Scott Brown’s Second Rodeo is pushing the boundaries of vertical storytelling with its latest project, “Playback,” a musical series and one of the first SAG-signatory microdrama productions.
The production became SAG-signatory after comedic creator Hannah Stocking joined the cast, bringing it under the union’s verticals agreement. Featuring 17 original songs in its just 100-minute runtime, “Playback” was a project director-producer Brown called one of the most powerful creative experiences of his career.
Its SAG affiliation is a break from most non-union microdrama productions, one of the reasons why the medium — which consist of a series of short, minute-long clips — has struggled to gain legitimacy in some in Hollywood despite the explosive growth in its audience.
Like most vertical productions, “Playback” was shot at a rapid pace. The team had seven days to shoot the 100-minute microdrama series, but there were no special exceptions made to account for the series’ musical ambitions.
“Playback” follows Maddie Bryce (Amber Laird), a struggling songwriter on the verge of being discovered, whose rising success is tied to a secret she can’t afford to reveal. As AI begins to reshape the music industry and blur the line between artist and creation, Maddie is pulled into a double life that forces her to confront identity, authenticity, and what it truly means to find her voice.
Stocking, a comedy creator with over 66 million followers across platforms, stars as Samantha Stern, a headline-making influencer and pop star who thrives at the center of attention and the crazy ex-girlfriend of struggling popstar Luke Rivers (Royce Lundquist), who leans on Maddie’s songwriting to revive his career.
The production primarily shot in Mexico City with one pick-up day in Los Angeles. Three cameras shot the scenes at once, expediting production time and easing efficiency for the day. That’s typical for microdramas, Brown told TheWrap, during an exclusive set visit.
The pick-up shoot day for “Playback” filmed at a warehouse near the railroad tracks past Downtown Los Angeles. TheWrap witnessed the romantic leads step into their roles as pop-stars backstage at their concert, and the set’s simplicity, featuring stark lighting and aluminum walls, worked to the content’s benefit. In less than 20 minutes, the director shot both characters’ coverage as well as the wide shot – much quicker than a typical television shoot.
“Playback” also signals a shift in casting. Vertical series have largely relied on in-platform talent due to budget constraints, but Stocking’s involvement marks one of the first instances of a creator with a massive following entering the space. Stocking told TheWrap on-set that Brown’s passion attracted her to this project.
“It’s different from my social media, because I film on an iPhone and with two amateur lights and a really small crew,” she told TheWrap. “But this was just like any traditional project I’ve been on. I’ve done a couple like Netflix projects, and it just felt very similar to that.”
For Brown, the casting choice reflects a broader evolution.
“This is something new, where, ultimately star power, people have followings, these are things that can aid a production, and I’m really excited to see what that ultimately means for us,” Brown said. “I’ve never seen a major creator be in a vertical and I’m really excited to see how our community and audience responds.”
In addition to Stocking, YouTube creator Samir Chaudry of “The Colin and Samir Show” makes a cameo, alongside “America’s Next Top Model” winner Sophie Sumner.
The script warrants the addition of more mainstream talent. “Playback” handles topical issues of AI in entertainment and sparingly leaned into the romantic elements that the format has been criticized for. While Maddie and Luke’s will-they-won’t-they relationship entices audiences, the musical element holds their attention to keep watching.
“A lot of verticals are very tropey, very one note in their writing,” Laird, who stars as Maddie, explained to TheWrap. “You can read the script and say, ‘This is what they’re going for.’ I feel like even just when I read the sides for the audition for this, I was like this feels different immediately. It feels like something that I can bring different choices to and bring my full humanity to.”
Lundquist, who has built a steady career working in vertical series, agreed, calling “Playback” a more elevated take on the format.
The series comes from microdrama powerhouse Holywater Tech for its MyDrama platform and is produced by Second Rodeo. Holywater is the Ukrainian microdrama platform that has a deal in place with Fox and recently landed a $22 million capital funding investment. “Playback” is part of Scott Brown’s two-series deal with the platform.
“I really believe mobile is a new medium, and microdramas are one of the first formats fully realized for it,” Brown said. “What’s exciting now is that there’s a real openness — traditional and digital creators meeting on common ground instead of assuming one side has all the answers. That’s what’s going to define this next era.”
The full series released today on Holywater’s MyDrama app.
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