The slate, titled AfriVerts, consists of five vertical series projects selected from a wider pool of submissions. The slate is currently in development and will enter production as a 60-episode series each, with each episode running between one and three minutes. Designed for mobile-first audiences and built for global distribution, the AfriVerts slate aims to mark a significant moment for African digital content, one that positions African creators at the centre of a format that is reshaping how the world consumes stories, says MTP.

"The vision for the African Microdrama Producers (AMP) network and its production unit, the MTP collective, is to foster collaboration amongst African creatives. As Africans, we need to actively participate in this space. The Microdrama Production Team (MPT) however is different. Look at it as an action team fuelled by passion and vision. This is us saying we won't just consume content, we will actually create and participate in the value chain," says Bonginhlanhla Ncube, the Convener and Visionary Leader of the initiative.

The MPT currently comprises 35 professional filmmakers supported by a broader network called the African Microdrama Producers (AMP) of more than 500 creatives across the continent. The MPT collective was established in direct response to the explosive growth of vertical content platforms, where short-form drama has emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most commercially viable formats in the global creator economy.

"Micro drama offers real opportunities for creators to tell compelling stories while responding to the changing ways audiences consume content. From a business point of view, it's also an opportunity for us to reimagine better business models that put creatives at the centre and that protect creative IP," says Busisiwe Ntintili, Founder of Ntintili Factory and Chairperson of the Writers Guild of South Africa.

Ntintili has already given training in vertical storytelling to the first cohort of creators in the inaugural AfriVerts slate and is excited to see the slate through from development to five vertical series for global audiences. She also plays the major role as one of three Executive Producers tasked with oversight of the AfriVerts slate, says MPT.

The vertical content market has seen extraordinary growth over the past two years, with platforms across Asia, North America and Europe reporting significant audience appetite for short-form serialised drama. MPT says its model is designed to meet this demand with an African creative and production perspective that has, until now, been largely absent from the format.

"Microdramas are important in Africa because they present a golden opportunity to show how vast our stories are. They fit any global format that has a market for content consumption. They're also an avenue for new talent to enter the stage, and they teach us to be adaptive, be lean and have quick turn arounds," says Kopedi Aphane of APN Pictures, one of the three Executive Producers of the AfriVerts slate.

Productions are structured around lean, agile methodologies, small crews, limited locations and tight production windows that allow for rapid turnaround without sacrificing storytelling quality. Each series is expected to be shot within five to eight days, a timeline that demands creative discipline and careful pre-production planning, says MPT.

"MPT was established to give us a chance of being frontrunners to shape a new way of storytelling using vertical drama format. We have been monitoring its performance on a global scale and are excited about the mark African creators will make," says Neiloe Whitehead, Founder of Black Seed Film Hub, one of three Executive Producers. 

Beyond speed, the model is built with the aim to be financially sustainable for independent African creators. By keeping production costs accessible and retaining intellectual property ownership within the collective, MPT says it is developing a framework that other African filmmakers can learn from, adapt and build upon. There are active plans to scale the AfriVerts MPT model to other African countries in the near future.

The model prioritises high-volume output, cost-efficient production, skills transfer and stories with genuine international market appeal.

The initiative's ambitions extend beyond the five projects in this slate. The collective is committed to using each production as an opportunity to learn, develop and refine creative processes, transfer knowledge and strengthen the wider African creative industry, concludes MPT.

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*Image courtesy of contributor