DUANJU  NEWS

Following on from previous texts where I wanted to discuss the division of comics into well-known magazines and then their current evolution linked to new methods of distribution . Today I would like to talk about the practice of splitting that was once applied to literary works (including great novels that later became classics) through what was called the serial novel , a form of publication in episodes in widely circulated newspapers, magazines and even booklets, which captivated millions of readers. In this context, we found notions that are now familiar to us: As with the comics we talked about, daily or weekly suspense: each episode often ended with an expectation or a twist, encouraging readers to buy the next newspaper to "find out what happens next": we would call this nowadays a concern for... loyalty! In addition, even if it is not directly our subject, it should be noted that this "journalistic" format allowed the working classes to access literature as part of a general trend towards democratization... We have forgotten, for example, that Victor Hugo published some of his novels in serial form! The famous Les Misérables was published in several "episodes" in the form of booklets, like a serial, but in a more prestigious setting than a daily newspaper, which corresponded to the author's concern... Gustave Flaubert, despite his reluctance with regard to this process, accepted that Madame Bovary be published in serial form, but in La revue de Paris , a guarantee in his eyes of greater seriousness... Guy de Maupassant, for his part, made extensive use of the press, but mainly for his "short stories", therefore short, and not his novels. He published hundreds of short stories in famous newspapers of his time. His novels, such as Une vie , Bel-Ami or Pierre et Jean (1888) were sometimes pre-published in serial form. Maupassant perfectly mastered the rhythm of the serial, with twists and incisive portraits, but he remained fundamentally attached to a literary form more sober than the sensationalist serial novel. Outside France, the most striking example is that of the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Major novels such as Crime and Punishment , The Idiot , The Possessed and The Brothers Karamazov were all published in serial form in various Russian magazines. This author thus aimed to reach a wide audience, especially since, being frequently in financial difficulty, he needed to quickly obtain the income he needed... Article written by Jean-Marie Sanjorge #JeanMarieSanjorge

The article published by 20 Minutes and signed by Camille Moretti is part of a now well-established "Duanjuphobic" trend: following the president of the CNC (National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image), some French media outlets, such as France Inter and Le Figaro , are approaching the phenomenon of vertical mini-series through the lens of mistrust, even suspicion. The format is becoming an object of concern rather than a subject for analysis. Nothing new, then: the same anxiety, the same defensive reading, the same inability to imagine what an ambitious French creation could be in this emerging field. To date, only Konbini journalist Delphine Rivet has truly posed the question on its proper scale: what to do with this format, how to invest in it, how to elevate it? Her article proposed demanding strong, intelligent or emotional works, and not reducing duanju to its excesses visible on social platforms. It is precisely this void that duanju.news attempts to fill: to show that another model is possible. A model that analyzes the format rather than fears it, that seeks creation rather than caricature, and that considers duanju not as a cultural threat but as a space where French fiction could finally dare to do something new. Read the 20 Minutes article by Camille Moretti: Link Article written by Guillaume Sanjorge #GuillaumeSanjorge #Duanjuphobia

From November 5 to 6, 2025, Shanghai will host the Global Traffic Conference, a major event dedicated to video games, digital applications, technologies, and brands seeking to expand internationally. Organized by Beluga Global, this event attracts thousands of professionals from China and many other countries each year. A program focused on global innovation The program will take place at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center and will feature several thematic summits. Discussions will focus on video games, artificial intelligence, vertical short fiction, and global brand development. Alongside the conferences, a vast exhibition area of 15,000 square meters will host nearly 200 exhibitors from diverse sectors, ranging from consumer technology to short fiction, AI, and video games. More than 30,000 attendees are expected, making this space an international showcase bringing together creators, investors, and digital industry players. The Beluga Pioneer Award, a showcase of international successes Each edition of the GTC is marked by the presentation of the Beluga Pioneer Award, which recognizes companies and creators who have significantly contributed to international expansion. In 2025, the evaluation committee will, for the first time, include the participation of a French producer, Guillaume Sanjorge, founder of the media outlet Duanju.news and president of the Studio Phocéen Association. He collaborates in particular with the Chinese platform Stardust TV, which distributes his productions. This development reflects Beluga Global’s commitment to strengthening the international scope of the event and fostering exchanges between different cultures within the digital industry. To learn more about the Beluga Pioneer Award 2025 and discover the jury members : here Registration : https://baijing.cn/z2M3U Sources: • Baijing.cn , 2025 • ClonBrowser , November 22, 2024

