Pride Month: LGBTQ+ Microdramas Are Becoming a Bigger Part of Vertical
New stories, new voices and new audiences are arriving in the format. The association asked the community for its favorites.
Happy Pride Month from the association.
LGBTQ+ microdramas are becoming a bigger part of the vertical industry, bringing new stories, new voices and new audiences to the screen.
A format finding its range
Vertical drama’s first wave was narrow: billionaire romance, revenge, secret heirs, with a cast of straight couples in every lead. The platforms built their libraries on it because it converted.
The second wave is broader. Queer romance, in particular, has found an audience that the format’s first titles ignored, and platforms have noticed. The clearest signal came later in the year, when ReelShort chose a queer trilogy adapted from Sierra Simone’s Lyonesse novels, with Nico Tortorella in the lead, as a flagship release rather than a niche offering.
Why it matters for the industry
More kinds of stories mean more kinds of leads, more writers whose experience the format has not drawn on, and audiences that have been underserved by every other screen. For a format that lives on audience growth, that is a business case as well as a cultural one.
What is your favorite LGBTQ+ vertical drama right now? The association asked the community for recommendations. The format is wider than it was a year ago, and it is wider because of the people who asked for more.