What does it actually take to shoot 15–20 pages a day?

Scott Di Lalla started out making backyard documentaries, directed a Super 8 horror thriller, and spent years as a reality TV camera operator — then walked into vertical micro-drama production almost by accident, when a friend needed help on a project he couldn't fully explain. Scott didn't understand it either, until he saw the comments.

In this episode, Scott breaks down what it's really like directing and producing vertical drama: the 25-minute location scouts with no tech scout, the blocking tricks that save hours on set (camera stacking, shooting "half-moon" or "taco" setups instead of multiple flips), and how he redesigns a scene's geography — moving furniture, repurposing doorways — to avoid re-lighting an entire room. He also talks candidly about the learning curve of moving from traditional directing to a format with its own language, pace, and rules.

The conversation goes beyond craft, too — into why vertical storytelling earns attention differently than any other medium, how creator-to-audience power has flipped in a data-driven industry, and where Scott sees the space heading next: premium storytelling, new genres, and his new venture, Paintbox Shorts, built to bring underserved voices and cultures — including Black, Brown, and Spanish-speaking audiences — into the vertical space.

Whether you're already working in verticals or wondering if this is your next pivot, Scott's approach to preparation, adaptability, and craft is a masterclass in making fast-moving production work for you.

GUEST LINKS

Connect with Scott Di Lalla:

• Instagram: @scottdilalla
• Reel: vimeo.com/manage/videos/1218044850
• IMDb: imdb.com/name/nm2010464
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/scottdilallaA

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• Instagram: @verticalreachpodcast
• Facebook: The Vertical Reach Podcast

What does it look like when a husband-and-wife team runs a set together — and runs a household together, too?

Quinn and Morgan Gardner are that team. Quinn is a Showrunner and Director ("Bound by Blood"), a Producer and 1st AD (PocketFM's "Insta-Empire"), and an AD on Vigloo's "Shaping Soulmates" — alongside feature work like "Marriage Bites," "Don't Answer," and "Amy's F-It List," plus credits on "One Battle After Another," "Chasing Mavericks," "Unsolved Mysteries," "Will Trent," and commercials for Toyota, Ford, Adidas, Apple, and Google. Morgan is a Key Hair & Makeup Artist and Special FX Makeup Artist across the same world of verticals and features, including "Insta-Empire," "Mistress Manager," "Don't Answer," and the upcoming horror comedy "Come Back Alive," plus commercial work for Honda, Toyota, Thuma, and Jackson Rancheria Casino.

In this episode, Quinn and Morgan talk about how the vertical drama boom found them, what a real shoot day looks like when you're packing 27 pages into 24 hours, and how they've built a life — and now a family — around an industry that rarely stops moving. They get into pivoting without perishing, what it means to give your crew "permission" to speak up, and a first look at their upcoming Celtic-mythology horror project, "Come Back Alive."

Whether you're balancing a creative partnership of your own or just curious what it takes to make verticals at this pace, this conversation is equal parts masterclass and love story.

Connect with Quinn Gardner:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• IMDb

Connect with Morgan Gardner:

• Website
• Instagram
• TikTok

What happens when the biggest brands in the world hand you their playbook — and then you take it somewhere they never expected?

Austin Herring did. As CEO of Snow Story Productions, the largest vertical-focused production company in North America, he's brought the white-glove standards of working with Disney, Walmart, and Fortune 500 clients into the wild, fast-moving world of vertical microdrama.

In this episode, Austin traces his path from freelance commercial director to leading a company that's shot with talent like The Rock, Tom Holland, and Zendaya — and he's candid about the early days, when nobody knew what a "vertical" even was and the whole industry was figuring out the rules in real time.

We get into the mechanics of what makes verticals work: the shift from broad, communal viewing to something deeply personal; the double-edged power of app-level data; and why Austin believes this is the biggest shift in entertainment since silent films became talkies. He also shares where he sees the format heading next — including dual-format production built for both your phone and your TV.

And in this episode's permission slip moment, Austin offers some of the most direct career advice we've heard on the show: however hard you think you're working, you have to work harder.

Whether you're already in the vertical space or just curious how an entire new entertainment format gets built from scratch, this conversation is a front-row seat to an industry writing its own rules.


GUEST LINKS

Connect with Austin Herring:
Instagram: @austinherring
LinkedIn: austinherring

Snow Story Productions:
Instagram: @snowstoryproductions
LinkedIn: snowstoryproductions
Website: www.snowstory.com

What happens when the biggest technology shift in history collides with the way we tell stories?

Guy Gadney has spent his career at that intersection. He's the CEO and Founder of Charismatic.ai, a company at the forefront of Creative AI for over 15 years, and has built and led digital businesses across international media and telco organizations through three startups. With Charismatic.ai, Guy is transforming how AI is used in film, television, and video games — always asking how technology can serve better storytelling, not replace it.

In this episode, Guy and Pauline dig into the cultural fault lines of AI adoption: why some cultures embrace it and others resist, the bias baked into early AI datasets, and why "human in the loop" might be the wrong way to think about creative collaboration with machines. They trace the throughline from Shakespeare's touring troupes to interactive CD-ROMs to today's mobile-first, vertical storytelling — and unpack why the writers' strikes were never really just about AI.

Guy also shares the origin story behind Charismatic.ai, the philosophy of "computer in the loop," and a closing thought that reframes the whole AI conversation: it's not about technical brilliance, it's about whether a story makes you feel something.

Whether you're riding the tsunami or still standing on the beach, this conversation will change how you think about AI's place in creative work.

