EXCLUSIVE: Indie horror veteran Charles Band is teaming with a group of U.S. microdrama‘s biggest names to form a vertical video label, Full Moon Artists (FMA) Productions.
Band’s Full Moon Features will house the microdrama producer, which he will lead alongside vertical entertainment stars Eric Guilmette, Sarah Moliski, Felix Merback and Rebecca Stoughton.
FMA Productions is planning a slate of microdramas for the likes of ReelShort and other vertical video apps, and alternative horizontal feature versions of each show aimed at platforms such as Prime Video and Tubi.
The first of 12 films from the shingle will go into production this spring in L.A., with subsequent titles filmed in California, Cleveland and Italy.
Microdramas were born in China, where the industry is worth billions of dollars, before a U.S. scene sprung up and is now considered the medium’s second-largest market. The spate of production sparked by its emergence has been buoyed by a young generation of actors who have dedicated themselves to the fast-moving sector. It is now attracting major players and well-known faces from across the industry, and Band is the latest.
“As a veteran pioneer in new media, from home video to streaming, I am extremely enthusiastic about the possibilities and potential in the Vertical micro-drama arena,” said Band.
“Working alongside this team, all of whom are among the biggest names in their field, to form this new venture has been both exciting and eye opening. These creatives are on the cutting edge of the Vertical world, and we have big plans to develop some truly incredible entertainments for some of the most relevant Vertical platforms out there, while also making innovative inroads into the independent feature film markets.”
Band, who founded Full Moon Features in 1988, had made, distributed and directed dozens of indie horror pics and series, many of which were for home entertainment. Among them are Re-Animator, Ghoulies and Evil Bong, but it is the direct-to-video Puppet Master franchise for which he’s best-known. Band has worked in entertainment for more than 50 years and been involved in more than 400 films.
He got into the vertical video space last year with ReelShort thriller Dungeons of Ecstasy, which was shot in Rome and the Italian countryside and starred Guilmette and Merback, who was a co-producer. The release model was the same as what FMA Productions will attempt – first landing on the microdrama platform as a multi-episode series and then as a standard ration film distributed on Amazon, Tubi and the Full Moon Features streaming channel, as well as Blu-ray.
This year, he again teamed with ReelShort for a similar release, Models Vs. Werewolves, which stars Moliski, Stouhgton and Dee Wallace and was shot in L.A..
Band, Guilmette, Merback, Moliski and Stoughton decided to form FMA, matching up a veteran of the indie filmmaking biz with four players in the rising U.S. vertical video sector.
Guilmette – an actor, producer and poet – was voted the 2024 Vertical Legend and Best Actor In A Drama in the Vertical Drama Love Fan Awards and won the Sapphire Vision Award at the Vertical Awards in September 2025. He has acted and led more than 45 vertical series, including You Belong With Me on ReelShort, Chosen By Fate on Pocket FM and Campus Rivals on Vigloo, and is a producer, actor and co-creator of ReelShort vampire series Love & Blood.
Moliski, considered one of the vertical video space’s bets-known villains, has starred in the likes of ReelShort’s Virgin’s Bucket List, My Knockout Fake Husband and Her Double, His Trouble. She is also recognized as a microdrama casting director, and serves as a consultant for various apps, advising on casting, talent development and content strategy.
Stoughton as appeared in TV shows such as anthology series It’s Florida, Man and features such as Full Moon’s Bad CGI Gator. She has had lead roles in more than vertical video series, including Office Enemies, Lost and Found and Big Bad Daddy You Are Busted.
Merback is an L.A.-based actor and producer who starred in Dead Janitors Club, which we revealed last month had been acquired for international distribution by Blue Fox Entertainment. The dark comedy was based on Jeff Klima’s memoir, The Dead Janitors Club: Pathetically True Tales of a Crime Scene Cleanup King. On the microdrama front, he has starred in the likes of Band’s Dungeons of Ecstasy, In Love with My Bestie’s Son and Game of Choice.