RTP and SPi are launching the first Portuguese micro-dramas project, that consists of five micro-dramas, produced by SPi, each with 20 episodes lasting one and a half minutes, exploring various genres from thriller to comedy.
José Fragoso, director of RTP1, says: "RTP is breaking new ground for national fiction, responding to a very recent trend that is already relevant in several international markets: the professional production of fiction series for digital distribution, designed and structured to be made and viewed in vertical format, adapted to mobile phone screens. Each story is told in very short episodes, each less than two minutes long. For the creative teams, this process will be a new challenge, from writing to directing, including the work of the actors and actresses and the production team. In the end, it will be up to the viewer to decide how many episodes they want to watch, where and at what time."
The original idea is by Pedro Lopes, with screenwriters Inês Gomes, Susana Romano, and Marina Ribeiro. Filming will take place between December and January 2026, and the content will be available in vertical format on TikTok, Instagram, and RTP Play.
According to João Maia Abreu, executive director of International Business and Co-productions at SPi: "With this partnership between RTP and SPi, we are starting a new chapter in Portuguese fiction. Micro-dramas, or vertical dramas, represent a way of storytelling that reflects our times - more agile, direct, fast and optimised, deeply connected to the way audiences currently consume content."
This initiative once again places RTP at the forefront of national fiction, establishing itself as a pioneer in the production of vertical format content and positioning Portugal as a benchmark in new forms of storytelling.
Micro-dramas are taking the world by storm. More than just a trend, they are already a new reality that is gaining momentum with technological advances and changing consumer habits. Their format brings us a new language of fiction suited to an era in which viewers take, on average, less than three seconds to decide whether they want to continue watching a video.
Micro-dramas open up a new space for telling intense stories that can have a big impact on audiences, ideal for watching in short periods of time.
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