Nico Tortorella Goes Vertical With a Queer Microdrama Trilogy on ReelShort

Nico Tortorella is going vertical.

The Younger star is joining ReelShort for a queer microdrama trilogy adapted from Sierra Simone’s Lyonesse series. Three stories, three September premieres, one major crossover into vertical entertainment:

• Salt Kiss, September 6
• Honey Cut, September 15
• Bitter Burn, September 24

Tortorella stars as billionaire Mark Trevena, alongside Jake Lively and Katelyn Rose, in a contemporary queer reimagining inspired by the legend of Tristan and Isolde.

The bigger story

Three things that have each been moving separately in vertical are converging in one project: recognizable Hollywood talent, established intellectual property with a built-in readership, and LGBTQ+ storytelling that the format has only recently begun to serve.

Simone’s novels have a devoted audience that will follow the adaptation onto a platform many of them have never used. Tortorella brings press attention the format rarely gets. And a queer trilogy as a flagship release, rather than a side offering, tells the industry something about where ReelShort thinks its audience is going.

What it means for the format

Vertical is not just creating new stars anymore. It is attracting established ones. The association’s interest is in how that crossover is managed: Lively and Rose are vertical leads with their own followings, and the trilogy’s casting treats them as co-leads rather than support. That is the model worth repeating.

Pride in stories. Power in representation. And, as always, credits verified and delivered.