When Hollywood Goes Vertical: Talent, Brands & New Audiences
What happens when brands and established Hollywood talent enter the vertical space? Through two case studies, one brand-led and one celebrity-driven, this conversation explores different paths to creating premium vertical entertainment. Filmmakers, producers, and platform executives will unpack how each project came together, from development and creative choices to partnerships, production, and distribution, and examine what brands, talent, and platforms can learn from one another as they experiment with new ways to reach audiences.
Saturday, October 17, 2026
10:30 AM · AMC 19th Street, Theater 6
Alejandro Fumero
CEO / Executive Producer / Showrunner · Fumero Films
Alejandro “Ale” Fumero is a filmmaker, producer, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of traditional filmmaking and mobile-first entertainment. Born in Venezuela and raised in Argentina, he began his career as an actor before moving to Los Angeles, where he produced and directed music videos, commercials, and branded content for global brands and leading Latin artists including Ricky Martin, Peso Pluma, Maluma, Ozuna, and Don Omar.
In 2021, Fumero founded Fumero Films, a Los Angeles-based studio focused on storytelling for the mobile-first generation. In partnership with Shorts App, he helped pioneer a vertical production model that led to a 40-title slate deal, as well as collaborations with LatiNation and emerging entertainment platforms.
Today, Fumero continues to build partnerships across entertainment, technology, brands, and the creator economy, developing new models for producing and distributing digital-first stories.
Photo credit: Tonystills
Danny Farber
Director/Writer, Creator, Executive Producer · Pretty Awesome Productions
Danny Farber is a Chicago-born director, actor, writer, and producer based in Los Angeles. His work spans vertical dramas, music videos, commercials, branded content, and narrative film, with projects generating tens of millions of views across social platforms. Since 2023, he has directed nearly than thirty feature-length vertical dramas across productions in Los Angeles, Istanbul, London, and Vancouver. He also wrote, directed, and starred in the award-winning short film Thoughts and Prayers, executive produced by Amy Poehler.
Adriana Santos
Showrunner, Executive Producer, COO Fumero Films · Fumero Films
Adriana Santos is a Mexican-Filipina executive producer, showrunner, and entrepreneur whose career began in 2009, working across international productions in Mexico, the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Over the years, she has collaborated with acclaimed directors including Alfonso Cuarón, Catherine Hardwicke, Valeria Golino, and John Sayles, building a reputation for leading seamless cross-border productions and uniting global creative teams.
In 2020, she founded Pina Films, producing documentaries, commercials, feature films, and television series rooted in culturally driven storytelling. In 2021, Pina Films partnered with Fumero Films, where Adriana now serves as Co-Founder and COO. Since then, she has led alongside Alejandro, his partner, the development and production of more than 55 vertical series earning multiple awards and accumulating over 300M views worldwide. While helping establish one of the first Latino studios in the vertical space to operate under a 40 shows slate deal and partnering with LatiNation a multi-platform hub focused on the bilingual and bicultural US Latino generation.
Today, Adriana is focused on expanding in the vertical format across the U.S. and Latin America, producing English, Spanish and Bilingual speaking vertical series while building scalable studio systems that merge cinematic storytelling, fast-turnaround production, and innovative digital distribution. Recognized for blending creativity with operational leadership, she has also become a sought-after advisor in the rapidly evolving vertical content space.
Photo credit: Tony Zamarripa
CAMILE CARLUCCI
Senior Director of Global Marketing at Fenty Beauty
Camille Carlucci is the Senior Director of Global Marketing at Fenty Beauty, where she leads go to market campaigns and marketing strategy across all beauty categories including makeup, skincare, and haircare. Her experience spans brand building having launched Fenty Beauty in 2017 and Fenty Skin in 2020, product launches, cultural partnerships, and storytelling that connects brands with consumers. With previous leadership experience at Live Tinted and nine years at L’Oreal, she brings a blend of creative vision and commercial focus, always pushing the boundaries for a fresh approach to beauty marketing.
Shamikah Christina Martinez
Shamikah Christina Martinez is a creative director, screenwriter, and performer with roots in music, fashion, and tech. She has written for Apple TV+ and Nickelodeon, developed original pilots for FOX and Paramount+, and co-founded Poetic Film Club, a youth program bridging poetry, film, and feeling.
Most recently, she’s turned her attention to vertical cinema and micro-dramas (your resident verti-gal℠, if you’re looking). She is the founder of VER, a creative studio crafting verticals for the worlds of fashion, beauty, and music, and served as Creative Producer on Fenty Beauty’s Behind the Glam, the first micro-drama series from a major global beauty brand.
Current projects include The Ravenous, a horror-comedy feature with producer Nikkia Moulterie; La Sangre Llama, a feature adaptation of her short film, with director Sonia Malfa; and Soft Launch, a musical micro-drama with Kas Kas Productions, starring singer-songwriter and actor Leo Kalyan.
Her work is Spirit-led and rooted in her Afro-Puerto Rican heritage, where humor and healing coexist. If it were up to Shamikah, this bio would just say “a poet and a clown.”
PHOTO CREDIT: M.K. SADLER
