Raindance launches vertical film festival for phone-screen stories
Raindance will launch Raindance Vertical, a one-day festival and financing market for films and series made to be watched upright on a phone, in London on Dec. 4.
The event will be held at the Karma Sanctum Hotel in Soho. Every title will screen in 9:16, the tall shape that fills a phone screen with no need to turn it sideways, as reported by Variety.
The programme has two competitive strands: Vertical Short Film and Vertical Series. The series strand is for microdramas, meaning stories told in very short episodes designed for mobile viewing. Shorts and series will screen side by side in the same day-long schedule.
Submissions are open to UK and international filmmakers via FilmFreeway, the website festivals use to collect entries. The window stays open until November. That gives makers a few weeks to finish and submit upright cuts. The festival has not announced a final closing date.
Beyond screenings, the day includes panels and workshops on making and selling vertical work. It will also host a vertical mini-market, meaning a curated meeting space where projects can seek money and distribution. The market is run with Charlotte Knowles' Creative HQ. It will match pre-vetted producers with financiers, platforms, commissioners, the executives who order shows, and brands.
An advisory group supports the launch. It brings together Dan Löwenstein, founder of House of Create, Jen Cooper of Vertical Drama Love, and Christine Hartland, co-founder and chief operating officer of My Smash Media. Löwenstein has directed 36 vertical dramas for broadcasters, streamers and dedicated microdrama platforms. Raindance was founded by Elliot Grove.
Raindance Vertical follows the 34th Raindance Film Festival, which ran June 17-26, 2026 in London's West End. That edition was centred around Vue Piccadilly and the Canon Lounge, according to Raindance. The new event is smaller and focused. One venue, one day, one screen shape.
What makes this stand out is the combination. Audiences get upright stories on a big screen, while makers get practical sessions and pitch meetings in the same building. For viewers, it is a chance to see phone-native work outside an app. For crews, it puts funding talks next door to the screening.
