Access Entertainment has become the latest big player to take a closer look at the microdrama space.
Danny Cohen, who runs the Zone of Interest investor and financier, told a British Screen Forum (BSF) panel last week that the firm is “looking at the moment in microdrama,” a sub-genre that started out securing huge audiences in Asia and has gained traction in the U.S. in recent months.
“There are a huge amount of microdrama startups on the cusp at the moment,” said Cohen. “One or two are already making very good money.”
Cohen said the firm that has backed the likes of The Zone of Interest, The Iron Claw and the upcoming Sweetsick with Cate Blanchett is also thinking more about the content creator space and gaming as it takes account of trends in the ever-shifting industry. Content creators were a big topic of conversation at the BSF and one panel helmed by YouTube UK boss Alison Lomax focused on the space and its place in the wider landscape.
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Microdramas, or vertical videos, are soaring, and Hollywood is beginning to catch on. A sub-genre that started out in Asia and is set to exceed box office revenue in China this year has shifted to the States in a big way. During the past few weeks, Fox Entertainment has invested in Holywater, a 55 million-user platform that operates My Drama, My Passion and My Muse. Meanwhile, traditional TV execs Jana Winograde and Susan Rovner launched microdrama studio MicroCo backed by Cineverse and Lloyd Braun.
Cohen didn’t expand on which companies Access is looking at but his acknowledgement gives a window into the strategy of the firm run by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries.
Delving deeper into strategy, Cohen, a former BBC TV chief, said Access is investing in movies but “less in television.” It is eschweing Broadway due to a sharp increase in costs, he added, although will keep investing in London’s West End.
“Broadway theater costs have actually gone absolutely bananas,” said Cohen. “The same thing on Broadway costs three times what it costs to produce on the West End.”