often invisible, and the need to connect creators from all over the world to build bridges between Asian and European markets. New platforms and perspectives The evening was also an opportunity to discover StoryTV, a Duanju platform presented by Alexandre Perrin and Adrien Cottinaud. This platform offers micro-series of 1 to 3 minutes with a narrative mechanics focused on immediate attention and sharing. For its founders, Europe still represents a “virgin” market, promising for the development of Duanju. A founding step By bringing together local screenings and international interventions, the evening of June 14, 2025, marked a milestone in the establishment of Duanju in France. It demonstrated the richness of a format capable of uniting creators from very diverse backgrounds and laying the foundations for a global dialogue around new forms of storytelling.

If there is one format that uses it, it is the Duanju: a rhythmic milestone and tool for attention, the cliffhanger serves the narrative arc as much as the economic model of duanju, provided it is thought out and used with finesse. Definition and legacy of the soap opera cliffhanger Every viewer has already experienced the "cliffhanger" effect while watching a series: that moment when the story, instead of giving us more to see, suspends. The Anglo-Saxon etymology puts it simply: " cliff" , the cliff; " hang" , to remain hanging. The hero is left at the edge, facing the void, and we with him. The invention is neither new nor confined to the digital format: it developed in the 19th century in newspaper serials, when the episode ends at the exact point that requires buying the next issue. However, the use of the cliffhanger takes on a new dimension within duanju. In the attention economy, the cliffhanger is a driver of viewer loyalty: to come back later but soon, to resolve what was left hanging. Duanju, the art of cutting and breaking The cliffhanger is a narrative device as old as the soap opera and yet as new as our phone screens. If it's making a strong comeback with duanju , it's not simply through mimicry. Indeed, duanju isn't just a new viewing habit. It's a new form of writing. Each ultra - short episode imposes an art of cutting: concluding without finalizing, promising without disappointing, setting the pace without running out of steam. The cliffhanger fits naturally into it, episode after episode, like a sensitive metronome: it punctuates the action, sets a memory marker, plants a promise or an uncertainty that calls for its resolution. In this format, suspense is not a stylistic extra: it is the very backbone of the story. Memory of the Unfinished: The Zeigarnik Effect We know why the cliffhanger works so well. The viewer, carried away by the narrative and emotional tension, returns all the more willingly because there is still something to resolve between him and the story. Psychology has given a name to this memory of the unfinished: the Zeigarnik effect . An interrupted task is better imprinted than a completed task and an unfulfilled desire remains active. In the same way, an episode that stops before the resolution imprints a mnemonic tension: the story remains open and the viewer wants to return to it. The cliffhanger uses this mechanism creatively when it knows how to stop just before the answer, on the threshold of resolution, where the mind remains active. Converting the fear of missing out into action Another explanation. Duanju fits in with our fragmented time, our accelerated pace of life, and our reduced availability, as well as with the search for immediate intensity, surprise, and novelty. This last quest responds to the phenomenon of FOMO (fear of missing out in English), the fear of missing out on something. The cliffhanger crystallizes this dynamic: it materializes the stakes of the story in the form of an acute present tense (“something is happening now”), triggers curiosity, and converts interest into action (watching the next episode). Fiction and its intrusion into reality The cliffhanger technique also engages the digital format specific to duanju. Thanks to mobile devices, tension can escape the diegesis, the time of the story, to extend its effects outside the episode and burst into reality. The notifications inviting the audience to pick up the thread of the interrupted story constitute a piece of extradiegetic writing. This hook, which lights up on the phone between two meetings, recalls the promise awaiting resolution and resituates the stakes of this story that had been put on hold. A notification no longer simply encourages the viewer to immerse themselves in the story again, it relaunches the fiction with a short sentence in the form of a promise: "You'll never guess who's back in the next episode..." The cliffhanger transforms attention into gesture, passivity into action: watch the next episode, like, share, comment. The cliffhanger then becomes a temporal signal as much as a narrative