Disney is giving Disney+ a social media-inspired makeover by bringing fan-made TikTok videos to its streaming service.
The entertainment giant announced Wednesday that it has reached a global agreement with TikTok that will allow participating creators to produce short-form videos using memorable scenes and moments from hundreds of Disney movies and TV shows. The pilot program will launch in the U.S. in the coming months before expanding to additional markets.
Disney declined to identify which specific titles will be included, the New York Times reports. The Independent has contacted Disney and TikTok for comment.
The videos will appear on both TikTok and Verts, Disney+'s vertical video feed that launched in March. The feed will feature content inspired by franchises including Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, FX and more.
Unlike TikTok, however, not just any fan video will make it onto Disney+. Disney said every clip will be carefully reviewed and "thoughtfully curated" before appearing in the app to ensure it fits the company's family-friendly standards.
Verts is designed to give subscribers another reason to open the Disney+ app, even if they don't have a specific title in mind. Rather than immediately choosing a movie or series, users can scroll through short-form videos, with Disney hoping that a few minutes of browsing will encourage them to stick around and stream longer content.
Until now, Verts has featured only Disney-produced clips from the company's own movies and TV shows.
“The best storytellers are fans first,” Asad Ayaz, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of the Walt Disney Company, said 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.”
The partnership marks another example of Disney's growing willingness to let outside creators work with its valuable intellectual property in controlled ways. While the company has historically been protective of its characters and franchises, it has recently shown an openness to collaborations that encourage fan creativity.
Last year, Disney announced a partnership with OpenAI that allowed users of the Sora AI video-generation platform to create videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters, with standout creations expected to appear on Disney+. However, that initiative ended abruptly in March after OpenAI shut down Sora.
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