Going Indie in the Vertical Space
Julie Bruns on making Beneath Crimson Sails
Behind the Verticals sat down with actor, writer, director, and producer Julie Bruns to talk about pulling off an ambitious pirate-themed vertical drama with no studio safety net.
But first, this week’s global vertical drama news…
👀 Spotted:
The Vertical Drama Love Fan Awards were handed out in LA. You can watch the live stream here. Congrats to the winners and Jen Cooper!
The New Yorker: Inside the world-conquering rise of the microdrama.
Marc Jacobs puts luxury spin on microdrama content with ‘The Scene’.
The man who built E! is now betting $250M on microdramas at this new N.J. studio.
Report: The rise of microdramas: market insights, opportunities, and trends.
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🎥 Video Interview with Julie Bruns
When an Instagram post about pirates sparked genuine fan excitement, Julie Bruns did not wait for a traditional producer to figure out the budget math. She figured it out herself.
Beneath Crimson Sails is the first independently produced pirate-themed vertical drama, already available on MuVpix. The project is a case study in what is possible at the indie level when the creative ambition outpaces what the standard vertical budget structure is built to support.
Traditional producers expressed interest but could not make the numbers work for a story this unconventional. So Bruns and her team self-financed, leaned on an indie filmmaking background built around ambitious period pieces on tight budgets, and got creative. Reg Rozee, who appears in the series as Floron, happened to know someone with a boat. Early funding arrived as David Aboussafy of Generativity Productions, renowned for his support of Vancouver indie film, took a bold leap of faith into the vertical space, and got production underway. Carin Smolinski came on as co-executive producer to help with finishing funds, while crew members invested their own labour in the project as well taking deferred pay and back-end points to keep costs contained.
Distribution, often the hardest part for independent projects, came through Smolinski’s networking at the vertical drama market. Bruns credits the story itself as doing a lot of the heavy lifting: when you are making something people already want to see, the pitch is easier.
To find out what Julie’s advice for anyone entering the indie vertical space is and what’s next for her, watch the full video interview below.
You can also follow Julie on socials (Instagram, TikTok, and Threads) and learn more about Beneath Crimson Sails on Instagram and TikTok.
