Pour the coffee, get comfy, and welcome to the very first edition of our daily. We're so glad you're here. The Hookling is still figuring out the espresso machine, so bear with us while we get warmed up.
Now, let's get into it!
Hollywood just swiped right on vertical 🎬
OK, here's the thing: as of this Thursday, vertical drama is officially the format that Hollywood's three biggest streamers have all copied. Yes — Disney, Netflix, and Amazon. The suits in the turtlenecks.
Quick recap of what happened in 70 days flat:
👉 March 12 — Disney+ launched 'Verts,' a vertical scroll feed inside the app.
👉 April 30 — Netflix rolled out 'Clips,' basically the same thing.
👉 May 8 (this Thursday!) — Amazon Prime Video launched its own 'Clips' on iPhone, Android, and Fire tablets, expanding beyond NBA highlights into the full catalog.
Three platforms, three feeds, three near-identical names. Originality, who?
But here's what's actually telling: none of these are new shows. They're discovery surfaces stapled onto libraries the streamers already own — clips of catalog they already paid for, scrolled with the gesture audiences learned on TikTok, ReelShort, and DramaBox.
Translation: Hollywood didn't invent this. They watched ReelShort hit $1.2B in revenue and noticed their daily-active numbers were getting eaten.
Why this matters for you: If you're making vertical, your distribution map just doubled overnight. If you're a skeptical exec, the format is table stakes now — not a maybe. And if you've been waiting for the sign that vertical isn't a fad? Three of the biggest streamers in the world just handed it to you on a silver scroll-wheel.
While the streamers were busy swiping right, three other things moved on the vertical beat this week, and they're worth a minute of your time.
1. Taye Diggs went creator-first, and honestly? We love it. His new platform Microhouse Films charges zero upload or hosting fees, lets filmmakers set their own pricing and release strategy, and treats creators like the actual product. Imagine that. → Variety
2. China is upping the regulatory ante. After yanking 25,000+ non-compliant titles, Beijing is now moving controls upstream — script approval, title clearance, character-creation vetting, and pre-release sign-off. Translation: producing in China just got a whole lot more complicated. → The Nation Thailand
3. AI-generated dramas are coming in hot. China launched roughly 470 AI-made short dramas per day in January alone, with AI's share of top-chart titles jumping from 7% to ~40% in a year. Cost-per-show dropped from about $150K to as low as $8K. Wild numbers. Real implications. → MIT Technology Review
Honestly? Hollywood spent five years calling vertical a fad. Now they've all got a Clips button. Sometimes the suits really do get there eventually.
Until tomorrow. Stay Vertical.