Taiwan-based global streamer GagaOOLala is adding vertical series to its LGBTQ+ line-up. Talking about the decision to embrace the format, GagaOOLala founder Jay Lin tells ContentAsia: “Nine years on, we are encountering something transformational.” 

About 12 vertical/microdrama series have been acquired so far from Thailand, Taiwan and Japan. The microdrama line-up will go live with approx 20 titles and “we will test from there,” Lin says. 

The push into microdrama coincides with GagaOOLala’s digital wallet/sachet-pricing launch in select territories before the end of this year.  

Lin adds that the micro format “fits into our original ‘Pump Up The Volume’ initiative... from which we spun out Papa and Daddy and Fragrance of the First Flower.” 

“It’s a good platform to test the interest for a story and the potential online/offline application that is a key component of what BL/GL is today,” he says.  

“For a platform that is our size, these verticals are a lot more up our alley and in line with our budgets.”

Lin highlights the learning process involved in adding microdramas. 

“We are not fundamentally going to change our [AVOD] model,” he says. “The acquisition fees for vertical dramas are much smaller than fees for regular BL series. We can afford to test it out and see if it drives subscription... see how many episodes people are watching and use the data” to make the next decisions. 

GagaOOLala launched in Taiwan at the end of 2016, expanding globally in May 2020.  The vertical series launch date is to be confirmed.