Faleena

Ever been to China?

Oh and: Do you know what “Verticals” are? Yup. Neither had I. But then...

Let me ask a THIRD question:

Ever broken both your hands?

But this is about the first two things.

They will come in the form of stories.

Sometimes straight-up slap-you-across-the-psyche how-to’s.

And with the Travel tips, I’ll be talking about how to travel alone as a woman, too.

Though men will get much from the regular travel-round-the-planet guided steps and precautions, too.

Back to the Verticals.

What the f*ck is a Vertical?!??

Here’s the low down.

You may not know it, but for years, on and off in a big way, I have been an actress. Yet I kept dodging it. Even though it’s probably what I’m put on this planet to do.

Life blocked me.

Or I blocked me.

Or a musician drug addict I fell in love with blocked me.

And many other bullshit excuses.

Because when we stop doing what we’re meant to do — we stop via excuses.

For me, finally there were none left, in the beginning of 2024 when, after losing pretty much everything in 2023 (Police car chase, anyone?), I broke both my hands.

Both.

Of.

My.

Hands.

The very hands that would enable me to continue being employed as a writer.

What would I do for 6+ with these casts?!

I was left sitting around with nothing to do because I had no way to do it.

I had use of my thumbs and forefinger.

Sure, lucky me.

I was claw-lady.

So while I couldn’t type out a novel (or complete Hunter’s story I was revealing here on Substack chapter by chapter) I could scroll the internet. I could watch TV, but that got old. I could call a friend. I could walk around my neighborhood and use the new heavy weight to build biceps. Yes, I did that. And I could sob like a baby until I bored myself of that nasty, victim-y habit and decided instead to ponder, hmmm…what about if I…?

There was a lot of reluctant pondering.

Then I remembered a dream I’d had about acting years ago (a literal dream while sleeping not the purpose-of-life kind of dream, though that too!) and pure boredom combined with this dream-memory, broke through the wall of Fear and Stagnancy. Suddenly I was telephoning a Talent Manager who used to represent me to ask her if I could come back and start auditioning again for the first time in years.

She said yes. Miraculously.

I would do as I’d done before, intern and submit myself as well as the other clients, just like I’d done all those years ago. For the broken-handed woman, it was a life-saver because it incorporated my limited ability to scroll and talk on phones. While I couldn’t type for the time being, I could audition for jobs in the movie-television realm again.

What I found in that realm I never saw coming.

Nobody did.

But there it was.

The phenomena of Verticals.

Saturating the showbiz grapevine were job-postings for actors in a new type of program/platform called “Verticals.”

Look them up.

I had to.

Don’t worry, I’ll give you the summary.

But this will be limited so look them up afterward because it’s a whole new mode of storytelling.

The gist of a Vertical is it’s a movie — soap opera-ish in their high drama style (I liken them to Dynasty for this generation) which is filmed up-and-down, vertically to be watched on a phone.

See this video? This a Vertical, and that’s me:

These titles below are all Horizontals. I’m coining that if someone hasn’t already.

We never had to title it before because this horizontal rectangle shape is normal for movie and TV series viewing.

Horizontals, they’re what we’re all used to. The portrait perspective is what we see on all flat-screen monitors, movie theater screens, and the reason we normally have to turn our phone on the side to watch a movie.

Not anymore.

Now both exist. Filming a movie up and down, or side to side.

Verticals often have high-stakes drama. I have often said they’re like the show Dynasty for this day and age. Tons of twists. Click-bait over-the-top titles that are a little wild. But honestly, the titles are equal in kitsch to some from the novels I’ve written and titled so that didn’t scare me.

So here I am, learning about Verticals for the first time, having just started getting back into the acting showbiz world again. And I’m submitting clients from the management company, too, remember? But here’s the thing: Most of the other actor-clients didn’t want to touch them.

Verticals were eye-rollers.

They were (usually still are) non-union.

The titles alone were making people back off.

Not me.

I saw them as a goldmine of creativity.

I’ll go more into that later, too.

Promise?

Maybe.

So I threw myself into that fire and shocked myself and my manager by booking one three weeks after I got back into that acting game. For those of you who aren’t in showbiz, this is a big deal. Actors audition a lot before booking, and it had been about five years since I’d acted.

I was stunned.

Beside myself happy.

Stoked.

Then I booked another.

And a third.

Discovered I didn’t need representation to do these, so I parted ways amicably with the manager after months of submitting their other clients for jobs as a thank-you for getting me back into the game.

Over the course of a year, I shocked my house-mate and myself by booking 23 Verticals here in the states.

Then came the DM.

The one I never knew was a “thing.”

Thanks to the extremely talented Head of Makeup/Hair Department on one of the Verticals, I got introduced to a big producer/casting director who got me 2 of those 23.

Because of my growing reputation, she asked if I could connect her to actors/actresses in their 20’s — to introduce her to ones I thought were good, and great to be around on set.

Why?

She was sending them to China.

For one to three months.

All expenses paid.

Flights.

4-star hotels and up.

Food covered when working.

Plus pay.

No royalties, like with union jobs in Hollywood, but still a VERY unique and fascinating opportunity.

She messaged me: “Know anyone who wants to go to China?”

“Yes,” I answered, heart racing. “Me.”

I received the laughing emoticons in response.

So I sighed, knowing from experience and a growing wisdom of how these work, why she was only planning on flying over actors in their 20’s. It was because at the time, women over 40 weren’t playing Lead roles. Nor were men over 40. That equality was refreshing.

However it didn’t change the fact that it was considered too expensive to send a character actress or actor across the world because Supporting characters often perform on fewer days. Etc.

You get the idea.

But frankly, I was happy to be in the game.

Happy to be asked for recommendations of actors and actresses who’d be the Lead characters.

I’d worked on so many of these in such a short period of time, I knew who would be fun on set in an extraordinary circumstance in another country. And who wouldn’t.

I won’t talk about the latter.

Promise.

Maybe?

So I sent my recommendations and assured her, “These are all good people. I will never send you assholes.”

I expected another laughing emoji.

Instead I got the serious reply: “I don’t like working with assholes either.”

I smiled, and went back to my audition that was waiting.

End of story.

Erm…

Not really.

The next time I opened my DMs from her?

What do you think I read?

The thrill I never thought I’d experience:

“I want to send you to China.”

My jaw dropped to the counter!

Because my life?

The one gone sideways because I broke BOTH hands?!!

That life.

My life.

It was about to change in a big way.

I was invited to China for a month.

Or so I thought.

One month turned into longer.

I don’t want to give it away.

Okay. I went for a year.

A YEAR!

And now I’m back again.

Most people will never see China.

So this is a golden opportunity to see via stories what few will never.

I’m going to tell you also stories of acting in what is now over 60 Verticals.

I’ll share tips on the biz.

Tips on travel.

On traveling alone, as a woman.

Not just in China.

Are you ready?

Because here they come.

To be continued in the next article…

Part 2 coming soon!

Faleena Hopkins

Faleena's Love Stories

Monday, September 28, 2026

Ever Been To China?