Black Forest Studios Launches Vertical Drama Platform

Black Forest Studios launches Snäxx, a subscription microdrama app, on November 1 on iOS and Android. The Freiburg and Munich production house, whose CEO Sebastian Weiland co-founded the platform, opens with five vertical originals: drama "Black Forest Royale", medical drama "Mountain Medical Klinik", mystery "Path of the Lost", thriller "Guts" and animated family comedy "Karle Grün", each running 42 to 52 episodes of one to three minutes. The first five episodes of every series are free; after that a subscription costs €4.99 (roughly $6) with ads or €9.99 (~$11) without, and single episodes can be unlocked with coins. Every series is shot in both 9:16 and 16:9 so it can travel on to television and streamers, and a RE:FORMAT service re-cuts broadcasters' and studios' existing archive into vertical episodes. The company says it is building "a strong European player in a category currently being shaped largely outside Europe" and is inviting producers, distributors and rights holders to bring microdramas and archive titles to the platform.