figure: it seeks out the viewer within their everyday reality to bring them back to the fiction. Done well, this back-and-forth between fiction and everyday life reinforces engagement. Done poorly, it becomes a crude "push" and damages trust. One tool, two possible effects. The cliffhanger put to the paywall: conversion and economic tipping point Economically, the cliffhanger also has a performative function and accelerates the shift: closing access to the first free episodes, it precedes the paywall and the promise of resolution becomes a promise of conversion. Does the cliffhanger then become a simple economic tool? Or can it also constitute a possible alignment between the narrative gesture (promising a sequel) and the product gesture (offering to continue now for a fee)? This seems possible to the extent that the first gesture remains coherent and convincing, not subject to the financial model. The paywall should not be a guillotine that cuts in the middle of a sentence: it works when it is inserted after a clear promise and before a short resolution, fitting into the very logic of the story and its progression. The wear and tear of suspense: excess and caricature Another trap: overkill or caricature. A promise, repeated too often, wears thin. We end up recognizing the seams, anticipating the false alarm, and growing tired of an intensity that's always at the same level. The misunderstood cliffhanger becomes an old refrain added at the end of the verse by reflex, or an editing trick that artificially concludes the scene without it carrying any stakes. This potential dramatic inflation then works at the cost of credibility. The characters stop learning or choosing: they only serve as vectors for yet another twist. The promise becomes disappointing, and the bond of trust with the viewer withers away. We return by reflex, not by desire. Towards mastering tension This is why the cliffhanger must be used not as an automatic narrative instrument but as an ecology of tension: a way of managing, saving, surprising, alternating. Every promise requires preparation, clear formulation, and resolution. The ideal cliffhanger is not one that contradicts the narrative thread, it is one that is inevitable: unpredictable in its form, necessary in its meaning. In duanju , this discipline of the cliffhanger is accompanied by a good evaluation of the frequency, rhythm, and delay between promise and resolution. It is up to the screenwriter or director to orchestrate: end-of-sequence questions, suspended lines, interrupted actions (micro-cliffhangers), end-of-episode suspensions (macro-cliffhangers). Without forgetting, between two episodes with strong cliffhangers, breathing spaces, partial resolutions, humor, moments of intimacy, so that the frustration attached to the cliffhangers remains positive and the progression of the story remains fluid. The example of the series “ Next Door Adventure ” (Sanjorge Production) We observe this fine orchestration in the mini-series Next Door Adventures, produced by Sanjorge Production , which masters its narrative. In this fiction, the cliffhangers truly shift the story, which begins as the encounter between a candid young man and his overly charming neighbor, with a clumsy game of seduction on the part of the former. Then, a castle appears and with it, a change of scale and setting. The appearance of this surprising castle opens a new space for play and mystery. A butler then enters the scene. A disruptive character, he upsets the emerging dynamic between the young man and his neighbor: the duo becomes a trio. The dance of seduction is interrupted just as it was taking shape. The emotional tension gains in density because a third party redistributes forces and complicates rapprochements. Further on, the fantastical erupts: mischievous gnomes shake up realism, add the unexpected and adventures, forcing the heroes to reveal themselves through trials. This new genre enriches the series' register. And the viewer shares the characters' surprise: a suitcase shelters the improbable, the butler mysteriously disappears. The audience is attached because the obstacle is not artificial: it tests the romance, forces it to redefine itself. Here, each cliffhanger serves to advance the story (new location, new stakes), a transformation of the relationship between the two main characters (complicity, admiration), a renewed emotion (desire, expectation, fear), or a revelation. The tension of the cliffhanger becomes both an emotional and narrative springboard. Vary the suspense and pleasures The open question ("how will the romance evolve?") does not have the same music as the suspended decision (continue the adventure as a couple or as a threesome), which does not have the same effect as the deferred revelation (the butler's disappearance), as the countdown that shrinks time, as the reversal that reverses a certainty, as the dramatic irony that delivers to the audience what the