Soapy micro dramas face a reckoning in 2026 after capturing Hollywood's attention

Tech Insider : Business, Style
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 22:(L-R) Siyu Karneboge, Nicole Mattox, Seth Edeen and Bofan Zhang speak at the ReelShort Wings Of Fire Screening at The Culver Theater on April 22, 2025 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for ReelShort)
A screening for leading short-drama app ReelShort's 'Wings of Fire.'

Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for ReelShort

TikTok is jumping into micro dramas, the surging bite-sized soaps that have caught Hollywood's eye

Tech Insider : Business
Two people sitting down, one woman on left with ripped tights and greasy hair. On right, a man with similarly dirty look.
Netshort's micro dramas revolve around soapy themes.

Netshort

I was laid off at Disney. Then I rebooted my entertainment career thanks to micro dramas.

Tech Insider : Business, Style
Erik Heintz is a California-based producer working in micro dramas.
Erik Heintz found stability working micro dramas as Hollywood has contracted.

Sasha Genenfeld

5 Hollywood companies from Fox to Disney that are looking to capitalize on soapy 'micro dramas'

Tech Insider : Business, Style
Image from
One of TelevisaUnivision's new vertical dramas on ViX.

TelevisaUnivision

Soapy, low-cost micro dramas are exploding in the US, challenging Hollywood streamers like Peacock and HBO

Tech Insider : Business, Style
Photo collage featuring a scene from DramaBox's show Young Elite, surrounded by the DramaBox and ReelShort app icons, a vintage television, and a black empty Hollywood slate board, with floating
Fox and others in Hollywood are moving to capitalize on low-cost verticals.

DramaBox; ReelShort; Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI

These salacious, bite-sized soaps have become a $1.3 billion business in the US

Tech Insider : Business
In one of DramaBox's top performing titles, Lucy, adopted by a werewolf family, is forced into an arranged marriage.

DramaBox

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