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A+E Global Media and Lifetime are dramatically expanding their output in the world of microdramas and vertical video.
The company has announced that its new MyLifetime.com platform will offer three original Lifetime vertical
films from Microhouse Films as well as seven titles adapted from the A+E Global Media library.
The Lifetime mobile app plans to add new vertical titles every two weeks (along with access on MyLifetime.com), with up to seven originals by the end of the year. Two of those will be sponsored holiday-themed verticals from vertTV.
“Microdramas are one of the most dynamic and exciting areas of growth in entertainment, and Lifetime is proud to be an early and meaningful participant in that evolution,” said Elaine Frontain Bryant, executive vice president and head of programming, A&E, Lifetime and LMN, in a statement. “Our opportunity is not simply to introduce a new format, but to define its role within the Lifetime ecosystem in a way that strengthens our brand, deepens fandom and gives audiences another way to experience the stories they already love. With original series, library titles and new brand-supported projects rolling out through the Lifetime app on mobile and MyLifetime.com, we are building a strategy that spans premium storytelling, audience engagement and global distribution.”
Also, timed to the upcoming MIPCOM market, A+E Global Media has adapted nearly 200 titles into vertical microdramas that will be available to license to other platforms.
“By adapting 200 titles into premium microdrama formats, we are extending the reach and value of proven IP while creating new opportunities for mobile-first audiences, platforms and distribution partners,” said Brian Weiss, executive vice president, strategy, A+E Global Media, in a written statement.
The Microhouse Films slate for MyLifetime.com includes “Tides of Temptation,” “Matched With a Murderer” and “His Lies Taste Like Love.”
“Tides of Temptation,” which is exec produced by Taye Diggs, Autumn Federici and Shelby Stone, is a stand-alone digital companion to the Lifetime original movie “Terry McMillan Presents: Paradise with You,” which debuts Nov. 7.
Other Microhouse Films projects to come include “Reunion Island,” which debuts at the New York-based microdrama/vertical storytelling-based ALZA Festival, and “Recklessly in Love with My Daughter’s Best Man.”
The holiday-themed, sponsored vertical originals from vertTV include “Casting Christmas” and “Destination, Christmas.” Jeffrey Schenck, Barry Barnholtz, Peter Sullivan, Brian Nolan and Ben Rosenthal are the founders of vertTV.
Meanwhile, Lifetime original films that have been edited into vertical chapters for MyLifetime.com include “A Lifeguard’s Obsession,” “Burned by Love,” “Danger in the House,” “My Husband’s Worse Mistake,” “What Would You Kill For?,” “Secret of a Dean’s Wife” and “College Professor Obsession.”
As for the A+E library content that has also been cut into microseries, besides the nearly 200 Lifetime movies, it includes “Cold Case Files,” “I Survived,” “Alone,” “Ice Road Truckers,” “Forged in Fire,” “History’s Greatest Mysteries,” “Hoarders” and “Married at First Sight.”
“The expansion into vertical storytelling creates compelling new opportunities for brands to connect with audiences in highly engaging, mobile-first environments,” said Toby Byrne, A+E Global Media’s president of media solutions, in a statement. “Projects like these give advertisers the ability to participate in premium, culturally relevant storytelling while reaching audiences across the platforms where they are spending their time.”
