Kristen Brancaccio is set to direct both a microdrama and a feature film adaptation of Clarence Hammond’s romantic short story Summer Session. The dual adaptation will bring the same story to two very different screens: a vertical-format microdrama built for phones, and a full-length feature for traditional viewing.
Clarence Hammond and Kristen Brancaccio (Credits: Deadline)
Summer Session Becomes A Microdrama And A Feature Film
Plot details are under wraps for now, but the structure of the project is already clear. Brancaccio will develop the story in vertical format for the microdrama version, while Hammond himself will adapt the script for the feature film. That division of labour keeps the original author close to the big-screen version, while a specialist in short-form storytelling shapes the phone-first cut.
Hammond will also produce the project alongside Ancora Entertainment’s Maria Frisk and Michael Napoliello, Artists First’s Katie Zipkin-Leed and Select Management Group’s Matt Shepley. The producing team spans film, television and talent management, a sign of how seriously the microdrama world is now being taken by the wider industry.
Kristen Brancaccio’s Microdrama Track Record
Brancaccio is one of the most experienced directors working in microdrama today, with more than 20 microdramas to her name for platforms including TikTok, ReelShort, NetShort and DramaShorts. Her biggest success so far is Screen Time, the Issa Rae microdrama that drew more than 250 million views in its first month on TikTok.
She has also directed the Audible series Southern Belle Insults, starring Keke Palmer, and her series Hollywood Starlet launched on microdrama app aTwist in August. With Summer Session, she now gets to test whether a romantic short story can work twice over: once as a snack-sized vertical drama, and once as a full feature. If it works, expect more stories to follow the same two-track path.
Also Read: One Cut of the Dead Director Ueda Shinichiro Turns Microdrama Into Tokyo Feature Earthlings in Love
Source: Deadline — read the full story there.
