Microdrama Mania: Can the Small Screen and the Big Screen Work Together...?
PLUS Animated blockbusters inbound; Trailers from Nepal-America FF; We review TOY STORY 5, CHAPTER 51, BLACK BOX and HOW TO TALK AUSTRALIANS; Vale Lucas Vignale; Loving TAMPOPO; and, Ryan O'Neal.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that the vertically-framed narrative form called ‘microdramas’ will debut at your local multiplex soon very soon. If reading that sentence was as confounding as it was to write, let’s unpack it to better understand how cinemas and the ascending storytelling and branded-content format will mutually benefit.
Firstly (for my benefit), what is a microdrama? The kids at Digital Dolphins define them as, “short-form videos made up of very brief episodes, often with dramatic hooks, fast emotional turns, and strong cliffhangers.” Filmed in the phone-friendly 9:16 ratio, microdramas have thrived on platforms like TikTok’s microdrama app PineDrama, ReelShort, DramaBox and Kuaishou, where the format, “respects the speed of digital attention while still creating emotional depth.”
The boom in microdrama traffic (Variety projects it will generate US$26 billion in annual revenues by 2030) has not gone unnoticed by Young Hollywood. SHIVA BABY actress Rachel Sennot teamed with designer Marc Jacobs for The Scene, chronicling her chaotic Manhattan day while also launching a new accessories collection. But the microdrama sector is not dependent on Hollywood, with featured players like Noah Fearnley, Joseph Purcell, Mark Vega and Seth Edeen already phone-sphere stars. And in China, where the format is called duanju, it has been a content phenomenon since 2021.
THR broke the news that National CineMedia (NCM), the company behind pre-show programming in U.S. theatres, has partnered with microdrama start-up aTwist. NCM will screen QR-coded previews of aTwist ‘verticals’ and aTwist will quid pro quo with bespoke ad creations for NCM brand partners. Giving brick-&-mortar theatres increased relevance to young demographics is an issue Hollywood needs to address, so this is a positive move.
But, and I don’t want to make this all about me - please turn your phones off for the feature presentation.
Simon Foster, Editor: SCREEN-SPACE
Follow SCREEN-SPACE on FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | X | YOUTUBE.
STUDIOS DOUBLE-PUMP ANIMATED BLOCKBUSTER TRAILERS
Both Walt Disney Studios and Universal/Dreamworks played their animated trump-cards to coincide with the peak American movie-going period and the imminent opening of the 2026 Annecy Animation Film Festival in France.
Disney has dropped a spectacular first-look at HEXED, a witchcraft-themed coming-of-age story featuring Hailee Steinfeld as the voice of ‘Billie’, an unconventional teen sorting out her place in a new, magical realm…
And Universal have sneaked a very funny premiere of footage from SHREK 5, including a knowing nod for Eddie Murphy fans, with a jailed ‘Donkey’ belting out the song Roxanne (if you know, you know)…
HEXED is in cinemas from November 26, 2026; SHREK 5 is currently set for a June 2027 release.
FOSTER’S FILM REVIEWS
FOLLOW US ON LETTERBOXD FOR ALL OUR STAR RATINGS
CHAPTER 51 (Dir: Tyler Shields; starring Colman Domingo, Abigail Breslin, Emily Alyn Lind, Charlotte Lawrence and Connor Paolo). The debut feature from w/d Tyler Shield’s is an ambitious smashing-together of film industry satire, true-crime mockery and OTT visuals. A serial killer is taking out the lead actresses of blockbuster-in-the-making, Dissident, but the production pushes on, recasting the role even as the murders continue. The suspects are all high-profile talent, none more so than Coppola-esque movie brat director, ‘Christopher Pace’. Does it all work? Nope. But to watch Shields swinging for the fences and experience leading man Connor Paolo commit to the excesses his director asks of him with a performance both grating and great is a rare treat. The producers claim they achieved the bold visuals with IMAX, VistaVision and Ultra Panavision lenses, and CHAPTER 51 does look both beautiful and garish as the mood dictates. Perhaps take such claims with a grain of salt however, given the bait-and-switch nature of Shield’s sly skewering of pretense. ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
TOY STORY 5 (Dirs: Andrew Stanton, McKenna Harris; featuring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Tony Hale, Conan O’Brien, Greta Lee and Annie Potts). There’s some cute laughs (though not enough) and you might tear up a little, but getting The Gang back together for a lesson on balancing new tech and old toys stretches thin our affectionate tolerance for this legacy franchise. Cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack) takes centre-stage in a two-pronged mission to find a frieend for her owner Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) while keeping her away from the generation-numbing encroachment of hand-held devices. But when Bonnie’s parents buy her a Lilypad device (Greta Lee), things get desperate for our heroine, who is also dealing with her own memories of cyclical rejection. Know who I’m not talking about? Buzz (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks), who feel shoe-horned into ho-hum support-player subplots. And, frankly, is there something a bit on-the-nose about a media empire like Disney preaching how to best meld playtime and screen time? ⭐️⭐️½
WORLD WATCH
MICHEL GONDRY BEGINS LES PETITES PEUERS SHOOT: The ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND director has cast Tahar Rahim and Bastien Bouillon in his missing-persons thriller, his 15th feature film (CinEuropa).
