"Bound by Honor," billed as a "top series" on ReelShort, opens with a young woman being drugged and coerced into marriage. In "Divorced at the Wedding Day," a "popular" pick on DramaBox, a pregnant widow is whipped and pushed onto broken glass at an engagement party before being locked up in a crate. ReelShort and Disney-backed DramaBox are the market leaders in the rising category of micro dramas, made-for-mobile soaps that feature fast-paced action and wild plots.
Those who work in the space say that while micro series cost a fraction of what a traditional feature-length movie costs, typically in the $100,000 to $300,000 range, they often lose money because the high cost required to market them can far outstrip the actual production cost. 'An app may boast of a show that makes $30 million, but $27 million of it will have gone to advertising,' said Thom Woodley, a longtime verticals producer.