hero still does not know, or as the dilemma that promises meaning more than action. Should we abandon codes? Rather, we should work on them as families of effects to be varied rather than repeated. We can call upon them all, but not together, not all the time, not without progression or coherence with the story. With each cliffhanger, the key question remains: what is its impact on a character's arc? If there is none, we have probably hung a decorative effect. Use cliffhangers sparingly Why shouldn't we overuse cliffhangers? Because rhythm isn't just about endings: it's born from the density of scenes, the intensity of looks, gestures, and silences. Because promise without resolution is just disappointment. Because variety in tone, intensity, or genre protects against weariness. Because emotion matters as much as plot: what we're following isn't a well-oiled technique that works every time; it's above all an evolution of the story and the characters. Measure to tell a better story Because duanju offers precise metrics, it allows us to observe the effectiveness of a cliffhanger: viewing time, series continuation rate, abandonment after cliffhanger, and comments. If a type of cliffhanger leads to abandonment or rejection by the audience, this data is above all an opportunity to rewrite the balance. The challenge is to build long-term viewer loyalty. In conclusion... Duanju thus reinvents the structure of the soap opera, and the cliffhanger is one of its key tools. Used well, carefully prepared, and meaningful for the story and the characters, it accelerates the narrative while respecting the viewer. The cliffhanger, in duanju , must once again become a consequence of the story, not its condition. Otherwise, it exhausts and impoverishes. Balance is the key: alternating promise and resolution, tension and breathing space, surprise and fluidity. It is on this condition that duanju , a new narrative form as much as a new consumption format, will continue to bring the word "soap opera" up to date. Article written by Maëlle Billant #MaelleBillant Sources: Webmd , July 12, 2024 Thinking about changing , February 28, 2021

Since 2023, the bistro Le Sap'Heure, located on Place Jacques Froment near Montmartre, has established itself as a must-visit location for the French-style Duanju format. Between filming, screenings, and neighborhood life, it combines conviviality, gastronomy, and audiovisual creation. This new mobile fiction format has found one of its Parisian anchors here. From plate to fiction In November 2023, Le Sap'Heure served as the setting for a scene from the series Next Door Adventure, directed by Jérémy Haeffele and broadcast on Stardust TV. In this scene, the hero, played by Guillaume Sanjorge, confides his wildest dreams to his neighbor, played by Lana Sfera, during a meeting full of humor and poetry in the intimate atmosphere of the bistro. A fraternal comedy on a large counter In 2024 and 2025, the bistro hosted the entire filming of La Minute des Frangins, a contemporary comedy in Duanju format produced by Sanjorge Production. Between complicity and brotherly bickering, the characters found a natural playground in this setting. The actors Sylvain Binetti, Guillaume SanJorge, Chloé Borivage, Claudia Notte, Claire Butard and Anaïs Petit played colorful roles there. An international projection On June 14, 2025, the Sap'Heure was transformed into a screening room during an evening organized by the Studio Phocéen association. In front of a local audience and guests connected from around the world, five Duanju fictions produced by Sanjorge Production were presented: Amber, Bro's Minute, Militia Men, King Gandolfi and Next Door Adventure. The screening ended with a session of dynamic exchanges between international professionals and French teams. A literary and cultural breath More than just a film set, Sap'Heure is also a space for creation and inspiration. It was here that part of Kamel Daoud 's book Houris was written, which won the Prix Goncourt, one of France's highest literary awards. A restaurateur's passion At the origin of this artistic and culinary dynamic is Benor Attouche, a passionate entrepreneur proud of his Kabyle roots and deeply in love with France. With his team, he offers simple and refined French cuisine during the week, before giving way to oriental flavors on the weekend. Thanks to his affordable prices and his sense of hospitality, he has transformed Le Sap'Heure into a true rallying point for locals as well as travelers and various personalities. A Parisian anchor for Duanju Through its filming and events, Sap'Heure illustrates Duanju's deep roots in Parisian life. Blending art, gastronomy, and fiction, this bar-restaurant proves that a convivial space can also become a stage where the future of digital creation is written. Sap'Heure could well become for Duanju what Café des Deux Moulins is for Amélie, or what Central Perk is for the cult series Friends .

