How aTwist’s Hollywood Founders Hope to Use Classic TV Moves to Revolutionize Microseries

Susan Rovner, Jana Winograde, and Lloyd Braun, the founders of aTwist, are seasoned Hollywood executives with decades of experience in the entertainment industry. They founded aTwist, a new microseries platform, with the aim of leveraging their relationships and experience to stand out in a crowded market. To achieve this, they have lined up partnerships with well-known figures, including Kevin Hart, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Mario Lopez, BET, and National CineMedia.

The founders hope that their industry connections will give them an edge and help them diversify their content library, similar to how a traditional television network or streaming service would. Rather than focusing solely on romance, aTwist plans to release a new show every week, timed around holidays and cultural moments to sustain audience engagement.

They want to tap into various fandoms and use existing audiences as a launchpad to introduce new genres. The founders believe that their television background, which includes knowledge of act breaks and commercial breaks, can be applied to the microseries format by incorporating cliffhangers to maintain viewer interest. One of their early partnerships is with Kevin Hart's Hartbeat, which will produce a slate of original microseries exclusively for aTwist.

Another partnership is with BET, which will develop and distribute microseries on both linear and vertical platforms, using a unique windowing model. The co-founders also revealed that they aim to collaborate with Mario Lopez for a family-friendly, Halloween-themed series, emphasizing that their focus is on quality scripts, actors, and directors rather than high production costs.