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@ngergely

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Film & TV Producer | Vertical Drama Writer | Co-Host & Producer @vertigalspodcast 🫠| rep: @erisverticaltalent

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The VertiGals chat with @catefogarty & @chrissie_deguzman of @vertical.sunsets about the art of vertical filmmaking. @catefogarty is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker passionate about crafting female-driven stories that equally entertain and erode stereotypes. After traveling the world to work on a dozen plus vertical series, she co-founded Vertical Sunsets, a boutique creative studio that develops and produces microdrama content for a global audience. Their original series continue to elevate the genre while garnering hundreds of millions of views and attracting a fiercely loyal fanbase world-wide. Focused on equity and sustainability in filmmaking, Cate and her co-founders believe that diversity on both sides of the camera fosters high-quality, binge-worthy content that captivates viewers, and Vertical Sunsets continues to lead by example.

@chrissie_deguzman is an emotive storyteller, not only because of the amount of water in her birth chart, but because she firmly believes that the best stories are ones that are felt.

Having directed thirteen vertical shows as well as co-writing ten originals and producing four, she has been able to collaborate with various platforms such as ReelShort, TikTok,

GoodShort, DramaShorts and Webtoon shooting globally in LA, China and Canada. Being a pioneer in this medium, Chrissie has been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Produced By Magazine as well as invited back to her alma mater of USC to speak on a panel of experts discussing The Rise of Microdramas in Hollywood.

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You missed Swipe Left? 📲

Then consider this your warning. 😈

We’ve been holding onto this one.

2½ minutes of temptation, obsession, bad decisions, and just enough of Swipe Left: Dying for Love to show you exactly what you’ve been missing.

And yes… we’re giving you a LOT in this teaser.

Because at this point, if you still haven’t watched it, you’re missing out.

🔥 Swipe Left: Dying for Love
🏆 Vertical of the Year
🏆 Cutting Edge Award
🏆 Best Script
🏆 Best Edit

Stop watching from the sidelines.

Download muVpix and watch the entire series NOW. 📲

You’ve been warned. 😉

#SwipeLeft #DyingForLove #muVpix #VerticalDrama #MicroDrama VerticalSeries ShortFormDrama WatchNow MustWatch StreamingNow

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The VertiGals were lucky enough to chat with the writer of “Playback” on @my_drama_series, @pastelcali (Joelle Sellner). We chat about her varied writing career as well as ways in which vertical producers and platforms can work with the WGA in a way that works for everyone. As an advertising copywriter, Joelle worked in various media including TV, print, digital and radio. This experience, and her passion for storytelling, has inspired her to become proficient across many genres in entertainment. Joelle has written several produced romantic comedies including Hallmark Channel’s Paris, Wine & Romance and AMC’s Saving Christmas Spirit, which was shot in the Scottish Highlands. Her most recent project is the pop musical vertical drama Playback, for Holy Water/Fox Entertainment.
In addition to film and TV work, Joelle is an experienced comic book and videogame writer, with books published by Blizzard, DC, Lion Forge, Marvel, and Zenescope Entertainment. Graphic novels include a reboot of Saved by the Bell, and her most recent original YA graphic novel Werewoofs. She has also appeared as a superhero expert on the Minor Adventures With Topher Grace podcast.
In addition to her comics work, Joelle has written for a variety of animated TV shows and web series, including DC Super Hero Girls, LEGO Friends, and Al Roker Entertainment’s Weather Hunters.

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we love the idea of celebrating cats in your life with these striking sushi dishes. 😻

from blank ceramic canvases to Meow x Wow!

every piece tells a story @colormeminelarchmont

#potterypainting #catart #caturday #thingstodoinlosangeles #paintwithme

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The prince of Verticals, @sirdannyfarber, joined us for an incredibly fun and insightful deep dive into the evolution of vertical content since 2023. @sirdannyfarber is a director, actor, writer, and producer born and raised in Chicago, IL. With over a decade in the entertainment industry, Farber’s diverse filmmaking portfolio includes vertical dramas, music videos, commercials, narrative projects, and branded content. Farber has found success working in various international markets as a Microdrama Vertical Director and actor. As a director, Farber has made over twenty feature-length vertical dramas for various platforms including (but not limited to) ReelShort, Dramabox, Goodshort, and many more. As an actor, Farber has appeared in critically acclaimed TV shows like “1923,” “Chicago Fire,” and “Proven Innocent.” Farber continues to act and direct in projects that he creates for himself.