Before joining the international platform Stardust TV in 2025, the soap opera miniseries " Next Door Adventure " had already achieved viral success on Facebook, racking up nearly 700,000 views. Two initial excerpts released in spring 2023 revealed the potential of this format, which is still new in France. In 2023, no French-language platform yet existed, even though the format was already booming abroad. In China, 2023 marks the explosion of mini-vertical soap operas. In this landscape, Next Door Adventure is a French pioneer, taking part in a global trend. On April 12, 2023, the first episode reached 400,000 views, along with more than a thousand likes and numerous shares. Two months later, on June 22, another episode confirmed the craze with more than 300,000 views and a new wave of enthusiastic reactions. The audience praised the light tone, the beauty of actress Lana Sfera and the endearing character played by Guillaume Sanjorge : "It's really good, I love it, bravo you're the best," wrote one spectator. "You have the soul of an actor and a unifier ," added another. Some were amused by the situations: "So we have to give sugar instead of salt, is that it?" or "Holy salt!" From Facebook to Stardust TV The project was then shortened to fit Duanju standards, with a faster pace and condensed episodes. In April 2025, the series joined Stardust TV 's international catalog, becoming the first original French production available in eight languages (French, English, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and German). Mobile fiction platforms offer a more suitable environment than social networks for this type of format: they allow the viewer to follow the story episode by episode, with an experience designed for serialization and viewing on smartphones. Thus, the adventures born on social networks found a second wind on an international platform, confirming the format's ability to cross borders. Source : Facebook - Guillaume Sanjorge , June 23, 2025 Morandini Blog , April 13, 2025

The evolution of framing and formats in painting. Since the art of caves, humans have had to delimit what they wanted to reproduce. But each figure from this distant era seems to us today to be placed without order among others. With the birth of agriculture and therefore the organization of cultivated fields, the drawn or sculpted surface began to respect a certain geometry. As for painting, the first ancient traces that remain are frescoes applied to walls or tombs, sometimes on scrolls, then later to the walls of churches or on wooden panels intended to decorate the altars of these places of worship. This of course implied that the format did not come from an artistic decision but simply conformed to the surface allocated to it. We also saw the first manifestations of small formats, as decoration, often admirable, of the pages of religious books. After the Middle Ages, formats began to become more precise and the frame began to be distinguished from the painting itself. It should be noted that easel painting allowed for the generalization of small or medium sizes, while the arrival of canvas, which lightened the overall weight, encouraged the mobility of works. The development of art academies and the circulation of works led to the definition of more precise dimensions, according to genre. "Modernity", from the 20th century onwards, was based on the idea of constantly questioning what has been acquired and on the need for constant innovation, hence the disappearance - for better or for worse - of all rules, and therefore the possibility of practicing all sizes or even irregularities of format! In the article "From the widescreen to the pocket screen " , we study, using the example of cinema, that contemporary production of images, in all its forms, is also the heir to what we have just described. Article written by Jean-Marie Sanjorge #JeanMarieSanjorge

Cinematographic framing, formats and innovations. The connection is easy with our previous reflection on the history of painting : we mentioned the "frame," first fixed and then detachable, as the outer limit of the painting. With cinema, the "frame" became in some way the container of the filmed image. But in our time, this notion has taken on a strong technical dimension because it is inevitably linked to the idea of format: in the same width of film, it has been possible to integrate images of several dimensions. As the widths of films have been numerous, the possible combinations have been considerable! But, artistically, framing has never been neutral: beyond the technical constraints, it remains a tool aimed at focusing the viewer's attention or arousing their emotion. Supported moreover by screens of various dimensions: from the "standard" to the vast "cinemascope", spectacular in theaters but which during multiple rebroadcasts is difficult to fit into the space offered, for example, on