EXCLUSIVE: Microdrama star Gabrielle Faith Brown and European actress Yolanthe Cabau are among the stars of a Romeo and Juliet series that’s being made in both horizontal and vertical formats.

Romeo & Juliet, Reimagined will adapt William Shakespeare’s masterpiece as a Montague-Capulet feud into the criminal underworld of modern-day Los Angeles. The series will run on MuVpix, the microdrama service we first told you about in February.

The series comes from Latino filmmaker Max Decker, who is the creator, writer and director, with Herrera also attached in a creative role. BlackForge Partners, which owns muVpix, is attached as a co-producer and Speaks from Blue Meridian Studios and Liz Fuller from ST8RM are the exec producers.

Brown will play Juliet with Crayton Carrozza cast as Romeo, with Cabau playing The Nurse and supermodel and actor Jordan Barrett cast as Mercutio. Decker, who is directing, will play Paris and creative director Herrera takes on Lord Montague. Mitch Arbor will be Father Laurence and Mustafa Speaks is Captain O. Viral actor TravQue rounds out the cast as Tybalt.

Brown is known for roles in numerous microdramas for vertical video apps such as GoodShort and ReelShort, including My Dark Romeo, Love is a Dangerous Dance and Love Blooms Under the Moon, while Cabau has credits for the likes of Turkse Chick and Yolanthe, a seven-part doc series from last year that was the streamer’s first Dutch reality production.

The series has been designed as a “hybrid viewing experience” for traditional – or ‘horizontal’ – platforms and vertical-first mobile audiences, launching on microdrama platform MuVpix.  

“Romeo and Juliet remains one of the most enduring stories ever told because its themes are universal,” said Decker. “Love, family, sacrifice, identity, and the consequences of division resonate as strongly today as they did centuries ago. Our goal was to create something visually exciting and emotionally authentic for a new generation.”

Den of Thieves actor John Lewis launched MuVpix as a new U.S.-made vertical entertainment app, in March, with two original series, the animated drama Whispervale and the live-action thriller Swipe Left.

MuVpix is billed as the flagship platform of BlackForge Distribution, with original content produced through BlackForge Partners. Both companies operate under Lewis’ long-running banner, JLE Cinema Group.