Microdramas in MIP London Focus: Why They Don’t Cast Famous People, How Men Are Coming on Board and a Toilet Pitch

Executives from GammaTime, which has shows from the creator of ‘CSI,’ COL Group and Holywater, which has signed creator Dhar Mann, talk ins and outs of vertical shorts. The MIP London microdrama panel. Courtesy of Georg Szalai Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment The global rise of microdramas, shortform vertical storytelling for the mobile generation, was in focus during a crowded panel session at MIP London on Monday. Among the topics of debate was a lack of big stars among casts, the growth outlook and the benefit of being able to watch microdramas in one of the most private spaces. Sensor Tower’s annual report on the state of mobile recently highlighted that video streaming app downloads increased globally by nearly 39 percent in 2025, while their revenue increased nearly 18 percent. The gains were driven by short drama app downloads, which grew more than 100 percent over 2024, while traditional streaming app downloads fell by more than four percent. Related Stories Business Imax Posts $28 Million Chinese New Year Box Office, Down From Last Year's High Movies How the Tourette's Fallout Unfolded at the BAFTA Film Awards: From Pre-Show Warnings to a "Throw-Away Apology" Panel moderator Maria Rua Aguete, head of media & entertainment at intelligence and data firm Omdia, also highlighted on Monday that microdramas already account for $11.1 billion in global revenue, including $3.5 billion in advertising revenue. Alex Montalvo, co-founder and chief content officer of GammaTime, a Hollywood-backed premium microdrama platform, was asked if vertical content wasn’t mostly bad. “I would beg to differ,” he replied. “This is a brand new medium,” and programming was continuously evolving. The firm’s genres and storytelling have continued to expand, he added. After showing a sizzle reel of key short series, he said: “You can see, we’re already offering a wider range of options for consumers: true crime, thrillers, romance stories. We’re also finding early success in partnering with some of the most successful people in, dare I say, traditional Hollywood and bringing them into our ecosystem. As you saw on the screen, four of our projects were created and written by Anthony E. Zuiker, who is the creator of CSI.” Indeed, the platform showcases his thriller The Temptress, sex-crime drama Lust Cop, romantic series The Road Between Us and thriller series Kill Switch. Concluded Montalvo: “We are adapting high-end IP, and it’s only just the beginning of the types of partnerships that we’re striking.” The former executive of Warner Bros. Discovery and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s shortform mobile content service Quibi, which abruptly shuttered in 2020, was also asked why Quibi failed. “We probably were early,” he offered. Anatolii Kasianov, co-founder and chief technology officer of Holywater Tech, the company previously known as Holywater until its recent acquisition of visual effects company Jeynixa, which specializes in facial animation, face replacement, de-aging and lip-sync work, also spoke on the panel. The European startup’s platforms include microdrama service My Drama and ad-supported streaming service Freebits. He said the Jeynixa deal was designed to help the firm “disrupt how content is made [and] not only in vertical.” Asked about how Holywater has attracted investment from the likes of Fox, Kasianov said: “We built this kind of IP incubation where we [take] hundreds of best performing, best selling books, then we transfer them into verticals and they already have an existing audience.” He added: “We also recently signed, exclusively, Dhar Mann. He’s one of the biggest creators, I think second after MrBeast.” Why have women been the core audience for microdramas? “I think that’s how the niche originated,” he offered. “It came from adaptations of books and performed very well, so it just started from this genre that was underrepresented, I think it’s already, on our platform, moving towards male as well.” Tim Oh, general manager of COL Group International, where he oversees the likes of international operations, IP licensing and global expansion of the company’s microdrama and shortform content businesses, was asked about opportunities in the space for owners of existing intellectual property (IP). He said they should look at extensions of their franchises and “tell them in the microdrama space.” In fact, has team has been in talks with IP owners for “microdrama versions” of their brands that would come in a “quite tactical” way. But Oh shared that so far, his firm has not looked to get Hollywood stars to act in its short dramas, sharing about acting talent: “We don’t cast famous actors at this point because [for audiences, watching is about] a f