Tuesday 20 October

Send us your video Advertise
Sign in Join free

#TikTok

  1. TikTok owner ByteDance's free, ad-funded PineDrama app has passed 100 million downloads in under a year, and mostly shows locally produced dramas with 60–90 second episodes.
  2. Brands are commissioning microdramas directly: VTech released a 12-episode series on Friday, and Channel 4's first vertical drama, made with Sol de Janeiro, premieres on 24 October.
  3. In China, about 430,000 microdramas launched in eight months, mostly made with AI, but fewer than 1.3% of AI titles broke even; a strong hook, cliffhangers and a marketing budget still decide success.
Gist Reel

Nollywood · 7 min read

Microdrama production: 5 things filmmakers should know this week

A toy company, a British broadcaster, an Indian app and TikTok all moved this week. Here is what the latest microdrama news means for filmmakers, in five lessons.

Ninety seconds. That is about how long a microdrama episode gets to hook a viewer, land a twist and leave them desperate for the next one. In the past few days, the business built on those ninety seconds has moved again. A toy company released a 12-part series. A British broadcaster handed its first vertical drama to a perfume brand.…

Story page
  1. Content creators Habeeb Hamzat, known as Peller, and Amadou Elizabeth Aminata, known as Jarvis, announced on Instagram on Thursday, 8 October 2026 that they are expecting their first child.
  2. The announcement came about ten weeks after the couple's civil wedding in Lagos on 29 July 2026 and their white wedding on 1 August 2026.
  3. After the wedding, the couple brushed off pregnancy talk and blamed Jarvis's weight gain on late-night meals, Pulse Nigeria reported.
Gist Reel

Celebrity · 4 min read

Peller and Jarvis expecting first child, two months after wedding

The TikTok couple shared maternity photos on Instagram on Thursday, 8 October, weeks after brushing off pregnancy talk as weight gain. A slip on a livestream had already given fans a hint.

Two months after their Lagos wedding, Peller and Jarvis have confirmed what fans had guessed for weeks. The Peller and Jarvis pregnancy is official: the TikTok couple are expecting their first child, they said in a joint Instagram post on Thursday, 8 October 2026. The post was built around a maternity shoot, with Jarvis showing her bump. In the caption,…

Story page

The newsletter

Get the gist before everyone else.

A five-minute read on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7am. Free, and you can leave any time.