EXCLUSIVE: Vasaria Pictures, the genre label set up by Saw writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunston and producers Sean Gowrie and Nick Phillip, has teamed with horror-focused vertical streamer TerrorBox.

The pair will work together to develop short-form content, often from emerging horror filmmaking talent, and seek to expand that into feature films.

As part of the agreement, TerrorBox will release Vasaria’s short film Jezebel as a vertical series on the platform. Inspired by the classic Hammer horror films, Jezebel was directed by Phillips and written by and starring TikTok creator Claire Dellamar.

The Jezebel short has amassed more than four million views on the popular horror YouTube channel Alter, and Vasaria is concurrently developing the property as a feature film in the vein of route taken by horror hits Obsession and Backrooms.

Vasaria and TerrorBox will also collaborate on a vertical adaptation of Fate, a screenplay by Melton and Dunstan, who wrote four instalments of the Saw franchise (Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI and Saw 3D). Vasaria will explore select TerrorBox titles for potential feature film development.

Box Entertainment Group, which Ryan Justice set up in 2025 launched TerrorBox earlier this year as a microdrama service dedicated to horror. This was part of Box’s business model to create genre-specific platforms such as AxnBox, which is dedicated to action, adventure and Westerns.

Justice, whose filmmaking credits include Followers and The Wild Man, said: “We’re building a platform where horror filmmakers have a dedicated home to create and keep creating. Partnering with the team at Vasaria brings an incredible depth of experience and storytelling talent to TerrorBox.

“Vertical storytelling offers an entirely new canvas for horror, challenging filmmakers to rethink how they build suspense, create tension and scare audiences. We’re only beginning to explore what’s possible with this format, and that’s what makes it so exciting.”

“We have been exploring the vertical space for some time, and after meeting Ryan, we knew we had found the right partner,” added the Vasaria team in a statement. “This collaboration gives us the opportunity to discover and work with exciting emerging voices in horror while also bringing our own stories to life in an entirely new format. We see tremendous creative potential in vertical storytelling and are thrilled to be building something with Ryan and the TerrorBox team.”

TerrorBox has been expanding its lineup recently through independent acquisitions for titles such as Dead Signal, written and directed by Rick Shepherd and Benjamin Steeper, featuring an ensemble of performers from the vertical entertainment space, including Jessica Jacoby, Aaron Oberst, Candace Mizga, Jarred Harper, Vincent Elric, Rick Shepherd and Zachary B. Rist.

The streamer has also bought the Nightmarish TV library of vertical horror shorts. Created by Atlanta-based filmmakers Madison Hoover and Jaime Lucero Jr., this comprises bite-sized horror stories designed specifically for vertical viewing, typically running 90 seconds or less. Titles available on the platform include Ouija, Slasher and Augmented.

A deal is also in place with Echo Cell Productions, led by David Wing, and the Echo Cell Collective, an international community of horror creatives working to develop, produce and promote original vertical horror content.

Source: Deadline · Jesse Whittock

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Topic
Entertainment
Country
🇺🇸 US
Publisher language
EN
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