GUEST LINKS

Connect with Guy Gadney:
Website
LinkedIn
X (Twitter)

What does insurance and risk management have to do with producing hit vertical dramas? More than you'd think.

Maryna Bogdan spent nearly a decade in insurance while writing scripts and shooting short films on nights, weekends, and vacation days. Today, she's a Los Angeles-based producer whose credits include narrative films, music videos, commercial campaigns, and vertical dramas for Fox Entertainment — including Saddled with My Nemesis and The Secret Billionaire Garbageman, both co-executive produced for My Drama.

In this episode, Maryna traces her path from a small town in eastern Ukraine to the LA film industry, and explains how her insurance background gave her an edge most producers don't have: an instinct for evaluating risk on every project, from stunts and animals to something as simple as where the equipment sits overnight.

She and Pauline also dig into the realities the industry doesn't always talk about — the financial instability of freelancing, the physical toll of long shoots, and what work-life balance actually looks like for filmmakers. Maryna shares why she believes vertical storytelling has room for more chick-flick energy, and why she thinks verticals are poised to move beyond the app and back into mainstream, horizontal formats.

The episode closes with Maryna's permission slip: her message to anyone standing at the edge of their own comfort zone, deciding whether to take the leap.

Connect with Maryna:

Instagram

Tiktok

What happens when the person integrating AI into an industry is also the person most worried about what it might replace?

Bethany Thomson has been sitting with that question all year. As Creative Lead at Sea Star Productions, she's spent the past year and a half helping build one of the UK's leading vertical drama studios — after landing in the space almost by accident, as a social media hire who'd never heard of microdramas before her first day.

In this episode, Bethany and Pauline dig into the AI conversation shaking up the vertical drama world: the flood of AI-generated titles coming out of China, why the UK and US are responding so differently, and where the line sits between adopting new tools and protecting the craft. They trace a surprising throughline from old-school filmmaking — avid editing suites, pencil-and-paper script notes — straight to today's phone-shot verticals, and make the case for branded storytelling as the format's next real opportunity, including why a $150K micro-drama series can outperform a single day of traditional commercial shooting.
Bethany also shares her own "next swipe up": moving from marketing into development, and helping brands find their place inside vertical storytelling.

This one covers a lot of ground — the future of AI in entertainment, the economics of branded microdrama, and what it actually takes to build a career in an industry that's still inventing itself in real time.

About Bethany Thomson

Bethany Thomson is the Creative Lead at Sea Star Productions, where she pioneers storytelling in the emerging microdrama world and works to advance the industry in the UK. With a background spanning locations, short films, marketing, and music videos, she now leads the business and marketing side of Sea Star Productions while supporting production processes that reshape how audiences engage with stories on mobile platforms. Passionate about the future of vertical dramas, she works to inspire the next generation of filmmakers to think beyond the traditional screen and into an industry that is constantly growing and seeking new creatives.

Connect with Bethany Thomson:
Sea Star Productions Instagram
Sea Star News Instagram
Sea Star Productions LinkedIn
Bethany Thomson LinkedIn

Angelina Barbieri is a first-generation Latin American actress with a career spanning film, TV, and comedy, including Transporter 2, HBO's Ballers, NCIS: Los Angeles, Anger Management, NBC's The Night Shift, Rosewood, and HBO's How to Make It in America. After an eight-year break from the industry, she returned two years ago and pivoted into vertical drama, booking eight roles since October 2025 across platforms including ReelShort, FlareFlow, Shortical, GammaTime, MicroCo (aTwist), and PocketFM — and winning the Visionary Award for her role in Santos. In this episode, she talks with Pauline about reinvention, the immigrant hustle behind her career, the rise of brand integration in vertical storytelling, and what success looks like now.

Connect with Angelina:
IG Handle : @angelina_barbieri

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Here are the clean Buzzsprout show notes (matching the standard template format, with guest links kept as their own section rather than folded in):

Doug Vermeeren: Building the Cannes of Vertical Drama in Las Vegas

What happens when a lifelong love of movies turns into building the biggest event vertical storytelling has ever seen?

Doug Vermeeren has been on movie sets since he was a kid — from background extra work to stunt performing, from indie documentaries shot on Betacam to vertical dramas streaming on ReelShort. In this episode, Doug traces that path: growing up broke and sneaking snacks into the movie theater, learning the business from the inside while renting a room from a studio executive, and eventually building a career that's spanned drama, action, and horror across both traditional film and the emerging vertical space.

We talk about what drew him to verticals — the speed, the built-in audience, the sense that this is a new format sitting alongside cinema and TV rather than replacing it — and why he believes the genre is only beginning to expand beyond its early "melodrama" roots into horror, comedy, documentary, and more.

The heart of the conversation is Doug's newest project: the Vertical Micro Drama Market (VMM), a first-of-its-kind event taking over the Sahara in Las Vegas. Doug walks through what makes it different from the smaller festivals and educational panels that have served the space so far — a full trade show floor, major distributors ready to acquire projects, live casting sessions, and investors (including Doug's own Real to Real Capital) with real capital to deploy.

Doug also shares hard-won advice for actors and filmmakers: how casting decisions really get made, why "tell, sell, and service" matters as much as talent, and why the smartest people in the industry are the ones who show up as collaborators rather than egos. He closes with some of his favorite origin stories from film history — George Lucas, James Cameron — and a challenge to anyone sitting on an idea: stop waiting for permission and start making something.

This is a conversation about movies, about reinvention, and about what it takes to build something the industry hasn't seen before.

Let's tell stories that connect.

Connect with Doug Vermeeren:
Website
Instagram
IMDb