Guide · Writing

Vertical Short Drama Script Format (2026): Episode Length, Word Counts, Hook Structure and AI-Generation Constraints

Published September 5, 2026 · Updated September 12, 2026

Quick answer: A vertical short drama script is organised by episode, not by act: each episode runs 1–2 minutes, carries 150–300 spoken words in 2–4 scenes, opens on conflict inside 5 seconds, turns roughly every 30 seconds and ends on a hook that forces the next tap. The format the apps in the ReelShort and DramaBox mould have settled on, as publicly visible in their catalogues as of 2026-09-05, is 60–100 episodes of 60–120 seconds, with a paywall somewhere between episode 8 and 12. Below: a length and word-count table, a copy-ready scene layout, the hook structure with a first-three-episodes beat sheet, and the extra constraints that apply when the series is generated by AI rather than shot.

Still from “Neon Debt”, an AI short drama generated end-to-end by SceneMixer (7 characters, 1 episode) — Sample: “Neon Debt” — Game Engine Realism, 1 episode, produced end-to-end by SceneMixer from the script · watch the episodes

Three ways a vertical script differs from a feature or TV script

Scene density. A feature can spend three pages on one scene; a 90-second episode holds 2–4 scenes and keeps only the one or two beats that move the conflict.
Line length. Single lines of dialogue stay under about 20 words. A phone caption line holds 6–8 words; a long line wraps to three rows and the viewer reads captions instead of watching the face.
The hook is per episode. TV relies on one cliffhanger per hour; vertical drama needs one per episode, and the three hook types (identity, emotion, realisation) have to rotate. Two identical hooks in a row feel like a trick.

2026 length table

Format	Episode length	Episode count	Spoken words per episode	Season total	Basis (checked 2026-09-05)
Live-action vertical drama (ReelShort / DramaBox style)	60–120 s, some to 3 min	60–100	150–300	9,000–30,000	Publicly visible catalogue norms on the major apps; word counts derived at 2.5 words/s
AI-generated vertical drama	60–120 s	20–60	150–300	3,000–18,000	Shorter seasons are the norm while per-second generation cost dominates the budget
Mid-form (3–20 min)	3–20 min	10–30	450–3,000	—	Same pacing formula, longer arcs

The conversion rests on one number: a typical spoken pace of about 2.5 words per second. A 90-second episode is roughly 225 words of dialogue and voice-over; action lines do not count. Work the formula backwards after every draft instead of guessing the running time.

Scene layout: an example you can copy

There is no single mandated template, but the layout below, organised by episode and scene, is what studios read fastest and what script-analysis tools split most reliably:

EPISODE 3

SCENE 1 · INT. VALE FAMILY CHAPEL – NIGHT
[ACTION] Claire kneels on the cushion, a half-burned marriage contract clenched in her hand. The door opens; the draft bends the candle flames.
MR. VALE (low): Did you burn the contract?
CLAIRE (not looking up): I did.
MR. VALE: Then you can explain it to the Carters yourself.
[ACTION] She lifts her head. No tears.

SCENE 2 · EXT. VALE HOUSE, FRONT GATE – NIGHT
[ACTION] Ethan Carter's car idles at the gate, headlights on her.
ETHAN (through the window): Get in. The wedding goes ahead.
[HOOK · realisation] On the passenger seat: the other half of the contract, intact.

Scene heading in a fixed order: scene number, INT./EXT., location, time. Keep one spelling of every location for the whole season ("Vale Family Chapel", never "the chapel" one page and "Vale chapel" the next); it is what scene reference images and consistency are built on later.
Action lines marked [ACTION] or indented, only what can be seen or heard, no interior monologue, under about 40 words each.
Dialogue as CHARACTER (tone): line. Tone goes in parentheses; no "she said".
Hook labelled with its type at the end of the episode so you can check the rotation yourself.

Hook structure: 5 seconds, 30 seconds, episode end

Three beats

Conflict in the first 5 seconds. The first line or the first action is the conflict itself, not the setting. "Did you burn the contract?" beats "Morning at the Vale house."
A turn about every 30 seconds. A 90-second episode turns at least twice: new information, a shifted allegiance, or escalated danger.
The episode-end hook, rotating. Identity (someone is not who they said), emotion (a confession, refusal or rupture left hanging), realisation (viewer and lead discover an earlier judgement was wrong).

