DUANJU  NEWS

Shorties Studios is a new international studio born from the partnership of three professionals from premium fiction and television. Their common ground is having held management positions in major audiovisual companies before deciding to work together on a project focused exclusively on short, vertically formatted series. The project brings together Kelly Luegenbiehl, former head of Netflix original series for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; Onur Güvenatam, founder of the Turkish studio OGM Pictures, renowned for the international export of its fiction; and Jon Koa, former head of CBS in the United States. All three have worked in environments where the logic of formats, audiences, and international distribution is central. Their collaboration is based on a shared analysis of market trends. They believe that short-form vertical fiction can no longer be considered a simple adaptation of the long-form format, but rather an autonomous narrative field requiring specific development and production methods. Their goal is to combine expertise in global streaming, international fiction, and American television within a single studio. Based in Los Angeles, London, and Istanbul, Shorties Studios positions itself as a player capable of engaging with streaming platforms, social networks, and brands, while maintaining a structured and international production approach. The studio's launch illustrates how professionals from traditional audiovisual media are now investing in microdrama as a strategic sector in its own right. Sources • Deadline , November 25, 2025 • C21Media , November 26, 2025 • Señal News , November 27, 2025 • EpisodeMag , November 26, 2025

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 write any screenplay," she explains. Vertical writing demands immediate rigor: each scene must have an impact, each line of dialogue must contribute to the narrative's progression, from the opening to the final cliffhanger. Writing for mobile, she believes, begins with a central question: what is the character feeling in this scene, and why should the audience care? This emotional reflection precedes any technical construction. Once this foundation is laid, the episode is precisely structured, progressing through the opening, the build-up of tension, and then the emotional turning point that compels the viewer to want to see what happens next. Anything that doesn't contribute to the story is eliminated. This demanding approach was instilled in her through a pivotal experience. On a mafia-style script she envisioned as fast-paced, the feedback was unequivocal: the story was too slow and didn't move forward. She had to rewrite it from scratch. "I might have felt like the story was moving quickly, but if the viewer isn't motivated to watch the next episode, then it doesn't work," she explains. Since then, she systematically rereads her scenes to ensure they advance the plot or reveal essential character traits. If not, they are cut. This narrative discipline does not preclude cultural grounding; quite the contrary. Akolade Bamidele emphasizes the importance of writing stories connected to African realities, everyday emotions, and local contexts. For her, creativity lies in telling stories that speak directly to audiences, not by trying to reproduce external models, but by adapting the language of duanju to cultures and lived experiences. She is optimistic about the future of Duanju in Africa. On a continent where the phone has become the primary screen, the mobile format seems a natural fit. "People wake up in the morning and the first thing they do is look at their phone," she observes. But for this potential to materialize, she identifies three essential conditions: training writers capable of writing for the vertical format, attracting investors and platforms willing to distribute this content, and fostering creativity rooted in local cultures. For Akolade Bamidele, duanju is not a passing fad. It is a demanding learning ground and a credible way to tell African stories. Interview conducted by Blessing Azugama. #BlessingAzugama

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 stated goal of making it to the NFL. A knee injury abruptly ended that dream. "American football was my whole life. Then it was taken away from me." This rupture marked a turning point. Modeling came almost by default, then acting, not as a quest for visibility, but as an unexpected space for expression. The relentless pace of vertical dramas then took hold with extreme intensity. Noah Fearnley filmed back-to-back series for very long periods, sometimes more than eighty consecutive days, accumulating over fifty shows. This rhythm became both an opportunity and a danger. "I started to lose myself. I no longer knew who I was." The constant work acted as a driving force, but also as a way to avoid feeling empty, to the point of blurring the line between the character and the man. The audience then plays a central role. The actor emphasizes the direct connection with the spectators, which now influences his artistic choices. More than fame or the number of projects, it is the emotional reception that counts. Some roles become difficult to bear when they come too close to his own personality, because they end up encroaching on his personal life. This individual trajectory reflects the broader evolution of vertical drama. Noah Fearnley has witnessed the format's transformation from a niche space, driven by a few actors and small crews, to a structured, international industry. "It's clearly a format that's here to stay." This rapid growth, he believes, also necessitates a rethinking of the actors' roles and their long-term stability. Throughout the interview, one idea keeps recurring: behind the accumulation of roles, there remains a man in the process of rebuilding himself. Noah Fearnley speaks frankly about mental health, loneliness, and the difficulty of existing outside the characters he portrays. "I'm still working on myself." A simple sentence that sheds light on the behind-the-scenes reality of a format often perceived as lighthearted, but which is profoundly demanding for those who bring it to life. Interview conducted by Jen Cooper, check out her YouTube channel. #JenCooper

