Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Their cameras flipped sideways in the bedroom of a faux-castle atop a Los Angeles hill, a small film crew get to work on a “vertical drama.” The format, featuring kitschy plotlines and stories told via addictive and smartphone-friendly 60-second instalments, has taken Hollywood by storm in the last two years. Emerging in China in the 2010s, vertical drama is now a multi-billion-dollar business that is radically changing — and some say saving — a struggling industry.
