Cofounder / Creative Technology Director
Mike Staniforth
Mike leads AI strategy and creative systems, grounding model-driven work in composition, lighting, lens logic and production taste.
Why Vertical Haus?
Why Vertical Haus?
Because the future of entertainment is vertical: mobile-first, episodic, intimate and global. We build micro drama, story worlds and owned IP for the way audiences already watch.
Meet the team
Film craft,
platform instinct.
Vertical entertainment needs more than recycled horizontal production. It needs story people, camera people, platform people and technical operators working from the same audience signal.
Cofounder / Managing Director
Henk Pretorius
Henk leads commercial and operational direction, combining story, audience insight and production experience across film, TV and company building.
Cinematographer / AI Prompt Engineer
Gabriele Stifani
Gabriele connects camera craft with prompt craft, adding visual literacy to model testing, shot design and cinematic finishing.
Social Media Consultant
Chris Ridgway
Chris brings platform-native social strategy from sports media, boxing, broadcast, edit and channel management.
Why we exist
We build vertical entertainment for how people watch now.
The output is a story world, pilot, episode system or launch path shaped for the phone: immediate enough to earn the first second, strong enough to carry a series.
Principles
- 1Vertical is native, not a crop. Blocking, pacing, framing and tension all change when the phone is the screen.
- 2Story comes first. Tools move quickly, but character, jeopardy and payoff still decide whether people keep watching.
- 3AI extends production craft. It helps us test worlds, expand shots and move faster without replacing taste or direction.
- 4Audience signal matters. Scripts, hooks and episode structures should improve through real platform behaviour.
- 5IP should travel. A strong vertical idea can become a series, format, campaign, community or larger screen property.
Next step
Bring us a story with vertical potential.
We can help shape the premise, test the hook, build the production route and package it for the platforms where audiences are already watching.