Vancouver has long been known as “Hollywood North.” Now it’s quietly becoming something else, too: a global hub for microdramas.

As bite-size, mobile-first series that originated in Asia begin to capture the attention — and investment — of major U.S. studios and streamers, production of vertical microdramas is thriving on Canada’s West Coast. The ultrashort, soap-inflected series, designed to be watched on phones in 60- to 90-second bursts, are providing steady work for local creatives and crews at a time when traditional film and TV production remains uneven.

Director Brianne Nord-Stewart recalls initially hesitating when she saw a Facebook post seeking a filmmaker for One Last Temptation Before I Say I Do, a vertical microdrama for Singapore-based platform GoodShort. The project’s compressed format and unfamiliar distribution model gave her pause. But Nord-Stewart ultimately signed on, in part because she trusted producer Sammie Astaneh and had already worked as an intimacy coordinator on several local microdrama shoots.

“I figured, because it was Sammie, the production would be at a standard I’d want to be involved with,” Nord-Stewart tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Making sure the crew was taken care of was my biggest concern.”

Set around a high-stakes dating reality show inside a luxury mansion, the project placed Nord-Stewart squarely inside what has become a microdrama production boom in Vancouver. For many local creatives, the format represents both a creative experiment and a pragmatic response to a shifting industry landscape. “If I’m going to direct a vertical,” she says, “it’s because I’m investing in relationships.”

Others in Vancouver’s production community are leaning in just as enthusiastically. Casting director and consulting producer Monika Dalman, who has worked on roughly 20 microdramas for platforms including GoodShort, sees the format as uniquely resilient.

“I joke and say they’re like the cockroach of film,” Dalman says, quickly clarifying. “I don’t mean they’re lesser — I mean they survive. These stories really draw people in, especially in times of chaos and confusion.”

That resilience is rooted in a major consumer shift. Microdramas — which combine the immediacy of social media with the heightened emotions of soap operas and telenovelas — originated in China in 2018 and exploded during the pandemic. Now they’re making a serious push into North America, with platforms such as ReelShort, DramaBox, CandyJar and NetShort flooding the market.

Unlike Jeffrey Katzenberg’s short-lived Quibi experiment, microdramas have found traction by embracing vertical viewing, aggressive cliffhangers and binge-friendly monetization models. Early episodes are typically free, while viewers are nudged toward paying $20 to $40 to unlock a full season once hooked.

“You have the subscription bingeability of Netflix, the compulsive mobile format of TikTok and the trope-driven appeal of telenovelas,” says Catherine Warren, president of Vancouver-based entertainment consultancy FanTrust. Warren is now preparing to launch FanTrust Verticals, a network connecting studios, creators, casting agents and microdrama platforms looking to tap new revenue streams.

Vancouver’s appeal is multifaceted. The city boasts world-class crews, competitive incentives, and deep experience servicing Hollywood productions — alongside a large Chinese population, Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking professionals, and international students familiar with the microdrama ecosystem.

“It makes sense that Vancouver would become a test bed,” Warren says. “People here understand the language, the culture and the dealmaking behind microdramas.”

Hollywood is paying attention. Dalman notes that U.S. studios and networks are increasingly exploring how vertical storytelling could fit into their own business models, rather than ceding younger audiences entirely to standalone microdrama apps.

That urgency is fueled by money. The U.S. has become the largest ad-revenue market for Asian-based microdrama platforms, even as traditional linear TV continues to decline. Market intelligence firm Omdia projects global microdrama revenues to reach $11 billion in 2025.

Local producer Jimmy Wu is among those capitalizing on the moment. Through Vertical Film Vancouver, Wu has shot approximately 17 microdrama series in the past year and is now developing and financing original verticals. His latest, Mafia Boss Owns My Body, was produced for about $140,000 over six days and licensed by ReelShort.

“The market wants content and is demanding content,” Wu says. “We’re building a slate of premium projects to stand out.”

Actors, too, are finding consistent work. Australian performer Nic Westaway, best known for Home and Away, has appeared in 28 verticals since moving to Vancouver 18 months ago.

“These shows move fast,” Westaway says. “In ten minutes, someone’s crying, someone’s yelling, someone’s being slapped. The plot twists come quick.”

Production schedules are intense — often six to 10 days with as many as 20 script pages shot per day — but Westaway says the pace rewards preparation and discipline.

As the sector matures, Vancouver insiders stress that early “Wild West” conditions are giving way to more professionalized standards, including better budgets, stronger scripts and improved protections for cast and crew.

“There’s been a rapid professionalization,” Warren says. “Safety standards, working conditions, intimacy coordinators — all of that is becoming the norm.”

For Vancouver, microdramas are no longer a novelty. They’re fast becoming a meaningful — and growing — part of the city’s production economy, positioning Hollywood North at the forefront of a vertical storytelling revolution.