RIVR Media sets up microdrama division and wins greenlight from Shortical

Dash of Fire focuses on a star chef who loses everything

Tennessee-based production company RIVR Media is expanding into the microdrama space with the launch of a vertical video-focused division called RIVR Films.

The first project from the new arm is Dash of Fire, an original culinary drama starring Jackson Tiller and produced for microdrama platform Shortical.

RIVR Media said its microseries division will develop and produce projects across a “range of creative and commercial models.” In addition to scripted, it plans to focus on shortform factual content, building on the 25 years it has already spent in the unscripted space.

Dash of Fire, which has a total runtime of around one hour, is described as a “high-stakes culinary drama about reinvention, rivalry and the price of ambition.” It follows a Michelin-bound chef (played by Tiller) who loses his restaurant, reputation and relationship overnight in a viral scandal and is forced to rebuild from scratch in a struggling neighborhood kitchen run by a fiercely independent self-taught chef (played by Grace Swanson). The series will premiere on Shortical on June 1.

Tiller has almost 40 microdrama credits, including Dracula’s Kiss: Spellbound by a Doppelganger and From Contract Lover to the Billionaire’s Bride, with those projects having amassed more than 1.5 billion views accumulatively, according to data supplied in a press release.

Dash of Fire is directed by Danny Farber, who has directed around 25 vertical dramas, while Swanson has appeared in about the same number.

“As a producer with decades of experience, we are entering this fast-growing space to build a serious, long-term production business,” said RIVR Media CEO Lori Stryer.

Lior Sasson, Shortical’s head of US operations, added: “As a studio with a long track record in premium production, RIVR brings a level of experience and discipline that will help elevate the category. Dash of Fire is a strong example of that, pairing proven creative instincts with a format built for today’s audiences. This kind of collaboration, where production expertise meets a modern, mobile-first distribution model, is what’s driving the next phase of growth in microdrama.”

Tiller said: “RIVR Films offered something I hadn’t found before in the vertical drama space: a genuine creative partnership. I brought the story, the characters, the conviction; they brought proven production expertise and infrastructure.”