For decades, Hollywood has built its business around films and television episodes that ask viewers to sit down and stay awhile. Its latest source of growth does the opposite.
Microdramas are vertically filmed series made for smartphones. An episode may last anywhere from 45 seconds to two minutes, and it often ends just as a secret is revealed, a relationship falls apart or a new danger appears.
The format first became popular in China. It is now expanding rapidly in the United States, where traditional film and television production has been struggling.
Research firm Omdia expects US microdramas to generate $1.5 billion in revenue in 2026, rising to nearly $2 billion in 2027. The audience is growing just as quickly: about 66 million people in the US watched microdramas each month in 2025, up from 26 million a year earlier.
Hollywood has noticed. Studios, streaming services and experienced television executives are now experimenting with a format designed for the TikTok generation.
Stories built for the scroll
Microdramas do not simply place ordinary television shows on a smaller screen. They follow a different rhythm.
Traditional series may spend an entire episode introducing characters and building a fictional world. A microdrama has no such luxury. It must establish a conflict almost immediately and give viewers a reason to watch the next episode within a minute or two.
The stories often rely on familiar emotions and easily understood situations: attraction, jealousy, betrayal, revenge or sudden success. Characters are drawn in broad lines, and major plot turns arrive quickly. The result is closer to a television drama reduced to its most addictive elements.
Its central technique, however, is hardly new. Writers have used cliffhangers for centuries. Microdramas simply apply them to the smartphone, where the next episode is only a tap away.
This combination makes the shows a natural fit for viewers accustomed to short videos. Phones are already held vertically, and people can watch an episode while waiting for a train, eating lunch or taking a short break.
But a two-minute episode does not always produce a two-minute viewing session. When every ending leads directly into another problem, viewers can easily continue for an hour.
Small screen, small budget
Microdramas are also attractive because they can be made much more cheaply than conventional television.
A full series commonly contains between 50 and 75 episodes, yet it may take only three months to produce and cost between $100,000 and $300,000. By comparison, a single half-hour American sitcom episode can cost several million dollars.
Productions use small crews, standing sets and fast shooting schedules. One Los Angeles studio owner told Reuters that demand became so strong that he expanded from one production facility to three. His sets — including hospital rooms, courtrooms and nightclubs — were purchased from larger studios that no longer needed them.
The contrast is striking. While parts of Hollywood are cutting back, microdramas are creating work for actors, writers, directors and production crews.
Generative AI may reduce costs further. Some companies are already combining human-written stories with AI-generated images and performances. This can shorten production time, but it also raises questions about creative quality and the future role of actors.
Free to start, costly to finish
The business model is designed to make starting easy. Viewers usually encounter a dramatic clip on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or YouTube. They can then watch the first few episodes free on a specialized app.
Continuing the story may require a weekly subscription or additional payments. Because a series contains dozens of very short episodes, the final cost is not always obvious when viewers begin.
One viewer interviewed by Reuters said she had spent as much as $200 in a month after discovering the format through social media advertising. Her experience reveals the other side of the cliffhanger: a storytelling tool can also become a powerful sales mechanism.
Hollywood learns to think vertically
Large entertainment companies are now adding vertical video to their services and making deals with microdrama platforms. For them, the format offers something increasingly valuable: a quick way to test stories and receive immediate audience feedback.
Microdramas are unlikely to replace films or traditional television. Their current revenue remains small beside the wider TV industry, and rapid growth does not guarantee long-term success.
But their rise shows that the screen is changing the story. Cinema encouraged sweeping images. Television created episodes built around commercial breaks. Streaming made entire seasons available at once.
Now the smartphone is producing its own form of drama: vertical, immediate and always one cliffhanger away from the next episode.