How microdrama is rewriting the rules of screenwriting
To write a microdrama is to go against the conventions of screenwriting. With only a minute or two per episode, there’s no room to dillydally. Scene progression is nearly nonexistent, and there’s no clear character arc. Instead, you get a hook, an escalation, and a cliffhanger. And for someone used to traditional film and television series, the drastic change in pace can indeed be jarring.
“Everything I learned about screenwriting from my teachers, I had to throw out the window,” Miguel Sevilla, who wrote iconic romantic comedy flicks such as “My Amnesia Girl,” “Unofficially Yours,” and “Miss You Like Crazy,” tells Lifestyle Inquirer.
No room to breathe
The core pillars of storytelling, including character, conflict, and goal, remain in this rapidly rising format. But everything is compressed. In some cases, “you have to establish the problem within the first few seconds and resolve it just as quickly after.” It’s what happens—or what doesn’t happen—in between that’s the difference.
“Nawala ‘yong hinga in between scenes, ‘yong mga moments where the characters reflect on their actions and reveal their complexities,” Sevilla says.
Not that viewers are expecting those elements in bite-sized, vertically shot shows. While the lack of backstory or gradual emotional development wouldn’t fly in film or television, it isn’t the mortal sin it would be in microdrama. “There’s more leeway because viewers understand the medium and what they’re watching,” he says.
Because of the breakneck nature of microdrama, it typically lends itself well to visceral storytelling. So it’s unsurprising that many current titles revolve around campy melodramas with over-the-top confrontations and ridiculous plot twists.
Well-worn tropes
This is more or less how Sevilla approached his first microdrama, the four-episode digital series “Cheese the One,” produced by Eden and directed by Dan Villegas. There’s the seemingly submissive wife, her husband, and the terror mother-in-law.
And if you have seen a Filipino teleserye or movie before, you probably already know how this goes down.
“There are a lot of call backs and references to lines from iconic movies,” says Sevilla, who didn’t scrimp on staredowns, dramatic slow-mos, and that classic “walling”—a character sliding down a wall in emotional collapse. “We also got some of the juiciest, most sensational tropes that deal with universal themes like family and belonging.”
Meet audiences where they are
But if you think the shorter runtime and dialogue mean easier writing, you’re mistaken.
“I still have to do a 20-page draft, and then I start chipping away at it until I meet the parameters. And sometimes, editing is the hardest part,” says the renowned writer, who also drew inspiration from good ‘ol radio dramas—perhaps the closest predecessor to the microdrama in terms of intensity and relentlessness.
“Those radio series have no pauses or dead air. There’s always something going on, so that’s something I kind of adapted while writing,” he adds. “It has to be something you can watch even while you’re washing the dishes.”
This time, however, the audience is no longer just homebodies busy with chores, but people on their phones and on the go—which is to say, almost everyone. Now, you need a “thumb-stopping” content to keep them from scrolling.
“Who’s the consumer now? People these days rarely sit down, get comfortable, and watch,” Sevilla points out. “They’re on their commute, on the train, waiting outside. We have to meet the audience wherever they are.”
Something to embrace, explore
While some might dismiss microdrama as a mindless escape, Sevilla isn’t one to discriminate between what’s deemed low art or high art. He can watch and appreciate “Mara Clara” and “The Pitt” in the same breath because, at the end of the day, he says, “it’s all storytelling to me.”
He’s also not averse to change. “If you look at it, we didn’t always shoot in 16:9, but in a 4:3 aspect ratio…It’s just a different way of storytelling,” he adds. “Perhaps in the future we can see more genres. I think, for instance, this format would be great for horror.”
Microdrama is now a multi-billion-dollar industry in China. And while the format in Philippine showbiz is still far from that level of commercial success, local networks and production companies like ABS-CBN, GMA 7, and Viva have begun exploring the format. And given the opportunity, Sevilla would be open to writing a full-fledged microdrama in the future.
“I think it’s something we can embrace and explore,” he says. “But if we discriminate and judge it the right way, then we won’t see its full potential.”
