Kevin Hart is producing microdramas. The comedian and his entertainment company Hartbeat have signed on as the marquee partner for aTwist, a new mobile-first platform that launched September 3. The deal, reported by The Humor Mill, makes aTwist the exclusive home for Hartbeat’s vertical originals, with over 20 microseries planned, including comedy under the LOL banner and adaptations of Blake Karrington’s novels. Hart is more than a name on a press release; he’s producing and starring in several of the projects, his presence a signal that the format is drawing serious star power.
Further north, Vancouver’s Network Media Group is laying vertical tracks of its own. On September 8, the company announced a new division, Network Verticals, dedicated to producing and distributing 9:16 serialized stories. Led by COO Paul Gertz and VP of Studios Eric MacDonald, the unit will break feature-length narratives into 50 to 100 episodes that run 60 to 90 seconds each, spanning drama, true crime, comedy, horror, and sports. TV, eh? reports the division is already scaling up.
Across the Atlantic, the format is finding an even younger audience. Dutch public broadcaster NPO (via KRO-NCRV) has a hit with The Last Summer, a vertical microdrama aimed at tweens. Kidscreen notes the scripted cliffhanger model is bridging the gap from Gen Z to younger viewers, proving the emotional pull works across age groups.
And in India, the microdrama economy is on a tear. ET BrandEquity reports that legacy entertainment companies and small creators are flooding into the vertical market as production costs drop and snappy storytelling scales. Omdia’s latest tracking puts global microdrama revenues on pace to hit $14 billion in 2026. The Indian market, long a mobile-video powerhouse, is a key driver of that surge.
Stars, studios, and public broadcasters are all placing bets on the 60-second episode. The format is leaving the experiment phase behind.