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In this episode, The VertiGals do a deep dive into the AIGC gold rush with director, producer, and creative executive @kayzhang__ . Kay is a director-producer and creative executive whose work has screened at Cannes and received honors from the Directors Guild of America and the Student Academy Awards. She began her career in independent film before moving into literary management at Range Media Partners, where she supported writers, creators, and screen-based IP. Zhang later emerged as a leading executive in the vertical microdrama space, serving as an executive producer at two of the category’s leading platforms. At @goodshortdrama , she produced four of the platform’s ten most commercially successful titles. She most recently produced exclusively for @dramabox_official , where she has produced multiple hit series that have contributed to the platform’s top-grossing performance through the first three quarters of 2026. Across her work, the titles she has produced have generated more than 2 billion combined views.

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The 2026 Verties Winners continue! 🏆

Next up: Visionary Pen ✍️

#TheVerties #VertiConBWP #VisionaryPen #Verties2026

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So much love for the vertical community!!! I love what we do thank you to everyone at @verticon_bwp thank you to the FANS who continue to watch our shows and thank you everyone for giving me the honor of crowning me your evil queen once again! 😈 I will continue to terrorize your screens !!

Congrats to my swipe left team on winning VERTICAL OF THE YEAR! @muvpixapp @johnlewisspace @director.casey @felix_merback @gowatchmyreel @ngergely @the.jthomas @_coco_beware_ @snowstoryproductions @keeganmartin @littlemonsterdoll @_sierrarae @kevinallengram @ryanhellquist @agmuller567

Congrats to the office enemies team for winning BEST COMEDY + BEST CAST ENSEMBLE @app.shorts @alejandrofumerogil @discochinofilipino @adrienmi @fumero.films @rebeccastought @noahfearnleyy @r.a.zilberg

Also my toe is doing better 💀

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Excited to be representing @vertigalspodcast and discussing all things Vertical on “The Vertical Revolution: The Future of Premium Story Telling” panel at the @accesscanadasummit in partnership @tiff_net on September 15th! Want to join me? Tickets are still available online! #thr_acs2026

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We got to chat with the wonderful and talented @claire_epstein about her journey from ghostwriting Romance Novels to writing for TV to, now, writing MicroDramas - and the challenges that come with each medium.

Claire grew up in Washington, DC, and attended Vanderbilt University and Circle in the Square Theater School. In New York, she performed at the UCB by night while ghostwriting romance novels by day. Fifteen of her novels have been published, selling several hundred thousand copies and becoming Amazon bestsellers. She staffed on the Emmy-nominated Quibi/Roku show IMMORAL COMPASS and was the associate writer for Disney’s Emmy-winning show HAMSTER & GRETEL. She’s also had a few plays published, written for a podcast network called Parcast, a DreamWorks show, and the app Calm. She has developed projects with Big Breakfast, Powderkeg, Audity, Realm, Eko, and The Cartel, and producers Kristin Burr, Debbie Liebling, and Scotty Landes. She recently worked at DramaBox, where two of her vertical series were produced and received millions of views, and is now the head writer for a new American vertical startup.

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Nine months ago, I walked into the LA Vertical Drama Market as a fan with way too many opinions and absolutely no business being in some of those rooms.

Fast forward to this year…

Somehow I was hosting the VIP brunch, moderating conversations with industry leaders, sitting on panels, interviewing executives, and asking the questions I wish someone had been asking all along.

(Also... I was still running late, trying to do my makeup in ten minutes, and begging for a hair tool sponsorship. Some things never change.)

This episode isn’t really about the market.

It’s about what happens when an audience member gets invited into the conversation.

Because I’ve always believed the audience deserves a seat at the table. Data can tell us what happened. It can’t tell us why we laughed, cried, healed, or kept hitting “next episode.”

That’s the conversation I wanted to have.

We talked about storytelling. AI. Why verticals helped me through grief after losing my dad. Why we shouldn’t underestimate Midwestern women. Why the future of this industry should be built with the audience, not just for them.

And yes...we talked about @pizzaguysvs. Just to bring it full circle from where @danielcotroneo first introduced his crazy idea that has become a vertical sensation.

Swipe left for more 👈👈👈👈

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We were lucky enough to sit down with Production Exec, Producer and Consumer Tech Founder @elizabethdell_la

Elizabeth is a producer and consultant in vertical micro series, currently leading projects for @hooraemedia, including the recently released “Screen Time”, which garnered 130M+ views in less than a month, distributed exclusively on TikTok and PineDrama. As Head of Production for Inkitt (parent company of @inkittcandyjar), she oversaw 30+ vertical shows. She produced multiple indie features, pilots, webseries, commercials, etc. including Destination Wedding, starring Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. Elizabeth is the founder of the romance and games couples app Amorus, co-founder of music and sensation product Groove Thing. She has a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Amherst College.

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