Margot Robbie’s Neighbours storylines fuel debate over microdrama definition
RoseBerry Media is adapting two Margot Robbie storylines from Neighbours into vertical episodes for the streaming app Epis, prompting debate over whether repackaging an established soap counts as a microdrama. The distinction matters as entertainment companies look to make vertical video a larger part of the industry.
Microdramas are typically low-budget series made for mobile viewing, with short episodes, familiar story tropes and cliffhanger endings. The format gained traction in China around 2018; revenue from short-form video there was projected to reach $500 million by 2021, $7 billion by 2024 and $16.2 billion by 2030. The article argues that recutting Neighbours resembles other repurposed television and film more than the original, melodramatic series that popularised the format.
- Neighbours is being recut into vertical episodes for Epis.
- The article questions whether that makes it a microdrama.
- The format grew rapidly in China and is drawing Hollywood interest.
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Originally published by The Verge as “What even is a ‘microdrama’?”.