Could You Write a Micro Drama?

A popular micro drama currently streaming.

Could you write something like this?

Micro dramas–sometimes known as verticals or short form drama–are currently making headlines. They also seem to be making significant revenue (see our blog post from earlier this year).

Essentially mini soap operas filmed in a vertical format to suit mobile-first viewing, micro drama episodes are usually 1-2 minutes in length. An entire season contains 45-60 episodes.

This means that if you were to watch the episodes back-to-back, it would take the same time as a standard film (90 to 120 minutes).

Seems doable to write, don’t you think? Although there are obvious limitations in terms of visuals due to the way they’re filmed–panoramic wide-shots or crowd scenes are probably off the cards.

Because of their focus on two-handers (scenes where two people talk), the most popular genres to date for this format seem to be romance and fantasy.

A clear, over-the-top hook is also usually required–such as the one pictured above: Secretly Married to My Billionaire Boss. If you’d like to watch all the episodes in one go, they're available on Daily Motion here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9q6ao8

This is a growing format and for this reason we think there’s scope to experiment with genre and story styles.

What kind of series would you write and why would it work especially well when viewing on your phone?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

We're running workshops on creating story concepts for micro dramas. Sign up to register your interest here.

Story Inkubator was founded by writer, scriptwriter and teacher, Kristina Jilly, an Australian living in Central Europe who's written for HBO Europe and RTL Television. A teacher at the University of Applied Sciences in Upper Austria, Kristina also writes online content about the art of storytelling and topics that inspire creativity. 

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