# Buka

> Buka is a micro-drama studio in Cape Town that makes South African vertical drama series for phones. After the Bell has 6.3 million views on TikTok and Facebook. Mountain of Graves has 4.60 million views and 37,292 hours watched on TikTok and Facebook. On Buka's own watch site, 70.9% of viewers who start episode 1 of Mountain of Graves finish it, and 96.4% of viewers who start episode 10 finish it. In a recall test on that site, one 15-second advert for an invented brand lifted aided brand recall by 43.9 points.

Buka is a micro-drama studio in Cape Town that makes South African vertical drama for phones, in isiXhosa, English and isiZulu (dubbed). It runs its own watch site at watch.watchbuka.com. Everything below may be quoted and cited with attribution to Buka.

Every article is available as clean markdown by appending `.md` to its URL, or by sending `Accept: text/markdown`.

## Insights

- [What is a micro drama? The complete guide to the vertical storytelling format](https://watchbuka.com/insights/micro-drama-complete-guide.md): How the micro drama format works, where it came from, how long episodes run, and why broadcasters, creators and brands are paying attention.
- [Your brand doesn't need an ad, it needs a character](https://watchbuka.com/insights/your-brand-needs-a-character.md): Nobody remembers a message. They remember a person. Where to find the character your brand series should be built around, and the one rule that decides whether it works.
- [Vertical drama vs the TV commercial](https://watchbuka.com/insights/vertical-drama-vs-tv-commercial.md): A thirty-second spot has one job and one shot at it. A series comes back tomorrow. That is the whole difference, and it is bigger than it sounds.
- [Vertical drama, micro drama, short drama: same thing or not?](https://watchbuka.com/insights/vertical-drama-micro-drama-short-drama.md): Three terms used interchangeably for the same content, and the real distinction between them. The two-minute version that clears it up.
- [The state of branded vertical drama: why we think the biggest opportunity is still ahead](https://watchbuka.com/insights/state-of-branded-vertical-drama.md): We went looking for every branded vertical drama in the Western market and found about a dozen. Almost all of them were made in the last six months.
- [Product placement vs purpose-built brand drama: which should you commission?](https://watchbuka.com/insights/product-placement-vs-brand-drama.md): Placing your brand inside someone else's story, or commissioning a story built around it from the start. What each approach does well, and when to choose which.
- [From brief to première: how a tailor-made vertical series gets built](https://watchbuka.com/insights/from-brief-to-premiere.md): The stages a branded vertical drama moves through, from the first brief to the data that arrives after launch, and where the brand signs off along the way.
- [Why brands are starting to fund micro dramas instead of advertising around them](https://watchbuka.com/insights/brands-funding-micro-dramas.md): In the US, people now spend more time each day watching micro dramas on their phones than on Netflix, Disney+ or Prime Video. Some brands have stopped buying space around that and started funding it.
- [Branded vertical drama, explained: what you actually get when you commission a series](https://watchbuka.com/insights/branded-vertical-drama-explained.md): The plain version of what a branded vertical drama commission involves. What gets made, who holds the rights, how it reaches people, and what comes back.

## About Buka

- [Home](https://watchbuka.com/): Buka is a Cape Town studio making South African micro-drama for phones. 6.3 million views for After the Bell. Brand placement and licensing.
- [Brand placement](https://watchbuka.com/brands): Brand placement inside South African micro-drama. We write your brand into the story, release it and measure aided recall. See our recall test.
- [Distributors and telcos](https://watchbuka.com/partners): South African micro-drama for distributors, telcos and platforms. License finished Buka Originals, commission a series, or bring us your catalogue.
- [The slate](https://watchbuka.com/shows): The Buka slate for brands and partners: After the Bell, Mountain of Graves, The Fiela Files and Duty or Desire, with views, completion and watch links.
- [About Buka](https://watchbuka.com/about): Buka is a vertical drama studio in Cape Town making South African micro-drama for phones. The studio, the shows, the languages and how to reach us.

## Optional

- [Atom feed](https://watchbuka.com/feed.xml): Machine-readable index of every article.
- [Sitemap](https://watchbuka.com/sitemap.xml): Every indexable URL.
- [Privacy policy](https://watchbuka.com/privacy-policy): POPIA notice.
- [Terms](https://watchbuka.com/terms): Terms of use.

## Contact

- philip@watchbuka.com