A video inspired by a Marvel superhero or a scene from Star Wars could soon move directly from TikTok to Disney+. In early August, The Walt Disney Company and TikTok signed an agreement that will bring creator content to Verts, Disney’s short-form vertical video feed, while giving program participants access to materials from hundreds of films and series.
The pilot program will begin in the United States in the coming months, with plans to expand to other markets at a later stage. Creators who choose to participate will be able to use scenes, characters and stories from a portfolio that includes Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, FX and other brands. Their videos will be published on TikTok, while selected work will also appear on Verts within the Disney+ mobile app.
Verts was launched in March as Disney’s response to the growth of short-form vertical formats. In its first version, the feed was largely populated by short promotional materials for Disney and Hulu titles. The new agreement should bring it audience reactions, creative interpretations of familiar scenes and content produced within communities built around individual films, series and characters.
“The best storytellers are fans first,” said Asad Ayaz, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer at The Walt Disney Company. According to Ayaz, the collaboration gives creators a bigger stage on which to present their work, while bringing Disney+ subscribers more content to discover every day.
At the centre of the partnership is the Disney Creator Ambassador Program, which the two companies will jointly run through a tiered system. Top-performing creators can expect greater visibility, access to exclusive events and professional development opportunities.
The information released so far, however, makes no mention of financial compensation or a revenue-sharing model. That omission raised questions soon after the agreement was announced about how much creators themselves will gain from the new collaboration. Disney secures a regular stream of content intended to revive Verts and support the promotion of its franchises, while creators are offered reach, contacts and access to events. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The importance of creators to the film and television industry is also reflected in TikTok’s data. Last year, the platform’s users published an average of 6.5 million film and television-related posts each day. Nearly half of surveyed viewers said that, after discovering a title on TikTok, they went on to watch the film or series on a streaming service or television.
Through this agreement, Disney gains access to established communities that keep its characters and stories present between premieres. TikTok can offer creators a simpler way to use licensed materials from major franchises, with a lower risk of their content being removed over copyright concerns.
The collaboration was announced after Disney’s earlier plan to develop user-generated content with OpenAI’s Sora tool failed to materialise. TikTok already has the audience, creators and recommendation system required for such a model. Whether access to Disney’s archive and the promise of greater visibility will be enough for creators to keep supplying Verts with content in the long term will probably also depend on whether the program eventually introduces a more concrete form of compensation for their work.