Invited to the Short Drama Forum 2025, organized by Wenwen Han, Bogdan Nesvit, founder and CEO of Holywater (stylised as HOLYWATER), presented his vision of a new creative ecosystem, where data, artificial intelligence and vertical format transform the way stories are produced and distributed. From reading to vertical series “We’re building an AI-powered entertainment network with multiple connected products. At the heart of this ecosystem is our book platform, My Passion. We create hundreds of exclusive books every month, test them with our audience, collect a ton of data, and then identify the most promising stories,” explains Bogdan Nesvit. These stories then become the raw material for MyDrama, Holywater's vertical streaming platform. "We turn the best stories from My Passion into pilot series, often produced with the help of AI. The projects that perform best are then filmed and broadcast on MyDrama. This is how we ensure a success rate above the market average." A different positioning Unlike the Asian giants of duanju, Holywater focuses on quality and efficiency over quantity: "We can't compete with ReelShort or DramaBox in terms of content volume, as they have much greater financial and human resources. We have to be smarter, and our method is to make most of our series successful." It even claims a leading position outside of China: “In terms of revenue and users, My Drama is now the leading vertical streaming platform outside of China.” For Nesvit, the duanju format is not an end in itself, but a tool serving a larger whole: "For us, short drama is just one format among others to develop the stories we create. It is not our central product, but a component of our ecosystem." Each story can evolve, first as a book, then into a short series and beyond, in an intellectual property logic that aims to transform a strong story into a scalable brand. This strategy, based on data and artificial intelligence, consists of continuous testing, selecting promising stories and investing in those most likely to become successes: "Our goal is to transform each successful book into a vertical series." Interview conducted by Wenwen Han. Discover her YouTube  channel. #WenwenHan

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 States and Ukraine. Today, the company boasts a rapidly growing catalog and a clear goal: to reach the global top 3 short drama platform this year. For Leo Ovdiienko, the vertical format represents a new frontier in cinema: accessible, fast-paced, and global. DramaShorts productions leverage the diversity of teams and territories to appeal to an international audience. Platform figures as of September 3, 2025: The DramaShorts app surpasses 500,000 downloads on Google Play. The YouTube channel has nearly 180,000 subscribers, while Instagram has around 330,000. On Facebook, the community has reached 340,000 subscribers. Finally, on TikTok, the main account has around 50 000 subscribers. Interview conducted by Wenwen Han. Discover her YouTube  channel. #WenwenHan

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 solid experience in Russia and Turkey, Ömer Abacıoğlu has chosen to put his dual cultural roots to work on an international project. His vision is based on a simple idea: to combine the codes of traditional television series with the immediacy required by mobile content. For him, the viral success of short fiction is based on three pillars. First, psychology, which transforms each episode into “fast food for the brain,” offering immediate emotional gratification. Second, technology, since these formats are designed to be watched anywhere, even without sound, on a simple smartphone. Finally, social engagement, the central driving force: the constant cliffhangers trigger conversations, sharing, and discussions online. Experiments in Türkiye With ReelPix, Ömer Abacıoğlu aims to transcend the image of light entertainment. His new Turkish production, New Boss, ventures into corporate thriller territory. Inspired by Turkish soap operas that sometimes last two hours per episode, the series reinvents this dramatic density in a vertical and much shorter format. The challenge is clear: to demonstrate that viewers are ready for more complex stories, driven by high-quality production. Ömer Abacıoğlu's ambition goes beyond simply adapting existing recipes. Through ReelPix, he imagines a bridge between two worlds: that of traditional television and that of mobile-first. A testing ground where Turkish narrative know-how meets the new habits of a global audience. Interview conducted by Wenwen Han. Discover her YouTube  channel. #WenwenHan

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 connected to smartphones. Consumption habits are evolving rapidly, and viewers are demanding formats adapted to daily use, fragmented and immersive. Duanju perfectly meets this need. With Dashverse and its offshoots like DashReels, Sanidhya is already exploring new ways of storytelling. He emphasizes the ability of Indian creators to test new narratives, to play with verticality, and to imagine plots calibrated for the speed of consumption. Where some markets hesitate, India is daring, seeking models that will work on a large scale tomorrow. Beyond the domestic market, Sanidhya sees duanju as an opportunity for intercultural dialogue. Local stories, he says, can travel and reach other audiences if they find the right outlets. As a narrative laboratory, India could thus become a key player in the format's international growth. Through his words, the profile of a passionate entrepreneur emerges, attentive to the evolution of uses and convinced that duanju is not a passing fad but a new audiovisual grammar. Interview conducted by Wenwen Han. Discover her YouTube  channel. #WenwenHan

