Disney+ Announces Plans to Feature User-Made TikTok Content, Just Days After Emmy-Nominated Wonder Man Cancellation
Disney's streaming service will soon feature user-made content from TikTok, the company has announced.
Described as a "first-of-its-kind global deal" that will open doors "for the next generation of creators," the partnership will see Disney-related fan content from TikTok added to Disney+ in the form of "Verts" — short-form vertical videos.
Disney has said it will allow creators access to hundreds of films and series in its back catalogue in return for them pumping out videos that touch on Disney brands, including Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and shows on FX. The exact guidelines here are unclear, however, and Disney has said it will "thoughtfully curate" the videos it picks to highlight. So, don't expect to see too many Verts criticizing Rise of Skywalker.
In a nutshell, Disney+ gets to add content it has paid next to nothing for, while content creators potentially get their work seen by an enormous audience. It sounds like a great business decision for both sides, though today's announcement will hardly install confidence in the platform's future quality bar — especially just days after the shock cancellation of Emmy-nominated series Wonder Man.
"The best storytellers are fans first," said Asad Ayaz, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Company in a statement. "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 bigger stage to share what they’ve made, and audiences more to discover on Disney+ every day."
Today's announcement comes just months after the abrupt cancellation of Disney's previous push to fill its streaming service with user-made short-form content, via a deal with OpenAI. That partnership would have seen Disney pay $1 billion for the privilege of having 100 of its most beloved characters thrown into OpenAI's Sora video slop engine for users to generate content from. However, the whole thing collapsed after OpenAI ditched Sora, and decided it could make more money elsewhere.
Image credit: Disney
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social