Film and TV studio Muse Entertainment has entered into a first-look deal with The Walrus magazine to develop and produce documentaries and unscripted TV series for global audiences. The partnership aims to mine unpublished stories from The Walrus, specifically focusing on investigative journalism and coverage of social issues, culture, politics, science, and business. Discussions on potential projects are already underway. The expansion into unscripted content follows Muse’s history with scripted projects such as The Kennedys, The Pillars of the Earth, Ben Hur, Bellevue, Coroner, Three Pines, and Sullivan’s Crossing. To support this nonfiction push, the Montreal-based studio, founded in 1998 by Michael Prupas, recently hired former Blue Ant Studios executive Jennifer Harkness as senior vice president of global development and partnerships in Los Angeles. In a separate industry move, Peacock is launching a series of vertical microdramas, beginning with the unscripted series Campus Confidential from Bravo. This initiative is part of a broader mobile content strategy by the NBCUniversal-owned streaming platform to increase user engagement. NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Matt Strauss stated the company is identifying specific fandoms to serve as a destination for “video calories.” To support this vertical video ecosystem, Peacock is licensing select microdramas from ReelShort and using technology to automate the conversion of horizontal video to vertical formats. The platform also plans to launch a dedicated vertical video feed this month, which will eventually include “Your Bravoverse” later this summer. Other platforms, including Disney+ and Netflix, have also recently refreshed their vertical video offerings.