Jen Cooper: “Why vertical dramas reconciled me with romantic fiction” [video]

On June 14, 2025, at the second public screening of the Duanju format organized by Studio Phocéen association in Paris, British journalist Jen Cooper opened the evening with a remarkable video presentation. Founder of the specialized media Vertical Drama Love and initiator of the genre's Fan Awards , she shared a personal and illuminating vision of this new fiction format.

A typical spectator turned ambassador

A former bookseller with a passion for romance, Jen Cooper presents herself as a "typical" viewer of these vertical miniseries (Duanju). A busy mother of two teenagers, like many others, she spent a long time searching for formats suited to her desires: accessible, quality romances, without time or platform constraints. Faced with Hollywood production deemed impoverished and traditional television often disappointing, she discovered vertical dramas by chance via TikTok : "I wanted something simple, emotional, that would fit in the palm of your hand. And suddenly, it was there."

A new narrative language

What she describes is a shift to a new way of consuming fiction: fast, direct, mobile. Vertical dramas , or duanju , offer episodes of 1 to 3 minutes, designed from the writing stage for the smartphone format. And above all: focused on immediate experience.

For Jen Cooper, this emotional effectiveness explains the format's global success, particularly among female audiences. Vertical drama doesn't seek to imitate cinema or television: it invents its own codes, often closer to social media.

A revolution still little known in Europe

While Asia largely anticipated this revolution, Europe is only just beginning to take an interest in it. Jen Cooper's talk highlights how the genre can reach a wide audience, beyond the clichés about "younger generations." Through Vertical Drama Love , she maps this global shift and advocates for the recognition of often invisible creators.

Discover her blog: https://www.verticaldramalove.com/

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