Chile’s TVN preps microdrama as it moves into vertical programming market

Chilean public channel TVN is moving into the vertical programming space as it returns to producing original fiction.

Javier Goldschmied

The broadcaster’s first entry in this booming sector will debut this year in the shape of a romcom microdrama. It has been created together with director Boris Quercia (Los 80) and screenwriter Diego Ayala (Luis Miguel, la Serie).

According to the channel, the series is already in production and will begin filming “in the coming weeks.”

The project is being coproduced with Santiago-based prodco Poston, whose content showrunner Joaquín Matamala is in charge of production. Led by TVN programming director Javier Goldschmied, the team making the show also includes the channel’s head of projects, Paula Ovalle.

TVN said: “Adapted for consumption on mobile devices and new digital platforms, vertical TV series respond to changes in audience habits, with viewers increasingly preferring more dynamic and accessible content.

“Far from being a passing trend, this phenomenon is already considered a consolidated industry in countries such as Chile and the US, where it has reached millions of viewers and record production figures.”

TVN joins the growing wave of vertical drama producers in Latin America, led by US company ReelShort. Other players, such as TelevisaUnivision (which will produce 40 series), Caracol (which has formed an alliance with ReelShort) and Chile’s Canal 13, have also launched their first series in this format this year.

The Kwai platform in Brazil and the recently launched Vyco are also promoting the genre in the region.