Vertical video drama has exploded in the past year – but is it a passing craze or the next big shift in storytelling? 

Recorded live at the TellyCast Digital Content Forum, this session brings together Spirit Studios’ Matt Campion, TheSoul Group’s Victor Potrel and writer-director-producer Katharina Gellein Viken to unpack the boom in micro drama. Moderated by Deadline’s Stewart Clarke, the panel digs into what audiences are actually watching, how shows are being funded and distributed, the role of AI in production, the emergence of new platforms, and why the economics are creating a brand-new content category. A sharp, forward-looking conversation on how vertical drama is being made, monetised and scaled.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

This week’s TellyCast comes from Lisbon and the 2025 Web Summit, featuring three standout conversations from the frontline of social video. Engineering superstar and YouTube icon Colin Furze joins the show fresh from his packed session to discuss two decades of building one of the world’s biggest creator channels, the near-mythical underground tunnel project, his relationship with TV, and how he keeps millions of viewers hooked. Ahmed Fayed from Dose of Society shares the journey behind the fast-growing social video brand, how they built a global audience from London street interviews, and why authentic storytelling now travels everywhere from the Emirates to Africa. Justin also catches up with Eline van der Velden from Particle6 after the global reaction to the launch of her AI actress — covering the backlash, the outcomes, and what comes next for creators building with AI. A Web Summit special packed with insight on the future of content, creators and social video.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

Strong Watch Studios co-founder Thom Gulseven joins the show to talk about building one of the UK’s most exciting digital-first production companies. He reveals how lessons learned at LADbible shaped the launch of Strong Watch with Ben Powell-Jones, how their channel People Are Deep became an award-winning social video hit, and why Channel 4 trusted them to run its new comedy channel A Comedy Thing. Thom also shares his take on the next phase of the creator economy, the rise of streamer-led digital content, and how traditional media can adapt to the social video revolution.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

In the final TellyCast MIPCOM special from Cannes, we hear from the people shaping the digital-first future of TV. Fan Club’s Joe Churchill talks about brands becoming broadcasters and his upcoming session at the TellyCast Digital Content Forum. Luci Sanan from Cowshed Ventures reveals her new YouTube adventure joint venture with Propagate Content. EndemolShine Nederland’s Sil Geurtsen explains how hit format Let’s Play Ball made the leap from YouTube to TV, and Arsenal Fan TV’s Robbie Lyle shares how he built a global fan-led media empire.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

In part two of our TellyCast MIPCOM special, Justin Crosby dives deep into the creator economy — the fastest-evolving part of the global content industry. Guests include Gerrit Kemming of Quintus Studios, Paul Telner from Viral Nation, Matt Gielen — digital media entrepreneur and former CEO of Electric Monster, Tobias Hoss from Lunar X, ITV Studios’ Cecile Olsen, Spirit Studios’ Matt Campion and All3 Media International's Gary Woolf.

They discuss how traditional media is finally embracing YouTube, how creators are becoming full-scale studios, what investors are looking for in digital IP, the rise of micro-drama, and how AI is reshaping factual production. Recorded on the Croisette during MIPCOM 2025, this episode captures the energy of a TV industry in transition — from broadcast to social-first and beyond.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

TellyCast is back in Cannes for Day One of MIPCOM 2025 — bringing you the biggest new shows, the freshest formats, and the digital-first innovators transforming the global content business.

Justin Crosby talks to Jodie Whittaker and Elizabeth Berrington about Frauds — the hit ITV drama created by Suranne Jones and Anne-Marie O’Connor — as it makes waves with international buyers.

Then it’s format innovation with Richard Cowles of Lifted Entertainment and Jonty Nash and Chris Potts of Nobody’s Hero, joined by Emily Atack, discussing the making of Nobody’s Fool — the quiz-meets-reality hybrid co-hosted by Atack and Danny Dyer.

Mike Beale, Managing Director of Creative Network at ITV Studios, reveals the company’s new global formats including Celebrity Sabotage, The Neighbourhood, and Nobody’s Fool, and explains how ITV is working with creators across the evolving entertainment landscape.

