5X Media‘s Alon Shtruzman and Scott Einbinder are getting into the microdrama game.
The veteran producers have tapped a “consortium of investors” to launch New Short Media, which they claim will bring “bring brand-name content creators, actors and creative talent to vertical storytelling with premium, innovative micro-series.”
The microdrama biz will sit alongside 5X, but operate separately to the existing company.
New Short is latest vertical video player on the market, with the likes of RoseBerry Media’s Epis, Jason Strickman and Kumbáli Satori’s HighFive and Kelly Luegenbiehl, Jon Koa and Onur Güvenatam’s Shorties Studios among others that have launched in the past year as the microdrama trend keeps a tight grip of online audiences and industry execs.
Among the first three projects coming out of New Short are Speeding Towards You, which is billed as “a Mr. and Mrs. Smith-style action romance thriller about two competing car thieves who find themselves in the middle of a covert operation to take down one of the top crime syndicates.” The Offer and Long Bright River writer Russell Rothberg is attached to pen the series.
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One Foot in Hollywood will star influencer Alex Sparrow in “a Guy Ritchie-esque action comedy about a group of influencers who accidentally cross the cartel, forcing then to make a movie with the cartel’s boss’ daughter to survive.” New Short noted it will feature “real-life influencers in impossible situations.”
Polyamour Mon Amour is a “sexy” dating reality show billed as “the Bachelor you never saw coming.” The series follows a currently unnamed in-love celebrity couple who expand their relationship to welcome a third into their lives.
The 5X bosses say the shift that’s seen vertical videos move away from editorial strategies almost entirely based around “serialized romance and melodrama” is attracting more Hollywood producers, studios and investors.
Shtruzman, who was the founding CEO of Keshet International and producer of shows such as La Brea and Our Boys, said there is a “blue sky” opportunity for producers to craft niches in the emerging space.
“Social media distribution and creator-led marketing are one of the most significant shifts in filmed entertainment since the emergence of streaming,” he said. “By combining that with mobile-first premium storytelling,New Short Media is aimed at reaching new and larger audiences. We believe the next generation of Hollywood franchises won’t necessarily begin on television or in theaters but on the phone.
“Vertical storytelling is evolving incredibly fast, but much of the market still revolves around the same types of romance stories. We see an opportunity to bring broader genres, premium production values and recognizable talent into the space while harnessing the enormous reach of today’s creator economy.”
Einbinder added: “Hollywood is discovering that vertical isn’t simply another distribution format – it’s becoming an entirely new storytelling medium. With New Short Studios combining experienced filmmakers with creators who already command enthusiastic global audiences, we’re creating projects designed to break through culturally, commercially and move beyond posts and clips into character-driven worlds that can live across multiple formats.”
New Short isn’t planning on launching its own distribution platform and will instead develop IP for platforms that can be developed into longer-form TV, feature films, games and consumer products.
Einbinder, the former co-CEO of Cristal Pictures, launched 5X in 2023 as a management and production business, with Shtruzman and Gil Goldschein joining as partners a year later and became co-CEOs. Einbinder is now Executive Chairman. Goldschein exited last year to pursue his own projects, a spokesman said today.
New Short isn’t the only Hollywood-led microdrama house launching today. As we revealed a few moments ago, veteran producers Jeffrey Schenck, Barry Barnholtz and Peter Sullivan have teamed up to launch VertTV.