a television screen... Digital cinema, a new major step, is based, as we know, on the use of computer programs at all stages of production and then distribution: the notion of "virtual framing" or now the use of artificial intelligence. Finally, the mobile phone is proving to be a tool for disseminating constructed images, but which had to be filmed beforehand, taking into account the constraint of vertical reading. Hence the name "vertical fictions". With, here again, new necessities having to take into consideration human attention spans when faced with a very small image. And, for "vertical fiction", the birth of a new challenge: to go beyond its own limits and the risk of oversimplification, to seek, or even create, a new type of quality! How long should a film be? This is obviously a fundamental notion, linked to technical developments but also having to remain mindful of the audience's attention span! We have all had the opportunity to see the "silent films" of the first part of the 20th century, often humorous (but not always) and generally quite short (but not always). Also including their share of masterpieces, sometimes of long duration. It was with the birth of talking cinema, with which the "7th art" would then literally identify, that the average duration lengthened to generally reach an hour and a half to two hours. With some "classics", very appreciated by the spectators, approaching four hours of projection. Even some non-standard, more "elitist" films, with exceptionally long durations. At the same time, the "short film" developed: originally conceived as a tool for experimenting with new techniques at low cost, it gradually acquired the status of a "genre" in its own right, giving rise to innovations and appreciated festivals, but unfortunately still remaining at a distance from the general public. It is often only a step towards the feature film, even though one could consider it to have value in itself. Through the qualities it implements (concentration of emotion, use of a limited time, essential creativity) it can become a source of reference and enrichment for even shorter forms linked to current developments: vertical fictions! With this new genre, born of new technologies, the duration becomes so short (1 minute 30 seconds!) that it is an extreme challenge, which can appear contrary to the necessities of the most basic quality. This is where we have to create! The field of beauty is open to us... Article written by Jean-Marie Sanjorge #JeanMarieSanjorge

In an interview with WenWen Han on the YouTube channel Short Drama Decode , American producer Chris Wicke looks back on his career and his immersion in the world of duanju, these short vertical fictions born in China. Long confined to Asia, the format is now attracting professionals from around the world. In Los Angeles, Chris Wicke, a former reality TV specialist, is one of the first Americans to embark on the adventure. With his company Ember Entertainment , he develops his own vertical series while co-producing fiction for Flex TV , Dreamy Short and Salty TV . His first project, Mr. Williams, Madame is Dying , shot on a shoestring budget, became a phenomenon: it generated more than $10 million, won an international award, and was a revelation for his entire team. " We discovered a very codified, very melodramatic genre. We decided to fully embrace that tone. And in the end, it worked." Since then, Chris Wicke has been interested in the deeper mechanisms of the format. "It's not at all a shortened version of a film or a series. You have to rethink everything: the rhythm, the emotions, the narrative structure. Traditional scripts don't work. I showed 25 American scripts to Flex, none of them were suitable." The question of cultural adaptation is at the heart of his work. While some plots from the Chinese web find their audience in the United States, others are met with incomprehension. " The vengeful mother character in Evil Bride vs. CEO's Secret Mom was too much for me. But at the same time, I wanted to see how it would end," he confides, amused. With Ember, Chris Wicke now wants to go further. He's preparing the launch of a 100% American app, focused on romance, the genre that works best, but with the ambition to explore other territories: horror, science fiction, comedy. "The vertical is the new Wild West. Everything remains to be invented." But the stakes are also industrial. For Wicke, failures like Quibi's are due to a misdiagnosis: "They wanted to impose Hollywood grammar on a format that came from elsewhere, with totally different usage logic. They invested millions in stars. It didn't work. Here, everything is based on immediate emotion." We wish Chris Wicke the best of luck in his ambition to expand the boundaries of duanju and contribute to its development on an international scale. If needed, activate subtitles in your language. #WenwenHan