The Microdrama Boom: Inside the Next Entertainment Economy

The creator economy has entered its scripted era, and it’s worth billions. After a decade dominated by unscripted formats, a new wave of creators and studios is bringing Hollywood-calibre storytelling to the vertical screen with entirely new economics and distribution models.

Microdramas – scripted, short-form vertical series – are now the fastest-growing format in digital entertainment. They are not just driving a US$14bn+ global content economy: they are building six-figure careers for a new class of “creator-producers”. As platforms prioritise longer watch times and mobile-first narratives, 70-second episodes are fuelling audience retention and sustained engagement. Creators are no longer just building audiences – they’re developing characters, worlds and intellectual property (IP) that scale across platforms and businesses.

This session unpacks how to transition from unscripted to serialised storytelling, develop repeatable IP for vertical formats and build sustainable creator-led studios. Brands will learn how to leverage these formats for deeper audience engagement.

Whether you’re a creator looking to build a sustainable studio or a brand seeking to leverage this format for deeper engagement, you’ll learn how to make the most out of the next phase of digital entertainment.

• How to develop characters, story worlds, and repeatable IP for a scripted vertical format that can live beyond a single platform?
• How to validate and launch new entertainment formats using existing audiences?
• How to build creator-led media businesses, not one-off viral content?