The U.K. may have been slower than other markets to jump onto the boom in short-form vertical media, projected to generate $150 billion in revenue in markets outside China this year, but it is now getting its own dedicated festival.
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British indie film stalwart Raindance is launching Raindance Vertical, a one-day festival and financing market in London for vertical film and series.
The event will take place on Dec. 4 — conveniently timed between Content London and the British Independent Film Awards — at Soho’s Karma Sanctum Hotel and is set to encompass two competitive categories, Vertical Short Film and Vertical Series. Submissions open today via FilmFreeway and are open to UK and international filmmakers until Nov.
“The British film industry needs to stop sneering at the shape of the screen and start watching what’s on it,” said Raindance founder Elliot Grove. “We started Raindance to give filmmakers a chance when the industry wouldn’t. Raindance Vertical carries that forward: discover the talent, take the work seriously and put filmmakers in the room with people who can finance their next project.”
Alongside the competitions, which will see awards juried by filmmakers working in the format, the festival will include panels and workshops, and what it’s describing as a “vertical mini-market” run with Charlotte Knowles’ Creative HQ, which will match pre-vetted producers with financiers, platforms, commissioners and brands.
According to Raindance, U.K. filmmakers are already producing vertical work to a professional standard but have “few routes to the financiers, studios, streamers and brands who could back it,” with the festival and market designed to address that.
The festival’s advisory group includes director Dan Löwenstein, founder of House of Create, vertical drama critic and consultant Jen Cooper of Vertical Drama Love, and Christine Hartland, co-founder and chief operating officer of My Smash Media.
“Vertical takes the same directing discipline, the same crews and the same storytelling rigour, just with a different structure and pace,” said Löwenstein, who has directed 36 vertical dramas for broadcasters, streamers and dedicated microdrama platforms. “It’s fast, data-informed and, yes, low budget, but within those constraints you find real invention. This festival is a chance to show the best U.K. and international vertical drama alongside outstanding features and shorts, and I’m excited to see what the U.K. brings to the format.”
The Raindance Vertical programme will run across one day, with all work screened in 9:16.
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