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 its own rules, grammar, and economy. According to Victor Potrel, short drama is emerging as a field of innovation as much as an industrial laboratory. "It's not a short version of the long format, it's another language," he explains. TheSoul Publishing, already known for its massive production of multilingual digital content, is applying a methodology from the digital industry to this new field: rapid testing, creative iteration, and detailed analysis of reception. The goal is not only to produce more, but to understand what captures attention on a vertical screen. The company has also launched its own app, SHRT, dedicated to 1- to 2-minute series, in order to continuously experiment with the preferences of its global audience. In an ecosystem now largely dominated by Chinese platforms and studios, this approach positions TheSoul Publishing as one of the few European players capable of engaging in dialogue on equal terms. Victor Potrel evokes a “space to be conquered” between local cultural narratives and global storytelling: a terrain where short format can transcend languages and borders. Behind the apparent competition lies a form of creative emulation: how to adapt the emotional intensity and narrative rhythm of duanju to European sensibilities? For Potrel, the answer lies in structuring, not copying. Industrializing short-form creativity doesn't mean standardizing it: it means organizing the conditions so that stories can circulate at high speed without losing their uniqueness. This ambition, in its own way, echoes that of the Short Drama Alliance: to make the format a universal language, capable of connecting industries and imaginations that were once separate. Interview conducted by Wenwen Han. Discover her YouTube  channel. #WenwenHan

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 real crew, with editing and color grading work, and full credits. The only difference lies in the framing, not in the artistic ambition. Very quickly, the festival began receiving works from all over the world: music videos, documentaries, and short films shot in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Some directors playfully subverted the format's constraints, playing with the height of bodies, architecture, or multi-layered compositions. Vertifilms also invented screening venues adapted to the 9:16 aspect ratio, such as a narrow, very tall church in Prague transformed into a vertical theater, to demonstrate that the format could exist beyond the flow of social media. For Krystof Safer, this experience proves that a vertical film can be presented like any other film: in a theater, in front of an audience, in a context of meetings and debates, with the same seriousness as a traditional film festival. Connecting Europe to the wave of Asian micro-dramas Over the years, his intuition has been confirmed by what's happening in Asia, where short dramas are exploding in popularity and transforming the phone into a veritable pocket television. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese platforms are structuring a microdrama market, with dedicated budgets, formats, and business models. What Vertifilms was experimenting with on the auteur side is becoming a full-fledged industry there. In an interview with Wenwen Han, Krystof Safer observes that many Western creators enjoy shooting vertically for social media, but now want to tell longer stories with characters, narrative arcs, and seasons. Vertifilms served as a laboratory for these aspirations, offering visibility to projects that go beyond simple "disposable video." The European challenge remains: a continent fragmented by languages, viewing habits, and national markets, where subtitles are sometimes unreadable on small screens. Krystof Safer, however, is optimistic. According to him, AI-assisted translation and dubbing tools will facilitate the distribution of Asian series to Western audiences, provided the stories are compelling. Having championed vertical content long before TikTok, Krystof Safer now wants to position himself as a link between Western creators and the Asian micro-drama ecosystem, capitalizing on the experience accumulated with Vertifilms. Interview conducted by Wenwen Han. Discover her YouTube  channel. #WenwenHan

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 are no longer just looking for personalities, but for stories structured for mobile. He summarizes this shift as follows: "Viewers want fiction, not just content. Vertical is becoming where these stories find their natural rhythm." This approach led him to develop The Diamond Rose , his first series conceived exclusively for the phone screen, with a clear objective: to test what vertical can produce when designed with a studio methodology. Even before filming began, Scott Brown wrote several complete series to understand what works in this fast-paced format. According to him, the effectiveness of vertical dramas relies on anticipation and pacing. "The format forces you to be precise. You have to know exactly why every second exists," he explains. This intensive writing phase allows him to refine his projects before production, in an American market where the monetization of short dramas is still developing. Brown also observes that traditional players in film and television are beginning to take an interest in vertical storytelling, not as a passing trend, but as a new narrative space. For him, what happens next will depend on creators' ability to structure their work, test their ideas, and adapt their series to audience reactions. Interview conducted by Wenwen Han. Discover her YouTube  channel. #WenwenHan