From the digital-first front, Neil Francis of Night Train Digital talks about the studio’s new micro-drama partnership with Spirit Studios, while Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov from HolyWater unpack their landmark deal with Fox Entertainment and how AI and vertical video are shaping the future of storytelling.

Nella Rose, Specs Gonzalez join Callum McGinley (Callux) and Ben Doyle (Rvbberduck) to talk about her new show and After Party Studios.

Then we have Victor Bengtsson from Sidemen Entertainment on what comes next for the supergroup creator collective

Finally, Jay Bennett, EVP of Creative and Innovation at Shaftesbury, joins Justin to discuss the Canadian company’s digital-first strategy, its success with short-form storytelling, and how traditional producers can evolve to meet the demands of the social video era.

Recorded on location in Cannes, this episode captures the energy, creativity, and big ideas driving the future of global TV and social video.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

Actor Shaun Evans and executive producer Tom Leggett join Justin Crosby on TellyCast to discuss Betrayal — ITV Studios and Mammoth Screen’s gripping new espionage drama.

Best known for Endeavour, Shaun takes on a very different kind of spy in Betrayal, playing MI5 operative John Hughes — a man navigating a collapsing marriage, shifting office politics and a looming terrorist threat no one else believes is real.

The pair reveal the five-year journey behind the series, how writer David Eldridge infused the genre with emotional truth, and why Betrayal feels unlike any spy drama you’ve seen before. They discuss its themes of trust, loyalty and midlife reckoning, as well as the show’s dark humour, grounded realism and cinematic visual style.

Betrayal premieres on ITV in early 2026 and is one of the most anticipated dramas on the ITV Studios slate.

Listen to the full conversation for an inside look at how Evans and Leggett brought this complex, modern spy story to life.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

This week on TellyCast, Justin Crosby is joined by ITV Studios EVP of Global Content, Julie Meldal-Johnsen, for an exclusive preview of the company’s 2025 MIPCOM slate. From high-stakes thrillers like Frauds and Betrayal, to sun-soaked drama A Taste for Murder, bold new formats including Nobody’s Fool and Celebrity Sabotage, and powerful documentaries such as Operation Dark Phone and Poisoned, ITV Studios is showcasing one of its most ambitious line-ups to date. Julie shares insights into the creative strategy behind the slate, the global trends shaping buyer demand, and how ITV Studios is evolving across scripted, non-scripted and factual.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

In this week’s TellyCast, Justin Crosby is joined by filmmaker Ben Zand and Documentary Campus CEO Donata von Perfall. Ben discusses the launch of Human, his bold new self-funded YouTube documentary strand that puts storytelling and brand-building ahead of TV commissioning. He explains why he’s betting on a digital-first strategy, how Zandland is creating content with empathy and access, and the business model behind the series.

Donata von Perfall outlines the evolution of Documentary Campus, its renowned Master School training programme, and the launch of NEXTWAVE – a new digital-first documentary summit taking place in Halle, Germany this autumn. She shares how Documentary Campus is helping filmmakers adapt to the fast-changing factual landscape and why now is the moment to champion digital-first storytelling in Europe.

HUMAN launches Thursday 2nd October on ZANDLAND's YouTube channel

Buy tickets to NEXTWAVE

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok

This week on TellyCast, Justin Crosby is joined by writer, producer and cultural commentator Stephen Arnell. With a career spanning Sky Arts, BritBox, ITV and bylines in The Guardian, The New Statesman and The Spectator, Stephen has seen the TV industry from every angle.

In this episode we dive into the big media stories of the week, from the Baywatch reboot and the search for Channel 4’s next CEO, to Jimmy Kimmel’s clash with Trump, the BBC’s coverage of Reform UK and the future of Channel 5 under Paramount. Stephen shares sharp insights on what these shifts mean for broadcasters, audiences and the future of television.

TellyCast is the media industry’s podcast – exploring the latest trends, formats and business stories shaping the global TV and social video landscape.

Sign up for The Drop newsletter

Support the show

Subscribe to the TellyCast YouTube channel for exclusive TV industry videos
Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect with Justin on LinkedIN
TellyCast videos on YouTube
TellyCast website
TellyCast insta
TellyCast Twitter
TellyCast TikTok