We didn’t learn the vertical playbook.

We helped write it.

We’ve been part of the digital and vertical microdrama ecosystem since its formative years, creating, producing, performing and collaborating as the skills, systems and creative language of a new entertainment category were being built.

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Jonathan B. Cohen

Jonathan B. Cohen has spent more than twenty years building markets and partnerships across talent, technology and entertainment. A graduate of Penn State with a JD from Case Western, he began his career as a litigation attorney before becoming an agent at The Gersh Agency and later Head of Emerging Talent at Frontline Management, where he brokered a talent-department merger.

As Managing Director of theWorkbook, formerly Casting Workbook, Jonathan led the company’s West Coast business. He grew its Los Angeles market share by 39 percent in his first year while keeping client retention at 94 percent, and opened new markets across Latin America and Europe. He negotiates directly with C-suite executives and has been a guest lecturer on the business of entertainment at USC.

At Cohen & Read, Jonathan leads business development, distribution and brand partnerships, talent relations, business affairs and financing.

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Alicia Read

Alicia Read is a producer, actor and strategist who works where entertainment and brand growth meet. Before moving into vertical entertainment, she spent more than twenty years helping independent beauty brands scale. She founded Kalosophie, taking brands to acquisition readiness, with retail partnerships including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Selfridges and goop and earned media in publications like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and leading international growth and expansion.

As an actor, Alicia has appeared in 26 vertical series for platforms including ReelShort, GoodShort, TikTok and Fox Studios’ MyDrama, drawing more than 500 million views. She co-produced Billionaire’s Fake Wife, ReelShort’s first Canadian original, which debuted at number two worldwide, and serves as an executive producer on a slate in various stages of development.

Alicia co-founded the Vertical Film and Short Series Alliance and Women in Vertical Media, the first advocacy groups for the vertical industry, and she has been featured in Variety, Business Insider, Maclean’s and CBC Radio.

At Cohen & Read, she leads vertical strategy, creative and slate development, and marketing.