Bloomberg
Inside the vertical-drama boom: how microdrama is operationalizing a $7B short-form pipeline.
Read ↗● Vanguard Cohort 03 applications open · Closes Oct 12Apply →
[ EST. 2024 · VENTURE STUDIO · ADVISORY · EDUCATION ]
The stage is 9:16.
The drama is micro.
microdrama is the operating company for vertical fiction. We build the IP, fund the studios, advise the platforms, and train the writers — one 90-second episode at a time.
Attention is the new currency. Cliffhangers are the mint. We're operating the press. Engagements: ReelShort, DramaBox, GoodShort, FlexTV, A24 Shorts, Tudum, and three studios you don't know yet.
1.2BMinutes
Watched
14+Top 10
Series
$40MAdvisory
Value
300KScripts
Analyzed
42Cohort
Founders
9:16Native
Aspect
1.2BMinutes
Watched
14+Top 10
Series
$40MAdvisory
Value
300KScripts
Analyzed
42Cohort
Founders
9:16Native
Aspect
1.2BMinutes
Watched
14+Top 10
Series
$40MAdvisory
Value
300KScripts
Analyzed
42Cohort
Founders
9:16Native
Aspect
§00
On the record.
Stratechery × microdrama
On hook density, paywall geometry, and why the next HBO is shot in portrait.
Listen ↗Banff World Media · 2026
Keynote: From Idea to Impact — scaling original IP for the swipe-first audience.
Session ↗Vertical Vanguard · NYC
A sold-out rooftop masterclass on what's actually worth shooting before you shoot it.
Recap ↗§01 — Portfolio
Four sides of the same vertical.
01/STUDIO
Original IP
Developing high-stakes vertical serials from pilot to syndication across ReelShort, DramaBox, and our own native distribution.
RomanceThrillerCEO
02/ACCELERATOR
Venture Path
Capital, production stages, and operational scaffolding for emerging microdrama production houses. $250k average ticket.
12 weeks$250kDemo Day
03/EDUCATION
Script Master
Curriculum, masterclasses, and writer rooms for the next generation of vertical-first screenwriters and showrunners.
Cohort1:1License
04/PODCAST
The Sequence
Weekly deep dives into the microdrama industry — economics, retention curves, IP arbitrage, the talent layer.
WeeklyAudioField notes
— The thesis
The phone isn't a smaller TV.
It's a different stage, with its own grammar, economy, and audience.
— microdrama, founding memo · 2024
§02 — Services
Four ways to ship with us.
01 / Retained
Fractional Chief Microdrama Officer
Embedded growth and marketing leadership for microdrama platforms and studios scaling audience and revenue at volume.
- → Paid & organic acquisition
- → Retention & monetization funnels
- → Brand & IP positioning
- → Platform algorithm strategy
3–12 months · RetainedInquire →
02 / Project
The Cliffhanger Audit
A 30-day diagnostic across your slate, scripts, and viewer data. Where the swipes go, why they leave, and what to ship next.
- → Episode-by-episode retention map
- → Hook density grading
- → Paywall placement model
- → Slate prioritization memo
30 days · Fixed scopeInquire →
03 / Cohort
Vertical Vanguard Accelerator
12-week intensive for production studios and IP owners. Capital, mentors, stage access, and a path to distribution.
- → $250k initial check
- → LA + Seoul stage access
- → Mentor roster of 24
- → Demo Day to platform buyers
12 weeks · EquityInquire →
04 / Custom
Speaking & Partnerships
Keynotes, executive workshops, and white-label education for platforms, studios, broadcasters and funds.
- → Keynote & fireside
- → Exec AI/story workshops
- → Custom curricula
- → Research & policy advisory
Custom · By introductionInquire →
§03 — Accelerator
The Vertical
Vanguard Cohort
A 12-week intensive for production houses, IP owners, and platform founders building native vertical fiction. Capital, infrastructure, mentors, distribution — operated by people who've shipped to a billion phones.
Cohort 03 · Applications close Oct 12 · Program starts Jan 05
$250k
Initial capital per studio
24
Mentors from ReelShort, DramaBox, A24, Netflix
2
Production stages (LA + Seoul)
1
Demo Day to platform buyers
— Program architecture
PHASE 01
The Beat Sheet
Weeks 1–3. Narrative compression. Hook-density optimization. Mapping your first 90 seconds frame by frame.
PHASE 02
Production Warp
Weeks 4–8. Rapid vertical cinematography, AI-assisted post pipelines, and shooting 60 episodes in 18 days.
PHASE 03
The Cliffhanger
Weeks 9–12. Distribution strategy, app-store placement, monetization modeling, Demo Day to ReelShort, DramaBox, and platform buyers.
— Mentor network
Showrunner · ReelShortHead of IP · DramaBoxVP Growth · GoodShortDirector · A24 ShortsEP · Netflix TudumLead Writer · Quibi alumCRO · FlexTVCasting · BAFTAComposer · Lakeshore
Ready to scale your production?
Average cohort funding · $250k per studio · 6% common
§04 — About
The operator behind microdrama.
Yael Tamar · Founder & CMO
Yael Tamar is a senior marketing strategist, founder, and AI-native creator with 20+ years building brands, audiences, and revenue at scale. She has built marketing departments from scratch, served as interim CMO through pivot and acquisition, and led brand and capital narrative for ventures from seed to exit.
Today she runs Making It Happen — a marketing and venture-building lab that partners with founders on positioning, funnels, content systems, and AI-powered production. Her social-first work has driven 2M+ views, 50K+ cross-platform followers, and $1M+ in sales for her own brands.
Her current obsession is AI microdrama: cinematic short-form video built for social distribution. 100+ keynotes across 15+ countries. Featured in Forbes, Bloomberg and The New York Times.
Emil Ben Shimon · Co-Founder & Creative Director
Emil Ben Shimon is an award-winning screenwriter and director whose work spans feature films, television series, and digital storytelling. He is best known for The Women's Balcony (2016), Israel's highest-grossing film of the year and an Ophir Award winner for Best Film. His other credits include The Man Who Saved the Internet with a Sunflower (2024) and Monkeys (2021).
With decades of experience in narrative craft, visual direction, and audience engagement, Emil brings cinematic storytelling to the 90-second format — engineering worlds, characters, and cliffhangers that command attention at swipe speed.