Sasha Genenfeld
This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Erik Heintz, 49, a producer in Burbank, California, about his experience working in the booming micro drama business. The trend grew out of China and has taken off in the US via popular apps like ReelShort and DramaBox. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm from Massachusetts, and I'd moved to California for the Coast Guard. I'd been pursuing a career in music when I landed a job in Hollywood through a film producer friend. One thing led to another, and I became a talent manager. I did a lot of cold calling, getting the mail room treatment, doing crazy tasks for talent.
Fast forward a few years, and after freelancing for production companies that serve Disney, I was brought on as a permanent employee, supporting ABC, Hulu, Freeform, and Onyx, on creative marketing campaigns. It's feast or famine in Hollywood, and I was blessed to get more of a permanent thing. I have three kids, and my wife is in entertainment, too, and there were often times one of us wouldn't be working.
Then I got laid off in 2023. It was definitely an existential crisis moment. So many people were getting laid off. The competition to get similar roles is really tough. I did a bunch of different things: consulting, marketing, business development.
I got introduced to vertical dramas through one of the production companies we used at Disney, Snow Story, that brought me on as an executive producer. First, I had my misgivings because micro dramas were known for having low budgets and arduous schedules. But when I got on set, I saw a lot of the crew that I had been working with over the years. So I'm, like, fully in.
The first one I made was "Keys to My Heart." It's sort of a countryfied version of "A Star is Born," for an app called Shortical. I've worked on 25 so far and have 10 more in development, for ReelShort, DramaShorts, and other apps.
I'm super grateful to be working in micro dramas. They keep the lights on and pay the mortgage. It's hard to get a 9-to-5 job, and freelancing is tough. Everybody's really feeling the pinch. I'm using all my skills in this job. I could be driving an Uber, but luckily, I'm doing what I love.
Fast-paced shoots, quick decisions
The hours are similar to a traditional Hollywood shoot — 12 to 16 hour days — but the pace is different. Instead of shooting six pages a day, you're shooting 12 to 14, so you don't have as many takes.
We have to be really creative and be problem solvers because you'll have to make decisions on the fly. For example, one time our location fell out because it was double-booked. So, we chose a different angle of the room and redressed it as a café.
Another time, we had to show an heiress landing on a private plane and the plane set we booked fell out. So our director got a toilet seat and we put a green screen behind it and made it look like a window. It was one of the most engaging moments of the film, and you can't tell it's a toilet seat.
I think the appeal of mini dramas is that you're watching them on your phone, the same place where you get dopamine hits from scrolling on social media or TikTok. I don't think it's as big on the coasts. But I've definitely met people in the business who watch them — they're the same people that like soaps or telenovellas or romance novels.
I've seen people in Hollywood look down on them. And nobody wants to be another Quibi. It grew too big, too fast, whereas their counterpart, Vine, with those six-second videos, wasn't highly produced. I feel like we still shouldn't go that top-heavy just yet.
Now, large studios want to go where the eyeballs are. The production quality has gone up. I'm using an LED volume wall in the film I'm working on now — something I used at Disney. We used a real Harley-Davidson in another.
Studios are talking about using verticals to make companion content between seasons. We've seen that with television shows doing mobile-only content. There's also interest in faith-based films and having more diversity in front of the camera. And we're going to see a lot of brand integration. Maybe the big streamers will put a vertical video player in their app for streaming content. It's like a little gold rush.
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