Microdrama app VeYou picks up Bitz Films’ Elon Musk biopic as library grows

VeYou, the recently launched microdrama app from Hollywood producer Tommy Harper, has acquired a vertical biopic about Elon Musk as it grows its library of shortform programming.

Elon runs to 52 episodes

Elon comes from San Francisco-based startup Bitz Films and is described as a “provocative, genre-bending biopic that humanises the world’s most controversial technologist.”

The 52-episode series was self-funded and launched by Bitz Films last October, with the first five episodes available to watch for free and viewers paying for subsequent episodes, which are around a minute long.

Incorporating “speculative sci-fi” elements, it dramatises Musk’s explosive early failures at SpaceX to the triumph of its fourth launch, his high-stakes Twitter acquisition, his turbulent personal life and his Mars space travel ambitions.

It stars Kaleb Brand as Musk and Jamie Hughes as his ex-wife Justine. The original screenplay was written by Matthew Syrett (Freeheld, Merpeople) and it was directed by Kathryn Wyatt and produced by Andrew Pearce and Karbis Sarafyan, with Serena Jiang serving as executive producer.

Bitz Films was founded in January 2025 by longtime Google executive and entrepreneur Lei Zhang and vertical drama executive producer Jiang.

“Shot for a fraction of the cost and time of traditional filmmaking, the project reimagines the traditional US$30m biopic with bold narrative ambition, the responsible use of cutting-edge AI technologies, and a steadfast commitment to independent creative expression,” Bitz Films said.

Elon is one of numerous shortform series acquired by VeYou, which launched this month with its flagship original series Love Under Fire and third-party acquisitions such as It Was Always You, Stroke of Love, Driven to Love and 30 Days to Love.

Harper, whose credits include Top Gun: Maverick and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is aiming for VeYou to become “the HBO” of vertical video and is planning a host of originals to be made by production arm Tiny Verticals.

According to Louisiana news outlet The Advocate, Because of Her will star Kasey Esser (Love Under Fire) and will be the first of numerous Tiny Verticals projects to film in Baton Rouge.