This is still a young industry, which means the door is open in a way it rarely is in traditional screen production. Budgets are smaller and turnarounds are fast — many series shoot in under two weeks — which means less gatekeeping and more opportunities to write, produce, and get seen. Writers, directors and producers are in genuine demand, because the format is scaling faster than the talent pipeline can keep up.

There’s not a lot of vertical microdrama productions happening in Australia, and whilst the big platforms like ReelShort and DramaBox produce almost everything in-house (so there’s no queue to join there). the real opportunity for us is different: the number of platforms hungry for microdrama content keeps growing, and demand is outpacing what’s being made — which means real room for Australian creatives to produce and distribute their own microdramas rather than wait to be hired into someone else’s. Microdramas are perfect for smaller budgets, turnarounds are often fast (a full-length series can often be shot in around two weeks), and writers, directors and producers who understand this format and start creating now are best placed as Australia catches up to what’s already happened in the US, UK, and Southeast Asia.

We have all the right creatives here — screenwriters, actors, directors and producers — and we don’t need to wait for permission to make our own microdramas. We just need to decide to take the opportunity!