VertiGals

The VertiGals sit down with Senior Screen Writer for DramaWave, Astrid Carlen-Helmer. Astrid is a French-American screenwriter and a graduate of the London Film School. She began her career in development at Blackpills, a short-form series studio, where she contributed to the creation of young adult fiction intended for international distribution. She later became Head of Development at the Franco-American production company HKCorp, where she developed multicultural projects, including The Chef in a Truck (Netflix / Wild Bunch). After several years in development, Astrid transitioned into writing. She worked as an author for the Originals divisions of the digital publishing platforms Tapas Media and Wattpad: she wrote a romantasy duology for Tapas and later served as a ghostwriter and head writer for Wattpad on several titles. She is also the co-author of Space Cadet, a Hachette-published novel based on the Amazon Studios film of the same name. After working as a writer at ReelShort, writing hit titles such as Dr. Boss is My Baby Daddy and Claimed by my Ex’s Alpha Brother, Astrid is now a senior screenwriter for DramaWave.

The VertiGals sit down with Vertical Super Fan, Influencer, and industry thought leader Meagan Johnson of @realreeldrama to talk about what the fans love about Verticals, what makes this industry so fascinating, and everything that Meagan is building in the entertainment space.

The VertiGals sit down with multi-hyphenate Dana Protsyshak to discuss her journey from romance novelist to her career in Vertical Drama filmmaking. Dana Protsyshak is the founder of Dana Productions, Vert-I-Go Media and the LA Vertical Drama Market, the first industry event dedicated exclusively to vertical drama storytelling, and the creator of OtheR, a dystopian series in development across long-form and vertical formats. With experience across 30+ vertical projects in writing, development, and production, she is recognized for her expertise in mobile-first storytelling and regularly evaluates vertical content for festivals, studios, and platforms. Dana develops and directs original vertical projects with international teams, builds Vert-I-Go Media app and curates industry communities through her Vertical Mixers, helping advance the vertical storytelling ecosystem.

The VertiGals have the pleasure of interviewing the brilliant Rachel Zilberg, Lead Writer at "Shorts," the platform known for rom coms and feel good productions. Rachel got her start in romance based mobile gaming and took the natural next step into vertical drama writing. She has written several exceptional vertical dramas, not limited to "Love Switch: Billionaire CEO vs. Mafia King" which was the recipient of 2025 Hollywood Vertical Awards' 'Most Captivating Dual Identity'. In this episode, we discuss the world of romance based mobile gaming, what it's like to lead a team of writers at one of the industries leading platforms, and what the future of vertical storytelling holds.

Hollywood is evolving, and former screenwriter, legacy Film & TV producer, CEO of 3Pas Studio, and creator of the "Open Gardens" and "Vertical Bloom" sub stacks, Ben Odell, is at the forefront of that evolution. Ben joins the VertiGals to talk about how storytelling is evolving from Hollywood's perspective, the creator economy, the arrival of AI , and how digital media and legacy media have already converged, and will continue to.

The VertiGals have the pleasure of sitting down with inspiring MicroDrama writer and winner of ReelShort's Top Romance Prize, Dena Dizdar Plumer. After raising a family, Dena decided to move to Los Angeles from Texas to pursue her life long dream of being a screenwriter. As a former copywriter and Ad Exectuive, Dena talks about how her career in advertising influences her work in MicroDramas, how to become a MicroDrama writer at any stage in life, and what it's like to work as a writer in the age of AI.

The VertiGals have so much fun learning about Kristen Brancaccio's journey to conquering the vertical world. Having directed 17 verticals to date, Kristen has a lot of insight in the structure that works best in verticals and how the marketing and financing models around verticals will have to change for vertical story telling to be able to effectively evolve.

The VertiGals talk about Alison's hit release on MyDrama "LoveScore" and review a few other Vertical Dramas they enjoyed. They also talk about the experience of writing verticals from idea to production and what that's been like from a writers perspective. Thom Woodley joins them to talk about his experience working in digital content and vertical content since 2023 - past failures, current happenings, and where he thinks the Vertical industry is headed in the future.

In today’s episode we chat about verticals we love, why we love writing and watching verticals, cover some industry headlines, and dive into the Omegaverse. We also have a really insightful chat with the brilliant and talented writer Adrion Trujillo.

Alison and Natalie discuss Verticals they've watched over the past week and sit down with writer and digital visionary Isabel Dréan - a pioneer in the Vertical Drama world. Isabel discusses the current state and the future of the Vertical Drama business and dives into her soon to be released book "How to Write a Vertical Series in 10 Days." Isabel offers incredible insights into the craft and technique of writing Vertical Microdramas, and how to write commercially to get hired and paid in the Vertical Drama industry. This is an absolute "must-listen" for all creatives curious about how to work as a writer in Verticals.

VertiGals is a podcast about the titillating craft of writing Vertical Micro Dramas, hosted by two hilarious pros who are eager to bring some comic relief to the wild world of smacks, whacks, and malicious mother-in-law attacks. Each episode offers candid conversations with industry voices, explores the creative process and tackles tough questions like how to keep the viewers attention over 50+ episodes? The show also addresses other facets of this fast-growing format including the latest news in vertical entertainment, platform trends, and which actors have the best six packs.