A forum discussing vertical shorts.
Friday, November 14, 2025
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Main Conference Room (room 11360)
Charles E. Young Research Library
For more than a hundred years, cinema has dominated popular culture and the public's imagination, however, over the past few years a new mode of filmmaking has emerged that is challenging television, film, and other traditional modes of visual entertainment. Vertical shorts are short episodic serial dramas produced specifically for consumption on cellphones. Last year revenue from vertical shorts surpassed that of feature films in China and many filmmakers are increasingly turning towards vertical shorts as their main creative platform. This forum will bring together leaders in the production of vertical shorts to discuss the aesthetics and economics of this new platform.
Panel 1 — Creation & Aesthetics of Vertical Shorts
Sining Xiang (Writer/Director)
Sining Xiang is a UCLA-trained writer/director whose thesis short Foreign Uncle won the 27th DGA Student Jury Award and was acquired by The New Yorker’s Screening Room. His prior work includes Lighthouse, and he has moved fluidly into mobile-first storytelling. He has since become one of ReelShort’s breakout filmmakers, directing two of the platform’s biggest titles: The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband (300M+ plays) and Married at First Sight (100M+), built with mixed U.S.–China teams and rigorous “hook-per-episode” engineering.
Shawn Chou (Director/Editor)
Shawn Chou is the director of the U.S.–China comedy feature Tiger Mom, starring Ken Jeong, Zhang Jingchu and Michelle Krusiec, produced with Impossible Dream Entertainment and handled by The Exchange; the film shot in Vancouver and has screened in festival sneak previews. Before stepping behind the camera on features, Chou cut his teeth as an editor on acclaimed indie work, including festival title Reunion, and has long straddled East–West collaboration.
Johnny Jiang (Executive Producer of NetShort)
Johnny Jiang is a Los Angeles–based executive producer and post-production specialist with editorial-department credits on features including Final Frequency (2021) and Born a Champion (2021), and EP credit on one of the biggest hits in Vertical Drama: 30 Years Frozen: Emergency Rescue (2025). His background across finishing and editorial has supported a range of action and genre projects for U.S. and international partners.
Darren Yu Tian (Director/Producer, ONECAT LLC)
Darren Yu Tian is a Los Angeles–based director-producer and founder of ONECAT LLC, leverages his extensive international experience to craft narratives that resonate globally. His career trajectory, from producing high-quality advertising content during China’s economic boom to embracing online TV series and live broadcasting in Australia, and now pioneering mini-TV series in Los Angeles, exemplifies a strategic response to evolving viewer behaviors and industry trends.
Panel 2 — Industry & Operations
James “Yutao” Chen (Independent Producer)
James “Yutao” Chen is an independent producer specializing in overseas vertical dramas. Formerly Playlet’s General Manager of Global Market Development, he helped drive the platform’s U.S. push and monetization; industry coverage cites projects reaching RMB 1.4M single-day revenue and RMB 15M in three months. He has been a frequent voice in cross-border short-drama forums since 2023. In 2025, media identified Chen as an independent producer active in North America, including participation in HK FILMART’s International Short Drama forum. He continues to develop U.S.-made short-form series and advise on distribution and growth.
Weina Gao (Producer/Distributor, Forest Dream)
Weina Gao brings 30+ years of film/TV experience to vertical drama. After founding Forest Dream in the U.S., her team has co-produced for top outbound platforms—ShortTV (Jiuzhou), DramaBox (Dianzhong) and GoodShort (New Reading). As producer alongside director Sining Xiang, she helped deliver multiple ReelShort hits, including The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband and Married at First Sight.
Celine Zen (Producer; Co-founder, Real Reel)
Film producer bridging cultures and formats in feature films, vertical series, VR, FMV games, and immersive events. Founder of KOI Films (France), former Chief Content Officer at Starlight Media (Hollywood). Berlinale Talent Producer 2023, European Film Academy member, and King Hu Foundation board member. Collaborations include legendary John Woo and John Wick series director Chad Stahelski, with projects showcased at Rotterdam, Tribeca, and El Gouna. Co-producer of Playland (Rotterdam Tiger Award).
Brandan Dennehy (Producer/Strategist)
Brandan Dennehy is a veteran Hollywood creative producer and content strategist who has worked side by side with acclaimed filmmakers and producers such as; Michael Mann, Alan Taylor, Kevin Feige, and David Ellison. After more than a decade of blockbusters, he went on to pioneer the launch of Vertical Drama in the U.S. Starting in 2022 he built and scaled a full entertainment content studio producing over 10,000 hours of original and localized series, with over 200million users and billions of views. Today, he works with major players and start-ups alike to hone their content strategy, operationalize their acquisition, localization, development, production, and marketing functions, and end-to-end produce high impact vertical dramas. With Stratagem Vertical he is at the forefront of AI-driven collaboration, fusing personalization, story development, and production with creator and audience expansion. His personal mission is to expand the Micro Drama landscape beyond its current narrow audience and to take advantage of the huge white space that exists in the U.S. market for fans of every other genre.
Co-Sponsored by the UCLA East Asian Library.
Sponsor(s): Center for Chinese Studies