Micro Drama Script Format: 90-Second Template

A micro drama script is a standard screenplay with one added element: an episode heading every 60 to 120 seconds. You keep scene headings, action, character names, and dialogue. What changes is the unit of organization. The episode, not the act, is the thing the reader needs to feel.

This page shows the layout, the episode heading rules, a 90-second beat map, and a complete example you can copy.

The format in one sentence

Write the whole season in one document, and put a clear episode heading wherever the viewer would tap for the next installment.

That is the whole idea. Everything below is detail about how to keep that document readable for a director, an editor, and a buyer who is skimming.

Three layers: season, episode, beat

Most formatting mistakes come from mixing the layers: a season-level reveal dumped into episode two, or a beat-level gesture asked to carry a whole episode.

What the page looks like

A plain-text page is enough for a draft. The episode heading is the only structural element that must be unmistakable.

EPISODE 04 — THE WEST WING

INT. MERIDIAN HOUSE, HALLWAY - NIGHT

SLOANE (32) counts the doors. Three on the left. Four on the right.
The fifth has no handle.

She presses her palm to it. It is warm.

                         ELIAS (O.S.)
              You're early.

She turns. ELIAS (38) stands at the end of the hall, sleeves
rolled, a key in his hand.

                         SLOANE
              You said the west wing was closed.

                         ELIAS
              It is.

He unlocks the door. Inside: a nursery, dust sheets over every
surface, and a child's drawing of Sloane on the wall.

                         SLOANE
              Who drew that?

                         ELIAS
              You did.

CUT TO BLACK.

Episode headings

Use one line, all caps, with the episode number and an optional working title:

EPISODE 01 — THE OTHER BRIDE

Rules that keep the document readable:

• Start every episode on a new line, not mid-sentence.
• Number with two digits so the file sorts correctly: 01, 02, 03.
• Keep the working title short; it is a label, not a marketing title.
• If the location continues across an episode break, you do not need a new scene heading. The episode heading is enough.

Scene headings

Use the standard three parts: interior or exterior, location, and time.

INT. MERIDIAN HOUSE, HALLWAY - NIGHT

In vertical drama, fewer locations is a production advantage. Name rooms the viewer can recognize in one frame: the bridal suite, the west wing, the parking garage. Avoid generic labels like “office” when “corner office, 47th floor” does more work.

Action lines

Write in present tense, one visible action per line. The camera cannot see a backstory, a feeling, or a status. It can see a hand freeze, a door open, or a signature dry.

• Keep paragraphs to one to three lines.
• Put the most important object in its own sentence.
• Do not direct the camera unless the shot is the story.
• Use sound sparingly, but use it: a phone buzz, a lock click, a chair scrape.

Dialogue

Vertical drama dialogue is closer to a knife fight than a conversation. One thought per line. Seven or eight words is a good target. Let silence and reaction shots do the rest.

• Start lines with the answer, not the setup.
• Cut greetings, names, and explanations of what the viewer just saw.
• Let characters interrupt each other; interruptions hide exposition.
• Read the line aloud. If you run out of breath, it is too long.

Parentheticals should be rare. Use one when the line would be misread without it:(too calm), (to the child). Do not use them to direct a performance.

Transitions

Omit them. In a 90-second episode, the episode break is the transition. If you need a time jump inside the episode, use a new scene heading or a visible change: a clock, a changed outfit, a finished drink.

The 90-second beat map

Timestamps are a planning tool, not a guarantee. Read the scene aloud and adjust.

A 60-second episode compresses the same map: hook at 0-3, objective by 10, turn around 30-40, cliffhanger at 55-60. Do not cut the turn to save time. Cut setup.

How long is a micro drama script?

In standard screenplay format, one page is roughly one minute. A 90-second episode is about one to one and a half pages; a 10-episode arc is 10 to 15 pages of full script, or 4 to 6 pages of beat sheets. A 60-episode season is a document, not a pile of separate files.

Page count is an estimate. A timed table read is the real test, especially with pauses, phone inserts, and reaction shots.

Format for vertical production

• Block in depth, not width. Two people side by side disappear in 9:16. Put one in front, one behind, or cut between singles.
• Write for close-ups. A reaction is cheaper and stronger than a wide establishing shot.
• Keep text in the center safe zone. Platform UI covers the edges.
• Assume muted viewing. Write lines that can be subtitled without losing the turn.

Formatting mistakes

• Putting the episode heading inside a scene, so the reader misses the break.
• Using act breaks or commercial breaks that do not exist on the platform.
• Writing camera angles for every line, which slows the read and ages the draft.
• Letting one episode run 2.5 pages because the scene is good. Cut it or split it.
• Numbering episodes without leading zeros, so the production file sorts wrong.

Copy-ready skeleton

EPISODE 01 — [WORKING TITLE]

INT. [LOCATION] - [DAY/NIGHT]

[One visible problem in the first three seconds.]

                         [CHARACTER]
              [Short line that makes the problem worse.]

[Action that forces a choice.]

                         [CHARACTER]
              [Line that reveals the cost.]

[The turn: a document, arrival, or recognition.]

                         [CHARACTER]
              [Cliffhanger line or unanswered action.]

CUT TO BLACK.

EPISODE 02 — [WORKING TITLE]

If you want the full process behind the page, read how to write a micro drama. If you want the outline before the script, the generator below produces a title, logline, character bible, and 10 episode beat sheets in about 20 seconds.