Endless Thread
Love in 60 Seconds
Feb 14, 2025
Wanda Brewer's journey through grief leads her to an unexpected love: 60-second soap opera dramas on Instagram. These bite-sized vertical shorts, featuring mafia bosses and werewolves, are captivating millions. The podcast delves into their rise in America, exploring the lucrative industry behind them and their emotional appeal to younger audiences. As viewers binge on cliffhangers and romance, the show examines how this format reshapes entertainment consumption, relationship dynamics, and the industry challenges faced by creators.
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Quick takeaways
- The rise of vertical shorts, originating in China, showcases a new entertainment model driven by rapid consumption and subscription-based revenue streams.
- Despite their popularity, vertical shorts face industry challenges such as low production quality and inadequate compensation for creators, impacting storytelling potential.
Deep dives
The Rise of Vertical Shorts
Vertical shorts, a burgeoning genre within the film industry, originated in China during the pandemic and have rapidly gained traction worldwide. Characterized by their short format, typically lasting between one to two minutes, these dramas often revolve around themes of romance, fantasy, and family conflicts. By 2024, the vertical short market in China was projected to be worth nearly $7 billion, with a staggering number of production companies and streaming platforms facilitating their widespread distribution. These platforms lure viewers in with free trial episodes but subsequently require subscriptions or in-app purchases for continued access, creating a lucrative business model that capitalizes on rapid consumption.
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