EXCLUSIVE: UK microdrama producer Onset Octopus is claiming to the first British producer to independently finance and make a vertical video series for international distribution.
Cowboy Before Dark is the studio’s latest production, following a queer love story between two friends who reunite. Octavia McKenzie is the writer, with Elliot Eason – best known for Dramabox’s Mafia Obsession – and U.S. microdrama actor Adam Santa Cruz starring.
Onset Octopus founder Ben Pengilly is the producer, with his studio financing from development through to post, and Dan Lowenstein is the director. The business model will make Cowboy After Dark the first to give a director a percentage of sale, akin to indie filmmaking, according to Pengilly.
“We were the first to shoot in the UK and abroad, the first to produce a interactive microdrama, the first to produce a LGBTQ-style microdrama and now we are the first to produce a fully independently-financed series for distribution to the industry, as well as including product placement involvement,” he told Deadline.
Writer McKenzie added: “I enjoy writing vertical dramas that celebrate love for all, queer and straight. It’s great being a part of the Onset Octopus team where we tell innovative, cutting edge stories, and lead the charge in the UK’s vertical space.”
The UK microdrama scene remains nascent, with Onset Octopus likely the most active producer and a single locally-operated app, Tattle TV, launching. Consumers remain close to Chinese and U.S. apps such as Reelshort, Flareflow and Dramabox.
In December, Onset Octopus became a founding partner of global quality and ethics standard bearer Micro-Series Certified Alliance, which is among a small number of similar initiatives aimed at raising the production standards in vertical video – a space dominated by often outlandish romance and melodramatic stories, along with a proliferation of violent, sexist and misogynist tropes.
Pengilly’s company is also working with Tattle TV on a slate of series for the latter’s app. Onset Octopus develops scripts from scratch and has a team of in-house writers, and localizes content in Mandarin, English, Spanish and Portuguese.