Google and Range Media Partners are getting serious about microdramas — and have enticed some heavyweight Hollywood producers to make these bite-sized stories for them.
The companies’ joint production initiative, 100 ZEROS, announced a slate of scripted and unscripted verticals on Thursday that underscores how seriously some corners of Hollywood are taking the vertical video format. Their programming includes shows from The Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss, American Idol creator Simon Fuller, Charlie’s Angels director and Baywatch director and executive producer McG and Kenan Thompson and John Ryan Jr.’s production shingle Artists for Artists.
The Bachelor’s Fleiss is producing Dateable, a self-shot reality romance show that will see singles documenting their own dating journeys. Charlie’s Angels director and former executive producer of The O.C. McG is behind a show called Newport Beach that will see the creative “return to Orange County.” Artists for Artists will produce a kidnapping thriller with a dark comedy element.
And Simon Fuller, the creator of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, is planning on a full slate of microdramas for 100 ZEROS “spanning music, youth culture and breakout talent stories,” the company added, without getting into further specifics.
It’s all part of a larger production initiative from 100 ZEROS, which launched in in 2025 with the goal of promoting tech and Google products through storytelling. “Dozens” of microdramas are in development and 100 ZEROS is working on creating bespoke sets to enable vertical video production on a large scale, according to the companies.
100 ZEROS plans on debuting the projects first on the Google TV app on Android phones and then streaming them across various platforms.
Range’s Rachel Douglas, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Mark Herwick will be overseeing the microdramas slate, while Casey Durant and Penny Lin will handle creative work on 100 ZEROS projects.
The initiative serves as another indication that traditional (and formerly traditional) Hollywood executives are seeing opportunity in the vertical videos space. Though the popularity of the format skyrocketed thanks to soapy romance and genre stories of questionable quality, experienced creatives are getting in the game, betting they can broaden the audience with new genres and consistent storytelling. Former Miramax CEO Bill Block and former WME and ABC Entertainment head Lloyd Braun, ex-Showtime president Jana Winograde and former NBCUniversal Television and Streaming entertainment chairwoman Susan Rovner are each working on new microdramas companies, while Fox Entertainment has announced an equity stake in verticals company Holywater. Taye Diggs is producing one microdrama for Lifetime and starring in another for app CandyJar.
CSI creator Anthony Zuiker has released several microdramas with Block’s app, GammaTime. He told The Hollywood Reporter in 2025 that he believes the format will catch on with Hollywood creatives because it allows them to get their work greenlit quickly at a time when traditional entertainment companies are increasingly cautious and risk-averse.
“I think why people would do it is because they want to see their movies get made,” he said. “Every time I call Bill Block and say, ‘I’ve got an idea,’ the answer is ‘Yes.’ That’s the best part about it.”
