Marc Jacobs Went Vertical. So Did ABS-CBN. Microdrama Had Its First Awards Night
Marc Jacobs replaced its campaign infrastructure with an ongoing microdrama series.
Industry analysis of the global vertical drama and microdrama market.
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Luxury fashion found the format. Southeast Asia's biggest broadcaster went vertical. And for the first time, microdrama had its own awards night in Los Angeles.
Week of Apr 20-Apr 26, 2026
This week, vertical drama moved into territory it hasn't occupied before. Marc Jacobs launched an ongoing microdrama series, not a campaign, a content platform. ABS-CBN Studios debuted its first vertical video production on iWant, bringing Southeast Asia's largest entertainment brand into the format. And in Los Angeles, vertical drama held its first-ever fan awards ceremony. The format's cultural and commercial footprint expanded on three fronts simultaneously.
LA Vertical Drama Market Returns to Hollywood, May 7–10
LA Vertical Drama Market (LAVDM) returns for its second edition May 7–10, 2026, at FAB Factory Entertainment in Hollywood. The program includes 8 Vertical Labs, 10 expert panels, 6 curated conversations, 4 VIP events, a high-stakes Pitch Competition, and the IAVA Gala on May 10, presenting the Apollo Awards across 15 categories, with peer-jury determined nominees in acting, directing, writing, art design, and technology. The inaugural LAVDM in September 2025 drew more than 300 attendees. Founder Dana Protsyshak announced the decision to go semi-annual as a direct response to industry demand, describing the market as "a bridge for professionals, studios, platforms, writers, directors, actors and executives who are either actively working or who want to learn more about the industry."
ABS-CBN Studios Debuts First Vertical Drama on iWant, With Free + Subscription Split ↗
ABS-CBN Studios announced its first vertical drama, The Chambermaid's Daughter, starring Alexa Ilacad and Gelo Rivera of P-pop group BGYO, set to premiere on iWant on April 30. The 30-episode series follows a hotel room attendant hired as a private Tagalog translator by a Korean executive, sparking a romance. Distribution is structured as a hybrid: the first five episodes are available free on the iWant app, ABS-CBN Facebook, and iWant YouTube, with episodes 6 through 30 exclusive to iWant subscribers at ₱35 per month in the Philippines and $12.99 in the U.S. ABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest entertainment conglomerate, with programming on ALLTV, cable, and global streaming, explicitly describes the project as a "strategic shift" for the studio, designed for mobile-first viewing and joining iWant's expanding vertical drama lineup.
ABS-CBN is the dominant content brand in the Philippines and has a diaspora audience across the U.S., Middle East, and Southeast Asia; its adoption of the free-to-subscription funnel model for vertical drama gives the format its most culturally embedded distribution infrastructure yet in Southeast Asia.
Marc Jacobs Launches Ongoing Microdrama Series With Rachel Sennott, and Calls It a Strategic Pivot
On April 23, Marc Jacobs released The Scene, a scripted microdrama written by and starring Rachel Sennott, creator and star of HBO's I Love LA, as the brand's Pre-Fall 2026 campaign. Set in Manhattan, the film follows Sennott through a chaotic day attempting to secure a Met Gala invitation, with cameos from Francesca Scorsese and Sandra Bernhard. The campaign doubles as the debut vehicle for the new Scene Bag. Crucially, Marc Jacobs positioned this not as a one-off branded film but as the first installment of "Question Marc", an ongoing episodic storytelling platform designed to replace traditional seasonal campaigns entirely. Chief Marketing Officer Kristin Patrick told Adweek the brand assembled a full entertainment production team, including a director of photography, and gave Sennott significant creative autonomy. Marc Jacobs joins Maybelline, P&G, and Crocs in adopting the microdrama format for brand marketing.
When a luxury house replaces its campaign infrastructure with an ongoing microdrama series, and hires an entertainment production team to execute it, the format has crossed from marketing experiment to brand strategy layer.
Peter Adams
Cairns Crocodiles Sets Dedicated Microdrama Panel, FlareFlow Data Shows Australia Outperforming Every Other Market
In a Variety exclusive published April 20, Cairns Crocodiles, Asia-Pacific's premier creativity festival, comparable in regional stature to Cannes Lions, confirmed a dedicated microdrama session titled "The Maestros of Microdramas" for its May 12–14 edition in Queensland. COL Group International General Manager Timothy Oh will appear alongside NITV Executive Producer Nikyah Hutchings to discuss brand integration, storytelling habits, and creative opportunity across the APAC region. The news item included a data point that carries its own weight: FlareFlow reports that Australia is outperforming every other market on the platform in revenue per user, audience depth, and new-user conversion speed. Cairns Crocodiles drew over 2,100 attendees in 2025 and positions itself explicitly at the intersection of Australian and Asian media markets.
Australia's per-user revenue performance on FlareFlow, outpacing even the U.S., makes it the most commercially underreported market in vertical drama right now, and a dedicated panel at Cairns Crocodiles signals that local broadcasters and brands are about to start acting on that data.
Naman Ramachandran
Inaugural Vertical Drama Love Fan Awards Held in Los Angeles, Industry and Fans in the Same Room
The first-ever Vertical Drama Love Fan Awards took place on April 23 at El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles, with FlareFlow serving as presenting partner. The event was created and independently operated by Jen Cooper of the @VerticalDramaLove platform, with all nominations, shortlists, and winners determined entirely by audience vote from over 100 countries across six continents. Attendees included prominent microdrama actors Noah Fearnley, Nicole Mattox, and Eric Guilmette, alongside industry representatives from BuzzFeed Studios' vertical arm Halogen Cinema, Eris Talent, and Zak Barnett Studios. FlareFlow contributed one category, the Spark Award, recognizing the most adventurous creative risk by a production company or creator in 2025, but exercised no influence over any other award.
A fan-voted, live-venue awards ceremony in Los Angeles with a sponsor roster that includes BuzzFeed Studios is infrastructure, not symbolism, vertical drama now has the cultural apparatus of a recognized genre, built from the audience up rather than the industry down.
Naman Ramachandran
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