Kevin Hart is making another major move in entertainment — and this time, he’s betting on the way we watch television from our phones.

Hartbeat, Hart’s global entertainment company, has partnered with aTwist to develop more than 20 original microseries created specifically for vertical, mobile-first viewing.

The deal will give Hartbeat its own dedicated destination on the new aTwist platform and include original comedy programming under Hartbeat’s LOL banner, along with adaptations of books by bestselling author Blake Karrington.

But this announcement may represent something bigger than another Kevin Hart production deal.

It could be another sign of where television is headed.

So, What Exactly Is a Microseries?

Think television — but built for the way people scroll.

Instead of watching a traditional 30-minute or hour-long episode, microseries tell scripted stories through short episodes typically lasting just a few minutes.

They are designed primarily for vertical viewing on a smartphone, with fast-moving plots, strong opening hooks and cliffhangers that encourage viewers to immediately watch the next episode.

The format has been growing rapidly as audiences become increasingly accustomed to consuming entertainment through TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

Now, established Hollywood players are paying attention.

And Hartbeat is jumping into the space in a major way.

Kevin Hart Is Bringing an Audience With Him

One of the most interesting pieces of the Hartbeat strategy involves author Blake Karrington.

Karrington has built a large readership through his catalog of urban fiction, and several of his books are now expected to be adapted into vertical series as part of the Hartbeat deal.

Rather than developing a new property and hoping an audience eventually finds it, Hartbeat is starting with stories that already have readers.

Jeff Clanagan, Hartbeat’s president and chief distribution officer, explained the strategy by pointing to the importance of building stories around audiences that already exist.

It is a model that could become increasingly important as entertainment companies fight harder for viewers’ attention.

BET Is Betting on Vertical Entertainment, Too

Hartbeat isn’t alone.

BET previously announced its own partnership with aTwist to develop original microseries that can move between traditional television and mobile-first vertical viewing.

Under that partnership, some projects will exist as longer episodes for television before being reformatted into shorter vertical episodes for mobile audiences.

That means the same story could potentially reach someone watching BET from their living room and someone scrolling through episodes on their phone.

aTwist has also partnered with National CineMedia to bring microseries into movie theater pre-shows, creating another potential distribution channel for the format.

The message is becoming increasingly clear: entertainment companies are experimenting with ways to make stories travel across screens rather than expecting audiences to come to one platform.

Why Black Creators Should Be Paying Attention

This may be the most important part of the story.

Whenever the way entertainment is distributed changes, new opportunities can open for writers, actors, producers and independent creators.

Vertical storytelling generally requires shorter production schedules and smaller budgets than traditional television.

That could potentially lower some of the barriers that have historically made scripted television difficult to enter.

It also creates a different path for intellectual property.

A book could become a microseries.

A successful digital series could potentially grow into a traditional television project.

An independent creator could build an audience around characters before ever walking into a Hollywood pitch meeting.

And a brand could become part of a story designed specifically for mobile audiences.

None of that means traditional television is disappearing.

It means the definition of television is expanding.

From Hollywood Gatekeepers to Audience First

There is another important shift happening here.

For decades, television largely operated through gatekeepers. Networks and studios decided what got produced, when audiences could watch it and where it would be distributed.

Social media disrupted much of that system by allowing creators to build audiences first.

Vertical scripted entertainment could push that evolution even further.

For Black creators — who have historically had to fight for space within traditional entertainment systems — that matters.

Hartbeat’s decision to adapt work from a bestselling Black author with an existing readership demonstrates one potential model: find the audience, respect what they already love and build entertainment around that community.

Kevin Hart Isn’t Waiting for the Future

Kevin Hart has spent years expanding beyond being the talent in front of the camera.

Through Hartbeat, he has built a business around production, distribution, comedy, branded entertainment and intellectual property.

Now vertical entertainment is becoming part of that strategy.

aTwist is preparing to launch with programming spanning comedy, drama, romance, horror, unscripted entertainment and animation, while continuing to build partnerships across Hollywood.

Whether microseries eventually become as commonplace as streaming television remains to be seen.

But some of entertainment’s biggest players aren’t waiting to find out.

Kevin Hart is putting more than 20 projects behind the format.

BET is developing for it.

Hollywood veterans are building companies around it.

And audiences already have the screen in their hands.

The next evolution of television may not be hanging on the wall.

It may already be in our pockets.