By Variety | Created at 2026-08-12 14:55:42 | Updated at 2026-08-12 17:52:45
3 hours ago
James Franco is headlining a microdrama.
The actor stars in “Love, Lies & Frank,” now streaming exclusively on Shortical and counted among the first series produced under SAG-AFTRA’s Verticals Agreement.
Franco, known for “127 Hours” and “The Disaster Artist,” shares the screen with established vertical stars Eric Guilmette (“CEO’s Kansas Sweetheart”) and Neela Jolene (“Cheerleader and the Beast”).
The series follows Jimmy Frank (Franco), an eccentric ad agency CEO who projects confidence and humor while contending with risk and unresolved fallout from his past, including criminal and supernatural threats circling his company. A parallel storyline follows Daniella Hanson (Jolene), an ambitious employee who lands her dream campaign just as she rekindles a forbidden romance with Cameron Frank (Guilmette), her boss’s stepbrother, forcing her to weigh her career against a relationship she has kept hidden.
The pairing reflects a broader trend of Hollywood talent moving into the fast-growing microdrama space, following moves by Taye Diggs into a CandyJar series, Issa Rae’s Hoorae producing a microdrama for TikTok’s PineDrama, and Fox Entertainment taking a stake in vertical-video studio Holywater.
“Hollywood is beginning to embrace vertical storytelling in a meaningful way,” said Guy Shimoni, CEO of Shortical. “To see a talent like James Franco headlining an original microdrama is an important milestone for the industry. We at Shortical are proud to be setting the standard by bringing world-class talent, filmmakers, and stories to audiences in an entirely new way, proving that premium entertainment can thrive in a mobile-first world.”
“Love, Lies & Frank” is directed by Eric Wang Schwager (“Double Life of Cell Block King”) and written by Melissa Lynn Moore. It is produced by Knockout Shorts alongside Peter Gold of Gold Films. The production did not use AI-generated performances or digital replicas.
“‘Love, Lies & Frank’ was a really fun collision of worlds,” said Matthew Ko, Co-Founder and CEO of Knockout Shorts. “It gave us the opportunity to play with the conventions of the genre, and subvert them just enough without losing sight of what audiences already love about these stories. The goal was always to make something that felt both familiar and completely unexpected.”
Franco was at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where Variety revealed that he is part of the “John Rambo” cast. In Cannes, Franco said he had been focused on living a “positive life” following a sexual misconduct scandal that erupted over allegations of abuse of power and inappropriate behavior towards aspiring actresses at his now-defunct acting school. Franco denied the allegations but acknowledged that the accusers had raised important issues.
Knockout Shorts is an independent short-form studio that pairs established Hollywood talent with short-form creators to build mobile-native series. Shortical works with creators across live-action, AI talent, celebrity and IP projects, handling everything from funding and shooting through translation, release and marketing for global audiences, and the platform draws upward of 20 million episode plays a month domestically.
