Interview with a French pioneer of duanju, Guillaume Sanjorge

Interview with a French pioneer of duanju, Guillaume Sanjorge

There's a particular kind of thrill in seeing your own platform's name land in the middle of a conversation happening thousands of kilometres away, in a language your audience may not even read. That's exactly what happened this week, when French vertical-drama producer Guillaume Sanjorge sat down for a wide-ranging interview with the industry newsletter Streaming Radar — and named Shortflix India as the partner who will bring his short-format series to Indian audiences.

Who is Guillaume Sanjorge, and what is duanju?

If the word "duanju" is new to you, you're not alone — even in France, most people reach for "micro-drama" or "vertical drama" instead. Duanju is the Chinese term for the format now sweeping phone screens worldwide: tightly serialised shows of fifteen to a hundred episodes, each just a minute or two long, shot vertically so they fill a phone held upright, with every episode built to end on a cliffhanger. The first few episodes are usually free; the rest unlock through a small in-app payment or an ad view. It's the emotional engine of a soap opera running on the mechanics of a mobile game — and globally, it's already an industry estimated in the billions of dollars.

Sanjorge's own path into the format started small. His first series, shot on a shoestring and posted to his personal Facebook page back in April 2023, quietly racked up roughly 700,000 views on its opening two episodes before he'd even switched on monetisation. That early traction eventually led him to Stardust TV, a Chinese app with more than ten million downloads, which signed his first series for a year-long deal in early 2025 — released with subtitles in eight languages, including Japanese, Korean, Turkish, and Arabic.

Since then, Sanjorge has built out something bigger than a single hit show. He's acquired the "Duanju" domain name across thirty countries, launched a dedicated trade publication (Duanju News) to cover the format, and now sits as a juror for the Asian Academy Creative Awards' newly created duanju category.

The Shortflix India connection

According to the interview, Sanjorge's agreement with Shortflix India was finalised in August 2026, and it sits at the centre of his international distribution strategy going forward. His plan, as he described it, is a double circuit: his own upcoming app will host his series domestically in France, while international distributors — Stardust TV first, and now Shortflix India — carry his catalogue to audiences abroad.

He was also careful to draw a clear line between Shortflix India and an unrelated piracy site with a similar-sounding name, which he said had illegally streamed both his own work and Stardust TV's without authorization — a useful reminder, for our readers, to always check you're on the genuine Shortflix India app or shortflixindia.com when looking for verified content.

Why India, and why now

The numbers behind Sanjorge's India bet are hard to ignore. India's population has now overtaken China's, at roughly 1.47 billion people, and the country's appetite for short-form vertical content is growing fast — industry estimates put India's micro-drama market at around ₹6.5 billion in 2025, with more than 50% annual growth projected through 2028, driven heavily by smaller cities and the convenience of automatic UPI payments. Three India-focused apps already rank among the country's top five video download charts, ahead of established streaming names — proof that Indian audiences are more than ready for this format.

For Shortflix India, which has already crossed a million downloads on Google Play, the partnership is a step toward exactly the kind of curated, quality-first international catalogue that sets a platform apart in a crowded field. Sanjorge was blunt about his own philosophy on this point: rather than chasing volume, he believes vertical drama's future in markets like Europe (and, by extension, for any platform positioning itself seriously) lies in premium, original storytelling with a strong identity — not cheap imitation.

What this means for you

If you've been following Shortflix India for Tamil and Malayalam cinema, web series, and international titles, this partnership is a sign of where the platform is headed next: a growing slate of duanju-format series from one of the format's most closely watched international producers, alongside the regional storytelling Shortflix is already known for. Sanjorge's series, once they arrive, will bring French vertical drama — a genre still finding its identity even in its home market — to Indian phone screens for the first time through an authorised, official channel.

Keep an eye on the Shortflix app and www.shortflixindia.com for updates as the first titles from this partnership roll out.

Are you a filmmaker or creator with a project you'd love to see on Shortflix? We're always looking for fresh stories — reach out through the Shortflix India app to learn how to submit your work.