aTwist CEO Jana Winograde frames this as a storytelling breakthrough — bringing 'great storytelling' to audiences wherever they are, and partnering with NCM for one of the most immersive entertainment environments available. The pitch is all about authentic brand engagement through microseries.
Insiders see this as a land grab by three Showtime-era veterans trying to carve out territory in an already crowded vertical drama space dominated by Chinese-backed apps like ReelShort and DramaBox. The theater pre-show angle is clever, but whether captive popcorn-buyers want to watch ads about soap operas remains very much TBD.
NCM's network covers 1,650 theaters and over 18,500 screens across AMC, Cinemark and Regal chains. aTwist launches late summer 2026 with founders Jana Winograde (former Showtime president), Susan Rovner and Lloyd Braun behind it.
Hollywood veterans are betting big that moviegoers will trade their pre-show People magazine scrolling for branded microdramas — but the crowded vertical space and skeptical audiences mean this experiment could flop as hard as 3D TV.
Bite-sized drama is coming to a theater near you — sort of. National CineMedia, the company behind those pre-show ads you endure before every blockbuster, has struck a deal with aTwist, a new microdrama studio founded by three serious Hollywood players: Jana Winograde (former president of Showtime), Susan Rovner, and Lloyd Braun. Starting this summer, NCM will begin airing preview clips of aTwist's vertical microseries during the pre-show at more than 1,650 theaters across the U.S., totaling over 18,500 screens — with a QR code capper that sends viewers straight to the aTwist app.
The deal also includes branded content for brand partners produced by aTwist and shown both in theaters and on the platform itself. The move is a classic Hollywood power play dressed up as innovation. NCM's pre-show programming, best known for its ubiquitous "Noovie" program hosted by Maria Menounos, already reaches millions of captive moviegoers each week across mega-chains including AMC, Cinemark, and Regal.
Now they're handing a chunk of that real estate to a startup backed by veterans who know exactly how to package soap operas for advertisers — which is essentially what microdramas are, just filmed vertically and optimized for phone screens. NCM chief revenue officer Mike Rosen put out a statement calling movie theaters "where people go to lose themselves in storytelling" and said the partnership brings "new, exciting content to the pre-show experience." That's corporate speak for: we think Gen Z will watch anything if you trap them without their phones for ten minutes.
For aTwist, this is about survival in an increasingly packed market. The vertical drama space is already crawling with established players like ReelShort and DramaBox — both of which have spent millions courting the phone-scroll demographic with 90-second episodes of gothic romance and billionaire tropes. There's also GammaTime lurking, founded by fellow Hollywood veteran Bill Block. aTwist execs are clearly hoping their Hollywood pedigree — Winograde ran Showtime, after all — gives them a storytelling edge over competitors who may be more algorithm-driven than narrative-focused.
But here's where it gets interesting on the brand side: advertisers are increasingly obsessed with microdramas as a marketing vehicle. The article cites the Marc Jacobs microdrama written by and starring Rachel Sennott, plus Crocs verticals like Deja Shoe and Charmed to Meet You — branded content that blurs the line between entertainment and commercial so seamlessly it's sometimes hard to tell where the ad ends and the drama begins.
Shein is also diving into product placement within these often soapy series. NCM and aTwist will work together to sign sponsorships for aTwist's series, which means your pre-show experience may soon include a cliffhanger moment followed by an invitation to scan a QR code — because nothing says "immersive entertainment environment" like being asked to engage with a vertical soap opera ad while you're waiting for the lights to go down.
