How to Write for Vertical Prodution with Austin Herring

In this episode, The VertiGals are joined by award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer Salvador Paskowitz — co-writer of the acclaimed feature film The Age of Adaline, director of The Big Everything, and producer of Justin Chon’s Ms. Purple. Throughout his career, Salvador has collaborated with major studios as well as visionary artists and producers, successfully combining the creative spirit of independent filmmaking with stories that appeal to a wider audience. Together with his team, Salvador co-founded Super Punchy Studios, a production company dedicated to redefining vertical storytelling through bold, cinematic, and artist-driven projects created for today’s evolving platforms. He also directed the studio’s first vertical cinematic feature, Step by Step, and premiered Layover at The Alza Film Festival, where he won the award for best directing.

The VertiGals chat with Cate and Chrissie about making elevated microdramas and expanding the audience while respecting the format. Cate Fogarty is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker passionate about crafting female-driven stories that equally entertain and erode stereotypes. After traveling the world to work on a dozen plus vertical series, she co-founded Vertical Sunsets, a boutique creative studio that develops and produces microdrama content for a global audience. Their original series continue to elevate the genre while garnering hundreds of millions of views and attracting a fiercely loyal fanbase world-wide. Focused on equity and sustainability in filmmaking, Cate and her co-founders believe that diversity on both sides of the camera fosters high-quality, binge-worthy content that captivates viewers, and Vertical Sunsets continues to lead by example. Chrissie De Guzman is an emotive storyteller, not only because of the amount of water in her birth chart, but because she firmly believes that the best stories are ones that are felt. Having directed thirteen vertical shows as well as co-writing ten originals and producing four, she has been able to collaborate with various platforms such as ReelShort, TikTok, GoodShort, DramaShorts and Webtoon shooting globally in LA, China and Canada. Being a pioneer in this medium, Chrissie has been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Produced By Magazine as well as invited back to her alma mater of USC to speak on a panel of experts discussing The Rise of Microdramas in Hollywood. Outside of microdramas, as a queer Filipina, Chrissie’s work has been screened at Palm Springs International, Outfest, Newfest, American Cinematheque and Short of the Week. She is a CAPE New Writers Fellow, Viewfinder’s Viacom/CBS Emerging Director’s Fellow and a CAPE x BLACK LIST finalist. She resides in LA with her partners and two overly attached rescue sister pups.

The VertiGals chat with Joelle Sellner about her varied writing journey and how the vertical industry can start working with the WGA in a way that works for everyone. As an advertising copywriter, Joelle worked in various media including TV, print, digital and radio. This experience, and her passion for storytelling, has inspired her to become proficient across many genres in entertainment. Joelle has written several produced romantic comedies including Hallmark Channel’s Paris, Wine & Romance and AMC’s Saving Christmas Spirit, which was shot in the Scottish Highlands. Her most recent project is the pop musical vertical drama Playback, for Holy Water/Fox Entertainment. In addition to film and TV work, Joelle is an experienced comic book and videogame writer, with books published by Blizzard, DC, Lion Forge, Marvel, and Zenescope Entertainment. Graphic novels include a reboot of Saved by the Bell, and her most recent original YA graphic novel Werewoofs. She has also appeared as a superhero expert on the Minor Adventures With Topher Grace podcast. In addition to her comics work, Joelle has written for a variety of animated TV shows and web series, including DC Super Hero Girls, LEGO Friends, and Al Roker Entertainment’s Weather Hunters. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Joelle lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two very spoiled cats.

The VertiGals chart the evolution of verticals since 2023 with prolific vertical director, writer, and actor Danny Farber. Danny Farber is a director, actor, writer, and producer born and raised in Chicago, IL. With over a decade in the entertainment industry, Farber's diverse filmmaking portfolio includes vertical dramas, music videos, commercials, narrative projects, and branded content. Farber has a home base in Los Angeles, California but considers himself “globally local” after finding success working in various international markets as a Microdrama Vertical Director and actor. Farber has worked with countless big name brands and corporations, such as (but not limited to) Marvel, NBC, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Universal Music Group, Warner Records, and Chance the Rapper. Over his career, his projects have garnered tens of millions of views across all social platforms. His work has been honored at various film festivals, winning awards such as Best Director, Best Dark Comedy, Best Short Film, and Best Supporting Actor. Since 2023, Farber has directed over twenty feature-length vertical dramas for various platforms including (but not limited to) ReelShort, Dramabox, Goodshort, Dramapops, KalosTV, etc. Farber works as a director on these vertical micro-dramas across the world. He has directed in Los Angeles, Istanbul, London, and Vancouver. Additionally, he wrote, directed, and starred in the award-winning short film "Thoughts and Prayers," executive produced by Amy Poehler. As an actor, Farber has appeared in critically acclaimed TV shows like "1923," “Chicago Fire,” and "Proven Innocent." He landed a five episode arc playing Lance Corporal Hoss in "A Grunt’s Life" and secured a strong-supporting role in the 90’s indie crime feature film, "The Eighth Day.” Farber has also starred in national ad campaigns for companies such as Chase, Home Depot, and Subway, and hosted the viral true-crime show "Killer Bites" on Facebook Watch. In digital comedy, Farber has performed in sketches for Cracked and has been featured on Funny or Die as well as The Onion. He has trained at Second City, The Groundlings, UCB, and iO (in Chicago). Powered by creative anxiety and restless ambition, Farber continues to act and direct in projects that he creates for himself.

