EXCLUSIVE: Two of the key players in the emerging UK vertical video scene have hooked up.
Tattle TV, which claims to be Britain’s first microdrama app, and vertical drama production house Onset Octopus struck a strategic partnership that will see them teaming to create a slate of content.
We recently profiled Tattle TV among a group of vertical video services developing outside microdrama’s main homes in China and the U.S., while Onset Octopus, led by producer Ben Pengilly, is behind shows such as DramaBox’s Mafia Lover and Reelshort’s Pride and Prejudice.
“We’re the most experienced vertical video production company in the country and Tattle is one of the first ever apps, so we wanted to partner up nice and early,” Pengilly told Deadline. “We want to take on the scene with stronger scripts, stronger acting and better shoots in general, and help grow the scene in a really positive way as pioneers.”
“We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with Ben and the team at Onset Octopus,” said Marina Elderton, co-founder of Tattle TV. “As pioneers of premium vertical drama in the UK, they share our belief in the future of mobile-first British storytelling. Together, we’re creating a new home for ambitious vertical drama, elevating the format and unlocking new opportunities for creative talent.”
Pengilly’s company was the first from the UK to shoot a series entirely outside the UK, shooting a microdrama on location in Italy. Onset Octopus develops scripts from scratch and has a team of five in-house writers, and localizes content in Mandarin, English, Spanish and Portuguese. The production house claims its series have amassed 86 million views worldwide.
Tattle TV, meanwhile, made headlines last week after Deadline revealed the news that it had adapted Alfred Hitchcock’s classic silent film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog as a microdrama. The production can’t be made available via vertical video in the UK or EU as it is subject to IP licensing restrictions, but in the U.S. the silent version has been available for adaptation.
We also revealed the news of Tattle TV’s launch, as the brainchild of EMC Productions and its founders Philip McGoldrick and Elderton. It launched with originals including Dog Dates, a pilot reality series following British singletons finding love on dates with their dogs, and Tramp, a sports drama following a British-Polish MMA fighter. Tattle is also developing a thriller series titled The Escape Rooms and a romantic comedy called Nerdy Natalie.
