U.K. microdrama platform TattleTV – billed as the country’s first dedicated app of its kind – has adapted Charlie Chaplin‘s 1921 feature “The Kid” for vertical mobile viewing, making the silent-era film available exclusively to U.S. audiences.
The technology works by generating new image data to fill a vertical frame rather than sacrificing the original composition through cropping, with the company saying the result retains the look and feel Chaplin intended.
“The Kid” follows a tramp who forms an unlikely bond with an abandoned child, blending comedy and heartbreak in a story the company argues still resonates more than a century after its release. TattleTV has positioned silent cinema’s visual, performance-driven storytelling as a natural fit for the microdrama format.
The launch follows TattleTV’s earlier vertical treatment of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lodger.” The company, developed by EMC Productions – a U.K. outfit founded by director Philip James McGoldrick and producer-composer Marina Elderton – says the two catalogue titles sit alongside original British microdramas and reality formats currently in development on its slate.
“At TattleTV, our goal is simple: to help new audiences discover the brilliance of classic film and television,” said McGoldrick, who serves as CEO. “‘The Kid’ is not only a landmark of cinema history, it’s a deeply moving, captivating experience that still resonates today. By reimagining it in vertical we’re opening the door for a new generation to connect with Chaplin’s extraordinary work.”
TattleTV’s beta app is live on the App Store, with engagement tools including a coin-based gamification system and a Reddit-style upvote mechanism.
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