Kay Zhang is a director-producer and creative executive whose work has screened at Cannes and received honors from the Directors Guild of America and the Student Academy Awards. She began her career in independent film before moving into literary management at Range Media Partners, where she supported writers, creators, and screen-based IP. Zhang later emerged as a leading executive in the vertical microdrama space, serving as an executive producer at two of the category's leading platforms. At GoodShort, she produced four of the platform's ten most commercially successful titles. She most recently produced exclusively for Dramabox, where she has produced multiple hit series that have contributed to the platform's top-grossing performance through the first three quarters of 2026. Across her work, the titles she has produced have generated more than 2 billion combined views.

The VertiGals chat with Mat Raney about his journey as a writer in various worlds to Chief Creative Officer of InVerted. Mat Raney is a screenwriter, novelist, and the Chief Creative Officer of Inverted Media. He has written for network television, wrote the multi-award-winning vertical series Pizza Guys vs Vampires, and is the writer of the forthcoming indie animated feature RIVER. As James Matlack Raney, he is also the author of the Jim Morgan adventure series, the award-winning Lord of the Wolves, and his most recent novel, LAST.

The VertiGals talk about the trials of being a writer across mediums with Claire Epstein. Claire grew up in Washington, DC, and attended Vanderbilt University and Circle in the Square Theater School. In New York, she performed at the UCB by night while ghostwriting romance novels by day. Fifteen of her novels have been published, selling several hundred thousand copies and becoming Amazon bestsellers. She staffed on the Emmy-nominated Quibi/Roku show IMMORAL COMPASS and was the associate writer for Disney's Emmy-winning show HAMSTER & GRETEL. She's also had a few plays published, written for a podcast network called Parcast, a DreamWorks show, and the app Calm. She has developed projects with Big Breakfast, Powderkeg, Audity, Realm, Eko, and The Cartel, and producers Kristin Burr, Debbie Liebling, and Scotty Landes. She recently worked at DramaBox, where two of her vertical series were produced and received millions of views, and is now the head writer for a new American vertical startup.

The VertiGals were lucky enough to sit down with Production Exec, Producer, Consumer Tech Founder Elizabeth Dell. Elizabeth is a producer and consultant in vertical micro series, currently leading projects for Hoorae Media, including the recently released Screen Time, which garnered 130M+ views in less than a month, distributed exclusively on TikTok and PineDrama. As Head of Production for Inkitt (parent company of CandyJarTV), she oversaw 30+ vertical shows. She produced multiple indie features, pilots, webseries, commercials, etc. including Destination Wedding, starring Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. Elizabeth is the founder of the romance and games couples app Amorus, co-founder of music and sensation product Groove Thing. She has a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Amherst College.

The VertiGals talk about vertical writing pay rates and freelance writing, and sit down with Austin Herring to talk about the business of verticals, vertical production, and how to write for vertical production. Austin Herring is the founder and CEO of Snow Story Productions, one of the largest vertical production companies in the U.S. A veteran writer, producer, and director, he has been at the forefront of the microdrama boom, helping shape the future of short-form storytelling through hit series, innovative production models, and a commitment to raising the bar for the vertical format.

The VertiGals chat with the delightful Jessica Burkhart about transitioning from writing books to mobile games to verticals. Jessica Burkhart is a vertical drama screenwriter, author of over 30 books, and mobile game writer. She has written ten produced verticals for platforms including Shorts, ReelShort, and DramaShorts, and also works in localization and script doctoring. Find her at jessicaburkhart.com.