12 April 9-15, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Small Screen Music producer Ted Lucas wants to turn Miami into the capital of vertical film. BY DAVID SUAREZ M iami has a history of building its own industries when tradi- tional ones don’t show up. Ted Lucas did it in music as the founder of Slip-N-Slide Records. Now he’s trying to do it again, but this time with film. The veteran music executive, known for helping launch the careers of Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, Trina, and Plies, is now focused on his latest venture: Vurt, a platform built around vertical film made specifically for how people actually consume content today. The idea didn’t come out of nowhere. It came from frustration. After producing his 2025 documentary The Miami Kingpins, Lucas found himself stuck trying to get it placed on major net- works. He funded it himself, but still couldn’t get it where he felt it belonged. That moment shifted things. “If it’s difficult for me,” Lucas says. “How about the creators that’s coming up behind me?” Instead of waiting for the system to work, he decided to build a new one. Vurt isn’t trying to compete with tradi- tional streaming platforms by do- ing the same thing better. It’s doing something different. Everything on the platform is designed for vertical viewing, content made for your phone, not your TV. Films and series are broken down into short, fast-paced epi- sodes that feel closer to social media than tra- ditional cinema. “The new generation is watching every- thing on their phone,” Lucas says. “They’re watching 20 seconds, three minutes, and swiping to the next.” So instead of fighting that behavior, Vurt leans into it. Movies are essentially restruc- tured into episodic, scroll-friendly formats that keep you watching one clip after another. Think binge-watching, but built for your phone. And according to Lucas, this shift isn’t coming; it’s already here. “The transition is happening already,” he says. Lucas is building Vurt to fix what he sees as one of the biggest problems in entertain- ment: creators not getting paid fairly. Instead of the low-percentage deals often offered by networks, Vurt runs on a 50/50 revenue split. “At Vurt, we’re splitting everything 50/50. It’s an open book,” he says. The platform it- self is free to use. Revenue comes from ads, and creators get paid based on performance, how many people watch, how long they stay, and how engaged they are. “The better your content, the longer they stay,” Lucas says. It’s a model that mirrors YouTube, but applied to narrative storytelling and with a much bigger emphasis on ownership. For Lucas, it’s consistent with how he’s al- ways operated. “I’ve always been in the busi- ness to help create other millionaires,” he says. Beyond the platform itself, Lucas is think- ing bigger. He wants Vurt to turn Miami into a real destination for filmmakers, something closer to what Tyler Perry built in Atlanta. “I want to make a lot of creative people and film directors move to South Florida,” he says. The goal is to build an ecosystem where cre- ators can produce, edit, and distribute all in one place, without needing to leave the city. And Miami, with its mix of culture, talent, and global attention, makes sense as the start- ing point. “We’re in one of the best cities in the world,” Lucas says. At the core of Vurt is access. Lucas wants creators, especially ones who don’t have tra- ditional industry connections, to have a real shot at building something. “I wanna make this an easy entry to get in,” he says. The platform is launching with original series and plans to roll out new con- tent weekly, giving creators a consistent pipe- line to release work and build an audience. And unlike traditional platforms, the door isn’t limited to a specific type of creator or au- dience. “This is for creatives. I don’t care where you from,” he says. What Lucas is building with Vurt feels less like a startup and more like a shift, one that’s al- ready happening in real time. People are watching differently. Creators are thinking dif- ferently. And platforms are starting to catch up. If Miami played a role in shaping the sound of modern hip-hop, Lucas is betting it can help shape the future of film, too. [email protected] ▼ Music After producing his 2025 documentary The Miami Kingpins, Lucas found himself stuck trying to get it placed on major networks. Ted Lucas photo HE WANTS VURT TO TURN MIAMI INTO A REAL DESTINATION FOR FILMMAKERS, SOMETHING CLOSER TO WHAT TYLER PERRY BUILT IN ATLANTA.
