EXCLUSIVE: America’s first microdrama festival is launching in New York.

Alza Festival will feature vertical video series premieres, creator spotlights, live conversations, and immersive brand activations, a first-of-its-kind in the U.S. that taps into the buzzy new space.

Alza comes from Pete Torres, a former Tribeca Festival COO, and Rita Vinnik, a former creator initiatives lead at TikTok. Torres is founder while Vinnik is Founding Partner and Head of Content & Creator Strategy. Former Tribeca Festival Vice President of Development Katie Korfhage serves as COO of Torres Live, the live events platform producing Alza.

More will be announced in due course, including venue and lineup, about the fest debuting in New York in fall 2026. The team behind it have already said that they could expand to other markets. They said Alza is the first premium U.S. festival dedicated to microdrama and vertical storytelling.

“Alza is about elevating a format that has already captured massive global attention but has yet to have a true cultural stage,” said Torres. “We’re not just creating a festival—we’re building the live platform that this generation of storytelling has been missing. Alza is where creators move from algorithms to audiences, and where brands can participate in culture in a more meaningful way.”

Vinnik said Alza will “give creators who have made mobile their canvas a first IRL stage.”

Microdrama first started shaping the zeitgeist in Asia, especially China, but has moved to the U.S. in a big way. The likes of Fox, Cineverse and Access Entertainment have invested in the genre, which is estimated to make annual global revenues of between $20B to $30B by 2030.