First-three-episodes beat sheet

Episode	What must happen	End hook
1	Conflict inside 5 s; the lead's situation and first trap; what she wants is clear.	Identity
2	The antagonist enters; the stakes go on the table (money, a marriage, a life, a reputation, pick one); the lead is cornered.	Emotion
3	First reversal: the apparent weakling shows a card, or an ally turns.	Realisation
4–5	The lead's first real win (a face-slap, a turnaround, a piece of evidence) and a bigger problem behind it.	Identity → Emotion

The logic: free-to-watch feeds decide on completion of the first three episodes, paid apps convert at the paywall around episodes 8–12, and both need the first win no later than episode 5.

Submitting to a studio or app

☐ Episode count and length match the studio's current call; most requests specify a full-season outline plus the first 10–20 episodes in full.
☐ Every episode carries a labelled hook; the three types rotate.
☐ One spelling per location and per character name across the whole season.
☐ Single dialogue lines under about 20 words; action lines under about 40.
☐ Genre fits what the app is buying this quarter (billionaire romance, revenge, werewolf and second-chance stories have dominated the English-language catalogues; check the front page of the app you are pitching on the day you submit).
☐ Rights are clean: adaptation rights for any source novel, no real-person likenesses.

Extra constraints when the series is AI-generated

When the script feeds an AI video model instead of a crew, format is not the only test; the other is "can the model produce this picture". Patterns confirmed across a large volume of finished clips:

Write freely	Write carefully	Avoid
Two-person dialogue close-ups, single-character emotional beats, hard light and backlight, rain and snow, in-car scenes	More than four people in frame, fights that need continuous choreography, fine hand work	Battles and crowds, complex machinery, readable text close-ups (contracts, phone screens)

Keep each episode to three or four physical locations: every extra set multiplies the cross-shot consistency problem.
Convert dialogue at 2.5 words per second: a 15-second segment holds at most about 35 words; more than that means another segment.
Write causes, not effects, in action lines: "a pendant lamp throws warm-white light from upper right", not "light brightens her forehead". It is a prompt-level rule, but building the habit at script stage saves storyboard rewrites.

A script in this layout goes into SceneMixer's analysis without reformatting: the "short drama" content type applies a per-episode running-time cap, rotates the end hooks between identity, emotion and realisation, and splits out characters, sets, props and the episode structure directly. How a scene then becomes a 15-second segment is covered in the continuity section of Character Consistency.

FAQ

How many words is one episode of a vertical short drama?

About 150–300 words of dialogue and voice-over per episode. At a typical spoken pace of 2.5 words per second that is 60–120 seconds of screen time; action lines are not counted because they are not spoken. A 60-episode season is roughly 9,000–18,000 words.

What has to happen in the first three episodes?

Episode 1 opens on the conflict within 5 seconds, establishes the lead's situation and what she wants, and ends on an identity hook. Episode 2 puts the antagonist and the stakes on the table. Episode 3 delivers the first reversal so the viewer trusts the series will keep turning. The lead's first real win must land by episode 5 or completion rates collapse before the paywall.

How is an AI-generated series script different from one for a live shoot?

Same structure, different picture constraints. AI video is reliable on two-person dialogue close-ups, single-character emotional beats, hard light and weather, and unreliable on more than four people in frame, continuous fight choreography, crowds and complex machinery. So write fewer ensemble scenes and long fights, keep each episode to three or four physical locations, and convert dialogue to seconds at 2.5 words per second.

Is there a standard script format for ReelShort or DramaBox submissions?

The apps do not publish a single mandated template; producers and studios generally accept a standard screenplay layout organised by episode: scene heading with INT./EXT., location and time, action lines, character name and dialogue, and a labelled hook at the end of each episode. Use the same location names throughout and keep single lines of dialogue under about 20 words. Check the current submission guidelines of whichever studio or platform you pitch to.

Paste the script and watch it split into episodes and cast

Analysis applies the short-drama running-time cap and rotates the episode-end hooks; characters, sets and props come out ready for reference art.

Want to see a finished result first? The sample dramas play full episodes.