Eric Roberts to lead New Short Media drama planned as vertical series and film
It’s My Party And I’ll Die If I Want To is planned for release in two formats, with Merrick Hanna, Neela Jolene and Ryker Baloun also in the cast.
Eric Roberts will lead It’s My Party And I’ll Die If I Want To, a newly revealed New Short Media drama planned as both an episodic vertical series and a feature film intended for theatrical release, Deadline reported on 28 October. The two-format plan gives the Hollywood company’s first announced vertical drama a potential route to both phone screens and cinemas.
The cast and birthday-night story
Gev Miron and Charlie Parker created the project, according to Deadline. Its story follows Anna on the night of her 21st birthday as she tries to hide the truth about her best friend’s death. Guests arrive while old secrets and family revelations threaten to emerge. MovieMag also describes the birthday-night premise and the project’s planned series and film versions.
Deadline named Merrick Hanna, Neela Jolene and Ryker Baloun alongside Roberts in the cast. Hanna appeared on America’s Got Talent, Jolene in Acting Coach Nightmare and Baloun in Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. Roberts received an Oscar nomination for the 1985 film Runaway Train, a career detail also noted by MovieMag.
New Short Media’s two-format plan
New Short Media was founded by Alon Shtruzman and Scott Einbinder, MovieMag reported. Deadline said the company launched earlier this year and identified Shtruzman as a former Keshet International executive and Einbinder as a former Cristal Pictures co-CEO. The announced project is the first vertical drama the company has revealed; its planned feature version is intended for theatrical release.
Shtruzman told Deadline that vertical drama was ‘adding a new engine’ while traditional television and streaming contract. He said he saw the format bringing investment and jobs into entertainment. That is his assessment of the medium; the concrete plan announced for this project is a vertical episodic series alongside a feature film.
Roberts is also appearing in a separate vertical project, Billionaires’ Broken Vow, which Deadline said premiered at America’s first microdrama festival earlier in October. It’s My Party And I’ll Die If I Want To therefore adds another vertical role to his work, this time in a production whose backers also intend to make a cinema feature. New Short Media has not announced a release date for either version.
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Sources and context
- Eric Roberts Starring In Vertical Drama From New Short MediaDeadline
- Eric Roberts protagonista del dramma verticale It's My PartyMovieMag (by Leila Cimarelli)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.