Vertical Weekly：Beauty Brands, India Rules, Global Scale
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Beauty brands go vertical, India tightens controls, COL expands global licensing, queer microdramas break out, and the U.K. press calls it an industry
Week of Dec. 13–19, 2025
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Beauty goes vertical: Maybelline commissions a holiday micro-drama on ReelShort.
Maybelline New York rolled out a branded vertical micro-drama, Maybe This Christmas, starring Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan, produced by Maximum Effort. The project runs as a short-form, phone-native holiday series and was developed in under six weeks, according to campaign coverage. The brand framed the series as a narrative-led alternative to conventional short-form ads, distributed through ReelShort and social platforms. The move reflects how major consumer brands are now treating vertical micro-dramas as a standalone media buy, not just a promotional experiment.
ByJennimai Nguyen
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India moves toward regulation: ShareChat’s QuickTV introduces age ratings and parental PIN locks.
India-based ShareChat has added content ratings (U, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, A) and PIN-based parental controls to its micro-drama app QuickTV, restricting access to mature content by default. The update follows growing scrutiny of short-form drama apps in the Indian market and positions QuickTV as one of the first major platforms to implement a structured classification system. The change signals that micro-dramas in India are entering a phase of platform normalization and compliance, rather than operating as an unregulated growth category.
ET
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COL Group expands global licensing: FlareFlow adds ~50 “blockbuster” vertical titles to its catalogue.
In a Dec. 18 release, COL Group International announced that its micro-drama platform FlareFlow has added around 50 high-performing vertical titles to COL’s international licensing catalogue, bringing the total library to 1,000+ microdramas available for global partners. The company positions the catalogue as a turnkey offering for broadcasters, streamers, and media platforms, with localization and marketing assets included. Executives emphasized distribution across 170+ regions, underscoring how vertical drama libraries are now being packaged and sold through traditional content licensing frameworks, not just app-based ecosystems.
COL Group Co.,Ltd.
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FlareFlow pushes “micro-binge” positioning as it scales internationally.
Separately, FlareFlow highlighted a “micro-binge” consumption pattern in corporate communications, describing typical episodes at 60–90 seconds and average viewing sessions of 15–25 minutes. While the metrics are company-reported, the framing is notable: vertical micro-dramas are increasingly described using the same engagement language as long-form streaming, reinforcing their pitch as habit-forming entertainment, not disposable clips.
COL Group Co.,Ltd.
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Queer micro-drama breaks out: The Prince’s First Love crosses into mainstream attention.
The ReelShort series The Prince’s First Love, a queer romantic comedy told across dozens of sub–two-minute episodes, gained viral traction this week after social clips surpassed one million views on X. Coverage by Condé Nast–owned Them marked a rare crossover moment, where a vertical micro-drama was treated as a culturally relevant title rather than a niche app series. The attention highlights how the format is beginning to support identity-driven storytelling capable of traveling beyond its original platform.
Mathew Rodriguez
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Mainstream U.K. press names the category: micro-dramas as a billion-dollar industry.
A Dec. 19 feature in The Guardian framed micro-dramas as a fast-growing, billion-dollar global sector, linking Asian revenue models with emerging Western platforms and Hollywood participation. The article situates vertical dramas within a post-strike production landscape defined by lower budgets, faster turnaround, and mobile-first audiences. Importantly, the framing is no longer speculative: the category is described as an industry, not a trend.
Adrian Horton
