In the past 18 months we’ve seen a boom of vertical productions shooting in British Columbia and internationally, but what is Vertical Cinema?

As this is a relatively new phenomenon, we went online to see if we could get a definitive answer of how this niche is selling itself:

• Key Characteristics:Designed for vertical (portrait) viewing, they eliminate the need to rotate a phone, featuring 70+ short episodes that total a feature-length story.
• Usage Examples:These films are designed for quick consumption on social media platforms (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts) or dedicated streaming apps like ReelShort, DramaBox, and MiniDrama.
• Production Style:Produced quickly (often in 8–10 days) with small crews, focusing on high drama, intense emotions, and fast, engaging scenes to keep viewers paying for the next episode.
• Synonyms/Related Terms:
  • Vertical dramas
  • Micro-dramas
  • Short dramas
  • Vertical short series
  • Vertical micro-series
  • Phone films
  • Duanju (Chinese, referring to short vertical dramas)

In our location world, we receive briefs for drama or extravagance. The producers (they rarely have a dedicated location person) is often looking for high end mansions with swimming pools, large hallways and sweeping driveways. Or on the flip side, they want hospitals or corporate offices – so much drama when it comes to billionaires!

The crews are often smaller than feature films or commercials, usually maxing out at 40 people including cast. They are typically non- union (but we may be seeing changes there).

They shoot fast with long hours. The crews are passionate and professional but we are often working very hard to make sure details aren’t missed. The budgets are often slim in comparison to the traditional productions of the past decade but we are finding many flexible home owners have been open to hosting verticals.

We believe this type of content will continue to boom and we’re excited (and nervous) to see how the film and digital landscape morphs over the coming 12 months. We just hope that real life film locations will be a staple of the creative industry for years to come!