US-based outfit prepares to launch first microdrama and plots unscripted push
US factual outfit Rivr Media - producer of shows including HGTV’s Fixer to Fabulous - is moving into vertical video.
The Tennessee-based firm, which was founded in 1999, has launched RIVR Films to house the venture and has already struck its first deal for a microdrama with Dash of Fire.
The show has been created by and stars Jackson Tiller, whose 38 vertical drama credits have amassed over 1.5 billion views to date. It debuts exclusively on vertical platform Shortical on 1 June.
Rivr Films is also looking to develop and produce a range of other vertical dramas across creative and commercial models, from talent-originated projects to platform partnerships and commissions.
The company also plans to use its unscripted expertise to create short-form factual content for vertical series platforms.
Lori Stryer, chief exec of Rivr Media, said the company was looking to build “a serious, long-term production business” and would work across scripted and unscripted.
Lior Sasson, head of US operations at Shortical, added: “As a studio with a long-standing track record in premium production, Rivr brings a level of experience and discipline that will help elevate the category.”
Rivr Media was formed by Dee Haslam, managing partner and chief exec of Haslam Sports Group, whose portfolio contains sports teams including the Cleveland Browns.
It has produced shows for more than 15 US cablenets, ranging from A&E’s Secrets of Polygamy to Whale Wars on Animal Planet, and is now jointly owned by Haslam and Stryer, who has been chief exec and partner since 2019.
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