On journalist Jen Cooper 's Vertical Drama Love channel, actress Juliette Cécile looks back on her unique career, her notable characters and her way of inhabiting the vertical format. A former French teacher, Juliette Cécile discovered film sets in the United States almost by chance. Spotted for a small role in a blockbuster, she found a new calling there. She quickly made numerous appearances in American productions, before establishing herself in vertical series with a performance that was at once physical, instinctive, and inhabited. Now based in Los Angeles, she often plays assertive, complex, and sometimes formidable characters. She claims total involvement, even directing her own action scenes: "I took a few hits filming a fight scene, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat." This relationship with the body, with the physical intensity of acting, is part of a popular tradition of visual comedy and expressiveness, which Juliette reinterprets with sincerity and rigor. For her, everything rests on a simple rule: "You can play anything, as long as you do it seriously." However, she points out the limits of a format where the pace can harm the subtlety of the performance : "It's not always easy to nuance a character when you're shooting three episodes a day." At Duanju.news, we hope to see her continue to explore, twist, and deepen this format that suits her so well, both direct and full of humanity. If needed, activate subtitles in your language. #JenCooper

The Global Traffic Conference (GTC) took place in early November. Organized by Beluga Global, the event brought together professionals from China and abroad to discuss video games, artificial intelligence, and short vertical fiction. Nearly 200 exhibitors presented their projects in an atmosphere focused on creativity and international collaboration. Duanju.news correspondent and Chinese producer Wenwen Han traveled to the event to cover it and share the highlights in a short video report. Actress Anina Net, who has appeared in over 50 Duanju series, also appears in the video and offers a brief message to the viewers—a friendly wink. Numerous platforms and studios participated to explore new international collaborations. Among them, the British team Onset Octopus, who came from London with Emma Wang, presented their vertical mini-series and exchanged ideas with several Asian partners interested in their productions. During the official ceremony, Wenwen Han also received the honorary certificate presented to Duanju.news and its founder Guillaume Sanjorge, designated Global Traffic Conference Promotion Ambassador for his contribution to the promotion of the GTC and to the dialogue between European and Asian creativity.

On journalist Jen Cooper 's Vertical Drama Love channel, actor Nick Ritacco looks back on his career, his notable roles and his vision of vertical drama. A rising star in vertical drama, rewarded for his role as M in Crush on the Unwanted Princess , he is now working on a string of productions in a format that is undergoing rapid change. With his assertive presence and intense gaze, he has what we call a real cinematic face, an asset that is not lost on fans or platforms. A former stage actor trained in New York, Ritacco moved into the vertical in 2023 with Billionaire CEO's Obsession . There, he discovered a universe that was still relatively uncharted, fast-paced, but capable of saying a lot with little. Since then, he has played a variety of roles, including antagonists, gangsters, and more ambivalent figures. But it's his stance on cynicism that sets him apart: Ritacco takes on sometimes improbable scenarios, such as a romance between a mafia woman and a werewolf, but refuses to play them ironically: "It was absurd, but we played it seriously. Never cynically. We didn't make fun of the script. We treated it like a realistic drama." We share this vision: acting seriously means respecting the genre, the character, and the audience. He nevertheless expresses reservations about the increasing speed of filming, which leaves little room for nuance and acting. Despite the pace, Nick Ritacco strives not to deliver any scenes "on the cheap." He dreams of projects where the tension wouldn't be based solely on overkill. He talks about the desire to play a worn-out detective or a more introspective character, in a duanju capable of telling a different story. Will the future of this format allow us to meet these aspirations? At Duanju.news, we wish this promising actor to find roles that live up to his aspirations. If needed, activate subtitles in your language. #JenCooper

