Vertical, serialized and built for the phone, microdramas have gone from a curiosity to a fast-growing entertainment business in a matter of years — and traditional Hollywood wants a piece of it.
From Emmy-nominated actor and producer David Oyelowo, who partnered with actor-director Nate Parker to take their streaming platform Mansa into the format, to former Showtime programming chief Jana Winograde, now building an AI-native microseries studio, a new class of operators is racing to define what short-form can be.
All three take up the question at TheGrillon Sept. 30 at the DGA Theater Complex.
As audiences embrace stories designed for the phone, creators, platforms and investors are racing to define the format and the business model around it. The conversation explores what’s driving microdramas’ global appeal, how the economics are evolving and whether short-form storytelling could become a major new lane for Hollywood.
Oyelowo is a multiple Golden Globe, BAFTA and Emmy-nominated actor and producer whose recent work includes “Bass Reeves,” “Silo,” “Role Play” and “Government Cheese.” He made his directorial debut with “The Water Man,” produced under his Yoruba Saxon banner, and co-founded Mansa, the free streaming platform for curated global Black cultural content now moving into microdramas — putting him on both sides of the format question, as talent and as a platform owner.
Parker, CEO and co-founder of Mansa, launched the platform with longtime friend and collaborator Oyelowo after two decades in the industry as a writer, director and actor — most notably on “The Birth of a Nation,” which he directed, co-wrote and starred in. Mansa gives creators inspired by Black culture a place to reach engaged global audiences without traditional gatekeepers, and is backed by investors including Robert Smith (Vista Equity Partners), Jeffrey Katzenberg (WndrCo), Marlon Nichols (MaC Ventures) and Mike Novogratz (Galaxy Digital). Its move into short-form puts that audience-first model against one of the fastest-growing formats in entertainment.
Winograde is founder and CEO of aTwist, the U.S.-based, AI-native microseries studio and platform focused on quality vertical content, launching later this year. She is the former President of Entertainment at Showtime Networks, where she oversaw programming from development through worldwide distribution as the network launched its three biggest streaming series, including the zeitgeist hit “Yellowjackets.” Before that she spent more than two decades at ABC, most notably as head of business operations for the network and TV studio, where she helped steer the shift from linear viewing to direct-to-consumer.
They join a lineup of powerhouse speakers including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, AMC Entertainment Chairman and CEO Adam Aron, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson, YouTube’s Kim Larson, Paramount Skydance Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, NBCUniversal Chairman Mark Marshall and DraftKings founder and CEO Jason Robins.
TheGrill will be at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 30. As a bonus, your ticket also gets you into AI Creator Day on Sept. 29. One ticket. Two days. Full program and seats here.
TheGrill is sponsored by Artlist, Antenna, aTwist, City National Bank, Disney, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, Lionsgate, Versant and Viva Pictures.
The post David Oyelowo. Nate Parker. Jana Winograde. Microdramas Come to TheGrill appeared first on TheWrap.
