Danish actor Kristine Kay Larsen is making a living in Los Angeles from vertical micro-dramas, a mobile-first format with episodes of about two minutes, DR reported on September 9, 2026.
According to DR, Larsen bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in 2022. Her goal was roles in feature films and conventional television series. Her first job instead turned out to be a vertical, also called a micro-drama.
The episodes run about two minutes and are shot in portrait format for phone screens. As Larsen describes it to DR, everything except the drama and the cliffhangers is cut away. The format has also been labeled dopamine drama.
The production pace is the biggest difference from film work, she says. A vertical of 50 episodes typically takes one week, and at most 14 days, to shoot. Actors often learn which scenes they are doing only the day before, and study lines in the makeup chair.
From China to Hollywood
DR notes that the phenomenon began in China, and that Hollywood has come to see it as a way out of the downturn that has marked the film industry since the coronavirus pandemic. Figures from the media analysis firm Omdia, cited by DR, show that the number of vertical viewers in the United States has more than doubled over the past year.
Larsen says it is verticals that pay her bills, and that she did not expect the format to amount to anything when she first took part. She told DR that she now believes the format will keep growing, and that larger companies want in.
Studies show that women make up a particularly large share of the audience, according to DR. Larsen says her own following includes many housewives in their forties from the Midwest. She describes the appeal as quick, easy access to emotion without turning on a television.
She also says the format has changed how she works. Because the emotions are extreme and must land fast, she has learned to cry on cue and to fall down stairs. She compares each shoot to a day at drama school.
Several production companies are now making verticals with artificial intelligence because it is cheaper, DR reports, naming Dramabox and NetShort among them. Larsen says she has noticed the shift, but argues the viewing numbers show that users prefer real people over AI.
The format has also reached the Nordics. Norway’s NRK has produced the vertical series “21 dager”, and a Danish micro-drama called “Alt for God” has just been released. Director, screenwriter and producer Lina Csillag discussed the series on DR P1’s culture program “K-Live”.