ARGENTINE FILMMAKER LUCAS VIGNALE DIES IN HELICOPTER CRASH: The 28 y.o. director of THE RIVER TRAIN was one of six people, including singer Oliver Tree and YouTuber Gaspar Prim Díaz, who died in a mid-air collision over Rio de Janeiro (Cinema Tropical).
MIRIAMA LAB TO MENTOR WEST AFRICAN WOMEN DIRECTORS: Co-created by French gender equality NGO Collectif 50/50 and Mauritanian writing residency Mariama Institut, ‘The Lab’ will boost women working on their first or second features (RFI).
BISHKEK FILM FEST LEADS CENTRAL ASIAN FILM PROFILE: This year’s edition, held in the Kyrgyz capital, brought guests from 30 countries, including French actress Audrey Tautou (The Times of Central Asia).
LATEST TRAILERS | NEPAL-AMERICA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The annual Nepal America Film Society festival showcases a diverse range of films from Nepal, the United States, and diasporas across the globe | June 25-28, 2026.
SHAKTI (Dir: Nani Sahra Walker; starring Laxmi Bardewa, Menuka Pradhan, Polina Oli, Shristi Shrestha and Akash Nepali). When her daughter falls ill, her mother turns to a local shaman to lead them both down a path of redemption.
SHAPE OF MOMO | छोरा जस्तै (Dir: Tribeny Rai; starring Gaumaya Gurung, Pashupati Rai and Shyama Shree Sherpa). Bishnu returns to her Himalayan village, only to face family pressures and societal expectations.
AANKHA (Dir: Zaun Yonzan; starring RK Mehta, Smita Lamichane and Pashupati Rai). A newlywed couples struggle with poverty and hardship in Kathmandu’s slum.
WHY WE LOVE MOVIES
The Man in the White Suit from TAMPOPO | タンポポ (Dir: Jūzō Itami; starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho and Ken Watanabe). Settling into their cinema seats, a man wearing a crisp white suit addresses the camera, telling the audience to be quiet during the film, aka “The story of my life”…
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God!” - Tim Madden (Ryan O’Neal), TOUGH GUYS DON‘T DANCE (Dir: Norman Mailer; 1987) Writer, ex-con, alcoholic Tim Madden awakens from a two-week bender with a pool of blood in his car, only to find out through a letter that his wife is having an affair.
And if SCREEN-SPACE isn’t enough Simon for you…:
LISTEN to me co-host the weekly film and TV podcast SCREEN WATCHING with Dan Barrett, of Always Be Watching notoriety;
WATCH/LISTEN Dan and I reflect on the films of 1987 in our fun retro-podcast, BEST MOVIE YEAR (available to watch on our YouTube channel)
FOLLOW my curatorial efforts as Festival Director of the SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL.
Hollywood trade press has been talking about the rise of the microdrama and all of the investment happening in this space for the past few years off the back of its success as a format across Asia. The number of people I have heard talking in the real world about microdramas: zero.
It's not really a thing. Could it become a thing? Maybe. Never discount anything. But, western audiences so far have seemed pretty reluctant to embrace it.