VertiGals
From Ghostwriting Romance Novels to Hollywood to Microdramas with Claire Epstein
Producing Verticals with Jason Mayfield: Producer and Head of Casting & Development at Snow Story Productions
por Natalie Gergely & Alison Bonn
The VertiGals talk about the trials of being a writer across mediums with Claire Epstein. Claire grew up in Washington, DC, and attended Vanderbilt University and Circle in the Square Theater School. In New York, she performed at the UCB by night while ghostwriting romance novels by day. Fifteen of her novels have been published, selling several hundred thousand copies and becoming Amazon bestsellers. She staffed on the Emmy-nominated Quibi/Roku show IMMORAL COMPASS and was the associate writer for Disney's Emmy-winning show HAMSTER & GRETEL. She's also had a few plays published, written for a podcast network called Parcast, a DreamWorks show, and the app Calm. She has developed projects with Big Breakfast, Powderkeg, Audity, Realm, Eko, and The Cartel, and producers Kristin Burr, Debbie Liebling, and Scotty Landes. She recently worked at DramaBox, where two of her vertical series were produced and received millions of views, and is now the head writer for a new American vertical startup.
The VertiGals sit down with Jason Mayfield, Producer and Head of Casting & Development at SnowStory Productions to discuss his journey from Modern Dance, to Magic, to Stand Up Comedy, to MicroDramas. We also discuss the rise of MicroDramas, what makes them work and why, and how they are rapidly changing the entertainment landscape as we know it.
The VertiGals have so much fun learning about Kristen Brancaccio's journey to conquering the vertical world. Having directed 17 verticals to date, Kristen has a lot of insight in the structure that works best in verticals and how the marketing and financing models around verticals will have to change for vertical story telling to be able to effectively evolve.