Microdrama producers split on format's ceiling at Toronto panel, with AI the open question
At the Access Canada Summit during the Toronto film festival, VertTV's Jeffrey Schenck argued against AI-made verticals while Snow Story's Austin Herring said the format is more than television.
What this basis means: Reported by a named news outlet, and traceable to neither a filing, a research vendor, nor the company itself.
Producers working in vertical drama discussed the sector's direction at the Access Canada Summit, held during the Toronto International Film Festival and reported by The Hollywood Reporter on 15 September 2026.
Jeffrey Schenck, founder of the Los Angeles studio VertTV and previously the producer of more than 200 television films for Lifetime and Hallmark, spoke against AI-generated production. Asked whether AI-generated stories were coming to the format, he said: "I hope not. Nothing against AI. It's part of our life, I know. But there's something about the energy on set. What actors bring and what writers bring and what directors do, yes, but what humans contribute is so nuanced." No participant argued the opposite position on the record.
Schenck and Austin Herring, chief executive of Snow Story Productions, disagreed on how to position the format. Schenck placed vertical drama in the line of television's development; Herring argued that microdrama represents something more than television. Herring characterised the economics as high-volume and low-margin.
The panel was reported under two headlines by the same outlet, one describing Hollywood as having joined a global boom pioneered by China, the other describing cautious optimism among producers despite concerns about AI. The report carries no market figures.
Companies VertTV, Snow Story Productions