In Hollywood, a new platform aims to turn micro-dramas into a mainstream business. GammaTime has just raised $14 million to produce very short series, filmed in vertical format and designed exclusively for smartphones. The idea is to take the formula of Chinese duanju and adapt it for Western audiences, with one- to two-minute episodes meant to be binge-watched. Behind GammaTime is Bill Block, former head of Miramax, who produced numerous independent films in the United States. He is joined by investors well-known to the general public: Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, as well as Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian, figures in reality television and influencer marketing. They all share the same simple premise: if millions of people already pay to unlock micro-dramas on apps like ReelShort, then a well-funded and well-produced American platform can also find its audience. The money raised will be used to finance the technology and, above all, original series, filmed exclusively in vertical format. GammaTime is announcing more than twenty shows at launch, some of which are written by Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The business model follows the logic of micro-drama apps: a few free episodes to hook viewers, then a payment to find out what happens next. If this gamble pays off, it could further accelerate the arrival of micro-dramas in the offerings of major American and European media groups. Sources: • TV Tech , October 24, 2025 • The Wrap , October 23, 2025 • Fabric , September 24, 2025 • Real Reel , October 10, 2025

Ben Pengilly, a British producer specializing in vertical miniseries, recently posted on LinkedIn claiming to have created "the first ever vertical in Europe." In other words, he presents himself as a pioneer of the genre on a continental scale. Perhaps he simply confused the UK with Europe, but this assertion deserves to be put into perspective. The expansion of vertical drama (or duanju) in Europe is not the work of a single man, but results from a constellation of parallel initiatives carried out in several countries, often without coordination, but with the same intuition: the mobile phone was going to become a screen for fiction in its own right. Much to the chagrin of our friends across the Channel, France and Ukraine are among the first testing grounds for the duanju format in Europe. In the spring of 2023, French director Guillaume Sanjorge launched a vertical micro-series on Facebook titled *Next Door Adventure*. This series quickly garnered several hundred thousand views despite the absence of any dedicated streaming platform. With just two clips released on social media (April and June 2023), it proved that an audience existed. Lacking a national distribution network at the time, the series was eventually released on an Asian platform in 2025. At the same time, the Frenchmen Alexandre Perrin and Adrien Cottinaud of Studio Quinze are also shooting vertically from the end of 2023, with short fictions. Here again, the aim is not to claim a "first", but to test a language, a breakdown and an actor direction adapted to the 9:16 framework, in a context where no clear line has yet been drawn in Europe. In parallel, Eastern Europe also plays a decisive role in the rise of the vertical format, to the point of becoming the main economic driver on the continent. The first European platform dedicated to duanju (short, interactive television series) was born in Ukraine: in early 2024, the startup Holywater, founded by entrepreneur Bogdan Nesvit, launched the MyDrama app. Designed from the outset for mobile use, this platform offers a catalog of vertical series, each episode lasting two to three minutes, tailored to the fragmented viewing habits of young audiences. Its success was meteoric: MyDrama quickly acquired hundreds of thousands of users and generated several million dollars in annual revenue in its first year. To maintain this production pace, the platform relied in particular on Amo Picture, a Ukrainian studio heavily invested in the vertical format, which became one of its key production partners. DramaShorts, co-founded by Ukrainian Leo Ovdiïenko, began producing vertical dramas in Europe before expanding to the United States. These companies adopt a highly collaborative approach: DramaShorts explains that it leverages the diversity of its teams and locations to appeal to an international audience. These transnational platforms and studios demonstrate that the expansion of duanju (vertical dramas) has not occurred in a single country, but through simultaneous efforts on a European and global scale. Collaboration rather than competition: a co-created format The history of vertical drama in Europe is therefore not one of competition for a "first" title, a competition which is also largely imaginary, as the format appeared almost simultaneously in several places without the protagonists consulting each other. On the contrary, it's a collective adventure, one that has seen multiple paths intersect and cooperate. Further east, Ukrainian entrepreneurs provided the technological infrastructure and funding to give the format a true mass-distribution platform. Elsewhere, writers and directors contributed the worlds, the actors, and the stories. By recognizing the plurality of forces at play, we do justice to the true architects of this audiovisual revolution: an international community of creators, producers and broadcasters who, each in their own corner and then increasingly networked, built stone by stone the success of vertical drama in Europe. While Ben Pengilly deserves his share of the spotlight for having helped structure vertical production in the UK, it is important to place his actions alongside those of his equally pioneering counterparts. Far from a legend of the first to arrive, the only winner, the European vertical drama is the product of a collective effort, without which the format would never have experienced such rapid and successful expansion.

