Proposal: Add “Vertical Short Drama” as a New IMDb Category

I’d like to propose that IMDb introduce a new category/format designation—“Vertical Short Drama”—to recognize and differentiate the rapidly growing vertical, short-form narrative format. Why this matters: 1. **Clarity for Users & Industry** – Currently, vertical series are categorized under “TV Movie” or “TV Mini Series,” which causes confusion. Vertical dramas are distinct: mobile-first, serialized in micro-chapters, and produced with different creative/production workflows. A dedicated category would make IMDb more accurate and relevant to both audiences and professionals. 2. **Search & Discovery** – Audiences looking for vertical dramas struggle to find them, since they’re buried under unrelated TV/movie listings. Creators, platforms, and researchers also lack a clear way to analyze and track this format. A new category improves IMDb’s search precision and usefulness. 3. **Industry Momentum** – Vertical dramas are no longer niche. They are gaining major traction: - Disney Accelerator 2025 selected DramaBox (a vertical drama platform), underscoring legitimacy and growth. - *Hollywood Reporter* and *Vulture* have covered the rise of vertical dramas as a new professional pathway for actors and filmmakers. - Platforms like DramaBox, ReelShort, and others are employing thousands of creators, with productions rivaling traditional TV in scale and reach. 4. **Future-Proofing IMDb** – Just as IMDb adapted to web series and streaming, now is the moment to stay ahead of this format shift. Adding “Vertical Short Drama” as a top-level category helps IMDb remain the definitive, industry-standard record. **Requested Action** Please consider creating a new category/format—“Vertical Short Drama” (or similar)—to accurately credit and classify these works. This will benefit IMDb users, talent, producers, platforms, and the broader entertainment industry.

Responses

Oldest First

Selected Oldest First

Col_Needham

Employee

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8.2K Messages

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190.3K Points

2 months ago

Thanks for the suggestion but these are already supported and listed. Please see https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?keywords=vertical-drama&explore=keywords If there are any vertical dramas which are missing this keyword, you are welcome to add it to them.

2

C

chamilton

2 Messages

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70 Points

Hi, it's not a suggestion to add vertical drama as a keyword, but as a category. Right now, there is not a category for that, so they are all listed under TV mini-series, which is inaccurate.

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Reply

2 months ago

S

Silenusstone

2 Messages

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82 Points

Hi Col, Thanks for the response. I think there’s a distinction that the current keyword approach doesn’t quite capture. Calling a vertical drama a “TV mini-series” is a bit like calling a podcast a “radio show.” Sure, they’re both audio-based storytelling formats, but one is distributed and consumed on the radio, the other is created and consumed digitally, on-demand, through an entirely different medium. The user experience, distribution, and creative form are not the same — so labeling a podcast as “radio” would feel inaccurate. Similarly, vertical dramas aren’t watched on television, and they aren’t films either. They’re built for phones, in short, serialized vertical format, distributed through apps. So categorizing them under “TV movie” or “TV mini-series” doesn’t really make sense, because it assumes a platform and format they were never intended for. That’s why we feel “Vertical Drama” should be recognized as its own category, not just a keyword.

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2 months ago

C

chamilton

2 Messages

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70 Points

2 months ago

I agree! There needs to be a specific category created. TV mini-series is inaccurate and confusing. This is a specific, rapidly growing format that needs its own category.

0

A

Ariya_leya

1 Message

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60 Points

2 months ago

Absolutely! Vertical short dramas are a fresh, mobile-first storytelling format that really stands apart. Giving them their own IMDb category would make it so much easier to find, credit, and celebrate these productions, while highlighting the exciting growth of this new style of content.

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MAthePA

2K Messages

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57.2K Points

2 months ago

All this instead of using a special keyword and the aspect ratio setting. And then they will demand to add Vertical Short Action, Vertical Short Adult, Vertical Short Adventure, Vertical Short Animation, Vertical Short Biography, Vertical Short Comedy, Vertical Short Crime, Vertical Short Documentary, Vertical Short Family, Vertical Short Fantasy, Vertical Short Film Noir, Vertical Short Game Show, Vertical Short History, Vertical Short Horror, Vertical Short Musical, Vertical Short Music, Vertical Short Mystery, Vertical Short News, Vertical Short Reality-TV, Vertical Short Romance, Vertical Short Sci-Fi, Vertical Short Short, Vertical Short Sport, Vertical Short Talk-Show, Vertical Short Thriller, Vertical Short War, Vertical Short Western... And then they will demand to add Vertical Action, Vertical Adult, Vertical Adventure, Vertical Animation, Vertical Biography, Vertical Comedy, Vertical Crime, Vertical Documentary, Vertical Drama, Vertical Family, Vertical Fantasy, Vertical Film Noir, Vertical Game Show, Vertical History, Vertical Horror, Vertical Musical, Vertical Music, Vertical Mystery, Vertical News, Vertical Reality-TV, Vertical Romance, Vertical Sci-Fi, Vertical Short, Vertical Sport, Vertical Talk-Show, Vertical Thriller, Vertical War, Vertical Western... And then they will demand to add all the above as Stereoscopic... and 3D... And then they will demand to add all the above as AI-Made...

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A

AdultTim

16 Messages

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260 Points

29 days ago

I agree that Vertical Film is (should be) different category from TV Movie / Mini

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AdultTim

16 Messages

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260 Points

20 days ago

Also now seeing "microdrama" used in the terminology; but does that specifically refer to vertical?

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Silenusstone

Proposal: Add “Vertical Short Drama” as a New IMDb Category

Col_Needham

chamilton

Silenusstone

chamilton

Ariya_leya

MAthePA

AdultTim

AdultTim

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