Joey Jia, CEO of ReelShort, speaks at Owl & Co’s Vertical Media Summit

Joey Jia, founder and CEO of vertical content store ReelShort, will speak next month at the Vertical Media Summit, hosted in Hollywood by media research firm Owl & Co.

Jia will participate in a June 3 conversation with Owl & Co. chief Hernan Lopez, the former Fox executive and founder of the Wondery podcast network. ReelShort is one of the most popular vertical drama streaming apps, hosting hundreds of series. It is part of the cutting-edge digital media company Crazy Maple Studios.

“Microdramas were the first vertical scripted format to scale globally, but it’s the opening act, not the show,” Owl & Co said. at the announcement of the summit, which will be held at W Hollywood. “The space will evolve to encompass every genre and subgenre, from vertical action to animation, from procedural to prestige. Comedy, unscripted, news, sports, are already in production.”

From research by Owl & Co. shows that vertical media content designed to be viewed on the phone screen already generates around $1 billion in subscription revenue worldwide, excluding China.

Other top contenders TikTok, YouTube, Fox, CAA, Holywater Tech and Hoorae Productions. Jia and Lopez will discuss the business and creative aspects of vertical media in a fireside chat, in addition to panels and other sessions.

The Vertical Media Summit builds on the Short Drama Business Summit that Owl & Co. organized last December. The company emphasizes that vertical media is a fast-growing sector “with its own economics, aesthetics and audience psychology. Most of that is still up for grabs.”

(Image: Joey Jia, CEO of ReelShort)

Joey Jia, Founder and CEO of ReelShort