The Limners and Bards Limited (The LAB) has secured a global distribution deal with MANSA for The Marriage Clause, a 34-episode Jamaican-made vertical drama produced specifically for mobile viewing, as the company expands the reach of its growing portfolio of original content.

Through its LAB Studios film and television arm, the listed media and advertising company is taking the short-form production to the black culture-focused streaming platform co-founded by actors and film-makers David Oyelowo and Nate Parker.

The deal gives The LAB an international outlet for a format built around changing viewing habits, with short scripted episodes designed for smartphones and presented in the 9:16 format commonly used on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

“We’ve always believed Jamaican creativity belongs on the global stage. As audiences change the way they discover and consume entertainment, there is an opportunity for Jamaica to participate in these emerging formats from the beginning,” CEO of The LAB Kimala Bennett said.

“The Marriage Clause is about creating Jamaican IP that can travel, find new audiences and open new commercial opportunities.”

The MANSA partnership represents another step in The LAB’s broader strategy to move beyond its traditional advertising and to build out a portfolio of owned content capable of generating revenue through licensing, streaming and other distribution arrangements

The partnership marks another step in The LAB’s broader strategy to move beyond its traditional advertising and production businesses and build a portfolio of owned content capable of generating revenue through licensing, streaming and other distribution arrangements.

Vertical dramas, also known as micro-dramas, have emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments of the global entertainment market, allowing producers to develop scripted content at lower cost and over shorter production cycles than traditional television while giving platforms new ways to capture mobile audiences.

MANSA has also been moving aggressively into the format, with The Marriage Clause forming part of its efforts to deepen connections between Caribbean creators and audiences across the global diaspora.

“The Caribbean has helped shape culture around the world for generations, and we believe building stronger connectivity between these regions and global audiences is critical,” MANSA co-founder Nate Parker said.

BENNETT…it’s about creating Jamaican IP that can travel, find new audiences and open new commercial opportunities

“We’re excited to help build stronger bridges between creators in the region and audiences around the world,” co-founder David Oyelowo added.

The financial terms of the distribution arrangement were not disclosed, including whether The LAB will earn through licensing fees, revenue sharing or another model.

The company also did not indicate whether the agreement with MANSA is exclusive or whether additional vertical productions are already being considered for the platform.

The MANSA deal comes as The LAB continues to position original content as a growth area and looks to monetise investments it has been making in film and television. The company spent approximately $133 million on content development during its 2024 financial year, after identifying ownership and licensing of Jamaican content as an avenue through which it could diversify revenue. It subsequently embarked on its “Five in 25” strategy, aimed at building a slate of commercially viable films for distribution across multiple platforms.

Among those projects was romantic comedy Love Offside, which premiered at the American Black Film Festival in June 2025 and later received support through the Government’s Jamaica Screen Development Initiative. The studio has also developed Spices of Christmas, Jenna in Law and youth series Seen. More recently, The LAB began testing how Jamaican-owned content could travel directly to viewers through its LAB Studios Originals YouTube channel.

One of its first releases, Happily Ever Awkward, generated more than 350,000 organic views in less than two months and reached viewers in more than 70 countries and territories, according to Bennett. The production has since moved beyond YouTube and is now available internationally through platforms including Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

The Marriage Clause now takes that strategy directly into a format designed around the way audiences are increasingly consuming entertainment, particularly on smartphones and in short episodic bursts. The series was written by Daniel Campbell and directed by Jamaican film-maker Omar Derby, an Atlanta-based director who has worked in the international vertical drama market and stars Quera South as Ellie Anderson, Jeff Crossley as Aiden Collins and Tiffany Kerr as Jessica.

Jamaica’s Film Commissioner Jackie Jackson said the latest production demonstrates the opportunities emerging as Jamaican creators engage with new formats and international distribution channels.

“This is exactly the kind of progress the Jamaica Screen Development Initiative was built to support,” she said of the $1-billion fund administered through Jampro and the Jamaica Film Commission and established to help strengthen the local screen industry and support productions with international potential.

For the six months ended April, The LAB reported revenue of $337.8 million and a net loss of $13.5 million, as Hurricane Melissa-induced slowdowns and increased spending on several strategic initiatives, including operational restructuring, revenue diversification, content development and technology integration, weighed on performance.