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Fox Entertainment and Kevin Hart's Hartbeat strike microdrama first-look deal

Fox Entertainment Studios will get first look at film and TV projects developed from vertical series made under Hartbeat's Codeblack, Essence and Revolt brands, announced at MIPCOM on 13 October. The pipeline starts with 25 live-action titles on Holywater's My Drama platform.

3 outlets · 2L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Deadline
Image: The Hollywood Reporter
Image: Variety

1 / 3

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Fox Entertainment and Kevin Hart's production company Hartbeat announced a partnership on Tuesday 13 October, at the MIPCOM market in Cannes, to develop microdramas (vertical short-form series) into film and television projects. Left · 2Fox Entertainment Studios gets first-look rights to feature film and TV projects developed from vertical series released under Hartbeat's Codeblack, Essence and Revolt brands. Mixed · 2Fox Entertainment Global will distribute the original vertical series worldwide after each title's initial platform run.

Mixed · 2The pipeline launches with 25 live-action titles across thriller, drama and faith-based genres, hosted on My Drama, a vertical video platform run by Holywater Tech, in which Fox took a stake last year; Codeblack becomes My Drama's first dedicated branded channel. Mixed · 2The companies describe the series as the "first stage of intellectual property development", and say the three brands have a combined social following of more than 20 million. Left · 1Hannah Pillemer, head of scripted at Fox Entertainment Studios, said the deal lets Fox "identify bold ideas in the vertical space, see what resonates in real time, and give those stories a path to grow into film and television".

Left · 1Jeff Clanagan, founder of Codeblack and Hartbeat's chief distribution officer, said the stories that win on vertical "become film and television for the world". Left · 1The Hollywood Reporter said the approach resembles apps like CandyJar and GoodShort, which test ideas on affiliated fiction apps, and put the typical cost of a live-action microdrama at $100,000-300,000 a series, far below a full TV season. Left · 3Fox has been active in microdramas: Holywater has a commitment to produce 200 microdramas in two years, Fox has a deal with YouTube creator Dhar Mann, and Hartbeat signed a first-look deal with Fox-owned Tubi last year and, Deadline reported, a similar partnership with microdrama platform aTwist last month.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left2 outlets

Framing
Trade coverage treats the deal as Fox's strategy to use cheap microdramas as a testing ground for film and TV IP.
Emphasis
Business logic, low costs versus TV, Fox's wider microdrama push, and executive quotes.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention Hartbeat's parallel aTwist microdrama partnership.
For example
“Fox Entertainment is betting that microdramas can help executives better identify the secret sauce that makes for a popular film or television series.” — The Hollywood Reporter
“Last year Hartbeat inked a first-look deal with Fox Corp.-owned Tubi” — Variety

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Deadline presents a short deal report tied to Fox boss Rob Wade's MIPCOM panel, noting Hartbeat's other microdrama deal.
Emphasis
Holywater link, MIPCOM timing, and Hartbeat's aTwist deal last month.
Leaves out or plays down
Omits microdrama cost figures and Fox's other microdrama deals such as Dhar Mann.
Charged language
“microdrama behemoth”
For example
“Last month, we revealed Hartbeat had struck a similar partnership with microdrama platform aTwist.” — Deadline

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

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