The Walt Disney Company and TikTok announced a global partnership to showcase within the Disney+ app a curated selection of short videos created on TikTok by fans of Disney productions. The initiative will begin as a pilot in the United States in the coming months, before a planned expansion into additional markets.
Fan videos on Disney+
Under the initiative, short Disney-related clips created by participating TikTok creators will be shown on Disney+ through Verts, while remaining available on TikTok. The clips will cover stories and characters from Disney’s portfolio, including Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, FX and other franchises.
Creators will receive creative materials from hundreds of Disney films and series, enabling them to produce original content inspired by the company’s intellectual-property library. Disney said the content displayed on Disney+ would be updated regularly, with the aim of encouraging subscribers to engage with fan communities and discover new discussions and different forms of storytelling.
The best storytellers are fans first. That has always been true at Disney, and today fans are celebrating our stories in entirely new ways. This collaboration creates a new bridge between the stories we tell and the creativity they inspire, giving creators a broader platform to share what they have made and giving audiences more to discover on Disney+ every day.
Expanding creators’ presence
For her part, Don Yang, TikTok’s Global Head of Entertainment, said: «Creators are at the heart of everything we do at TikTok. Their creativity extends the life of films and shows into conversations that fans discover and share. In collaboration with Disney, we are bringing the authentic expression of creators in the TikTok community to Disney+, inviting audiences to experience the collective creativity that gives fan culture its power».
The partnership also includes the launch of the «Disney Creator Ambassadors Program», jointly managed by Disney and TikTok. The program will give selected creators greater visibility, exclusive access to events, rewards and professional-development opportunities. Disney said the initiative reflects its commitment to supporting emerging creative talent in partnership with TikTok.
Millions of entertainment-related posts
According to TikTok’s internal data, users shared an average of 6.5 million film- and television-related posts per day over the past year. Around half of the viewers surveyed also said they later watched a film or television programme on a streaming service or on television after first discovering related content on TikTok.
