Breaking The Meta

Vertical drama actress Claudia Hawkins (The Genius and the Bad Boy) on plus-size roles, brutal bullying scripts, and the scene she refused to cry in.Claudia booked the first real audition she ever got, and it turned out to be a vertical drama. She didn't even know they were called "verticals" until her chemistry read. One year and three verticals later, she sits down with Mike Winson to talk about what it's actually like inside the microdrama industry.In this episode:• Reading her first vertical script as a plus-size character and realizing how harsh the bullying was• The day a neighbor and former teacher showed up on set as one of her bullies, and the meltdown that followed• Why vertical drama production pulled out of Atlanta and the East Coast for LA, and whether she'll have to move• Shooting 32 to 36 pages in a single day• What real plus-size representation in vertical dramas would look like (hint: don't make the whole story about her weight)• The vulnerable scene she played with no tears, and the producer who needed a tissue• Her dream vertical: a National Treasure–style treasure hunting adventure• Plan B: museum director, history degree, and a thesis on Oppenheimer and Wernher von Braun• Speed round: matcha over coffee, a coleslaw phobia, competitive puzzling, and Rascal Flatts karaokeFollow Claudia Hawkins:Instagram: @claudia_hawkins_1218TikTok: @kim._.claudashian

Vertical drama actress Alyona Real (The Golden Pear Affair) on moving to LA, then watching producers go fully AI, and how she's rebuilding.Alyona was adopted from a Russian orphanage at seven, learned English in about six weeks, and built an acting career in San Antonio, Austin, and Atlanta. Her first vertical drama, Callboy I Met in Paris, was pitched to her as a feature film. She didn't realize it was vertical until she saw the cameras on set. She went on to star in The Golden Pear Affair, the microsoap co-produced by Native and P&G Studios, playing twins opposite Nick Ritacco.A year ago she moved to Los Angeles. Within months, producers she'd worked with told her they were going fully AI, and that studios now test stories with AI first and only cast real actors if a series goes viral. We talk about what that looks like from inside the vertical drama industry, the misogyny and violence she struggles with in microdrama scripts, why her near-silent role in HOA, You've Been Overthrown works, the mafia-boss role she almost booked, and how she's rebuilding through The Artist's Way, Friday-morning ocean swims, and saying yes to everything.

Madison West, vertical drama's go-to villain (Honey Trapped, Virgin Astronaut Bucket List), on how AI wiped out a summer of work for real actors.Madison grew up outside Oxford, 20 minutes from Stratford-upon-Avon, studied at Pace University in New York, booked a co-star role on Blue Bloods, and then watched 2020 shut the whole industry down. She drove to LA with her dog and a car full of stuff, gave herself a "yes year," and ended up becoming one of the most recognizable villains in vertical drama.In this conversation we get into:• Why blonde actresses keep getting cast as the villain, and why she's ready for more leads• Shooting 10 to 20 pages a day on 12 to 14 hour vertical drama sets• Honey Trapped: My Fiancé's Billionaire Rival, bullying a friend on camera, and a 2:30 a.m. pool stunt in full glam• The original title of Virgin Astronaut Bucket List, and the first kiss her character stole• Her dream role: a full-fledged vertical comedy (or a mermaid)• How AI-generated verticals canceled projects and gutted work for actors and crew this summer• Green-screen "hybrid" shoots and why acting is reacting• The pay gap between men and women in verticals, when the women carry more of the script• The bully trope, and how she keeps scene partners safe on setFollow Madison West:Instagram: @thatsmadisonwestTikTok: @itsmadisonwest

Victoria Broderick won the TN-04 Democratic primary by nearly 10 points while outspent 12-to-1. She says Tennessee isn't red. It's neglected.Victoria returns to Breaking the Meta as the Democratic nominee in Tennessee's 4th Congressional District, running against 15-year Republican incumbent Scott DesJarlais. We talk about winning a five-way primary after the state's mid-cycle redistricting, why diesel prices and the war with Iran are moving rural voters, getting asked to leave her opponent's district office, and the lifelong Republicans who tell her they're done with the party.She also lays out what "day two" looks like on Medicare for All and affordability, describes writing her Three Star Dinner speech outside the Lorraine Motel at the end of the Thousand Miles to Memphis march, and makes the case that Democrats can win in the South without throwing marginalized communities under the bus.Early voting in Tennessee started October 14. Election Day is November 3. Don't wait.🔗 Learn more, volunteer, or donate: https://victoria4tennessee.orgBreaking the Meta platforms grassroots, down-ballot, and independent candidates the mainstream media ignores. No PAC money. No donor class. No party line.

Vertical drama actress Bella Mraz (Hollywood Starlet, My Book Boyfriend Came to Life) on dropping out for LA, saying no on set, and AI in verticals.Bella trained in opera in Connecticut, got pushed into musical theater, and couldn't get cast. Then an indie horror shoot led her to verticals, and the first one she ever submitted for made her the lead opposite Seth Eden the same week Breaking the Ice took off. She tells Mike why she left her college program on a gut feeling, why she preps every vertical like a feature film, and what it's like working with aTwist, the female-led studio behind Hollywood Starlet from The Bold and the Beautiful's Bradley Bell. Season 2 is already wrapped.She also gets candid about advocating for herself: sending scripts back with notes, refusing clickbait ad scenes that had nothing to do with the story, and why AI in vertical dramas hits close to home for actors. Plus her fifth-grade Wicked talent show, the Broadway dream she's really chasing, and a speed round.▶ Watch Bella on aTwist: My Book Boyfriend Came to Life and Hollywood Starlet▶ Follow Bella: Instagram @bellamraz · TikTok @bella.mraz