TikTok And Cannes Push Vertical Drama Toward The Mainstream

BusinessMediaTikTok And Cannes Push Vertical Drama Toward The MainstreamByMaureen Kerr,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Maureen Kerr covers AI, media and entertainment economics.Follow AuthorMay 28, 2026, 04:29am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.TikTok (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NurPhoto via Getty ImagesA week that began with TikTok licensing Indian microdramas and ended with AI-made vertical films circulating around Cannes showed how far the format has moved in a year. Vertical drama is no longer only app-store entertainment. It is becoming part of global distribution.TikTok Tests Indian Microdrama IPThe shift is not just that short dramas are popular. It is that major platforms are starting to license them. Pratilipi-owned Double Tap Films has announced a one-year, non-exclusive TikTok licensing deal for 21 Hindi microdrama titles across the United States, Canada, Brazil and Japan. The slate includes Avnika Ki Shaadi, Apavitra and CEO Se Romeo, distributed in Hindi with localized subtitles. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.In a company statement, Sharlton Menezes, vice president of IP and key partnerships at Pratilipi and Double Tap Films, called the TikTok deal “the first proof point of what we set out to build: a studio whose IP doesn’t stop at India’s borders.” The shows are adapted from stories that have already found readers on Pratilipi. That changes the commissioning logic: not pilot first, but proven story first.Double Tap is not trying to invent vertical drama from scratch. It is turning Indian-language stories into 9:16 scripted serials, then taking them to markets where diaspora viewers and mobile-first audiences overlap. The deal makes India not just a market for microdrama, but a possible exporter of the format.Lumikai’s State of India Interactive Media Report 2025—the fifth edi...