On Facebook, the page "Sous le ciel de Paris" (Under the Paris Sky) has become a viral phenomenon, celebrating the beauty of the French capital. It publishes daily photos and videos offering a poetic perspective on Paris: the alleyways of Montmartre, the banks of the Seine at sunset, the interiors of historic cafés... This content resonates deeply with Paris lovers and generates massive engagement. The photo of the picturesque Rue de l'Abreuvoir in Montmartre is among the most popular posts on "Sous le ciel de Paris," with thousands of likes and shares. This success testifies to the public's enthusiasm for authentic Parisian scenes, whether iconic panoramas or unusual snapshots capturing the soul of the city. Behind "Under the Paris Sky" is Fernando Nakahodo, a Brazilian curator with a passion for Paris. Each of his posts is carefully chosen or created to highlight a particular aspect of the capital: he might share an archival photograph illustrating Paris of yesteryear or a contemporary snapshot revealing the magic of a street at dawn. Through his passionate eye, Fernando Nakahodo elevates Paris and conveys his sincere admiration for the City of Lights. This approach has allowed him to build a considerable community: his page now boasts over 300,000 loyal followers. Facing him is Guillaume Sanjorge, a French audiovisual producer. Deeply involved in digital media, Sanjorge was one of the first in France to believe in the potential of the "Duanju" format: mini-series designed for vertical viewing on mobile devices. As early as 2023, he launched this innovative format by producing ultra-short fictional series, with the first two episodes exceeding 700,000 views on Facebook. In April 2025, his work reached a milestone: "Next Door Adventure" became the first French series broadcast on Stardust TV, a leading Asian platform for the vertical format. This first marked France's entry into the global Duanju catalog. A producer, but also an occasional writer and actor, Sanjorge is determined to export French expertise in short, innovative fiction. The meeting of two worlds It was the meeting between Fernando Nakahodo and Guillaume Sanjorge that gave birth to a unique project: the launch of an original series co-produced and broadcast jointly on their respective platforms. On one side, the " Sous le ciel de Paris" (Under the Paris Sky) page will bring its vast audience of admirers of the capital; on the other, Guillaume Sanjorge will leverage his production capabilities and his own subscribers (approximately 10,000). The core idea is to offer a short, vertically focused fiction series that exploits the Parisian aesthetic so dear to Fernando, while benefiting from Guillaume's narrative expertise in the short format. Each episode of the series will be released simultaneously on the creators' two Facebook pages, multiplying the audience by combining their communities. This synergy between digital influence and audiovisual production illustrates a new trend: bringing original stories to life directly on social media. Without prematurely revealing the content of the series in development, we already know that it will take place in Paris. Discover the page "Under the Paris Sky": Link

Two established companies, Night Train Media and Spirit Studios, have announced the development of a phone-native micro-drama, set to launch worldwide via Night Train Digital. The project aims to innovate by combining intimate 9:16 framing, studio-level writing, and strong emotional rhythm (“one feeling per beat”). According to Herbert L. Kloiber, CEO of Night Train Media Group: “The global rise of vertical content is something we’ve followed closely. Our goal is to raise the bar by bringing top writers and actors into this new format.” His statement reflects a growing interest in premium micro-dramas — short, vertical series designed for mobile screens. Platforms such as ReelShort, DramaBox, and ShortMax are leading the trend, with the market expected to reach $14 billion by 2027. Matt Campion, creative director and co-founder of Spirit Studios, added: “We’re excited to produce our first vertical drama. With audiences watching more vertical content than ever, we’re perfectly placed to tell stories that match how people really watch.” Neil Francis, managing director of Night Train Digital, agreed, saying the project continues their mission to “push boundaries and explore formats that reshape distribution.” Now in development, the project is recruiting young UK talent in writing and acting. The goal: to craft short, powerful stories with a cinematic look, made for vertical screens. As vertical storytelling spreads from Asia to Europe and the U.S., this collaboration marks an important moment for the UK, combining film craftsmanship with mobile-first innovation. Article written by Blessing Azugama #BlessingAzugama Source: DropMedia , October 1, 2025