TikTok is deepening its commitment to the microdrama format with a new deal aimed at producing vertical stories starring creators.
The company has inked an agreement with Made By Us Studios, the production arm of major creator management company Made By All, to co-produce creator-led vertical series for TikTok and its microdrama app PineDrama. It’s the social media company’s second major microdrama deal after it announced a partnership with Issa Rae’s Hoorae Media to co-develop microseries in April.
Mady By All, the management company behind Made By Us Studios, represents creators including Dhar Mann (who is already making his own microdramas with Fox and Holywater), One Battle After Another actor Teyana Taylor and YouTuber Adam Waheed. Made By Us Studios is led by former Range Partner Tanya Cohen as well as Made By All founder Leanne Perice and Made By Us president of production Nic Stanich.
The deal was announced at MIPCOM, where TikTok unveiled the first two projects in the slate. Player is a romantic revenge thriller starring and co-executive produced by creator Hannah Stocking and additionally produced by Jonas Barnes. The series was written by Arun Blair-Mangat and Chela Reyna and directed by Louiza Zouzias.
The Knock is described as a “genre microseries” (no word yet as to the precise genre) starring actor and content creator Adam Rose and actor Zaria Simone (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin). It was created and directed by R.H. Stavis and is executive produced by Spooky Pictures (Watcher) alongside the musician Moby’s Little Walnut Productions. Moby also composed the series’ music.
“Micro-series are pioneering a new language of storytelling,” TikTok’s global head of entertainment and micro-series Dawn Yang said in a statement about the deal. “We’re thrilled to partner with Made By Us on a slate that puts creators at the center, alongside established producers and industry talent, to tell stories designed for the feed from the start. This is an exciting step forward in our continued investment in the next generation of premium vertical storytelling on TikTok and PineDrama.”
Made By Us Studios co-CEO Tanya Cohen said in a statement that vertical series are “the next evolution” for creators. “The opportunity isn’t to make smaller versions of television — it’s to build an entirely new premium storytelling language around the way audiences actually consume entertainment today,” Cohen added. “TikTok understands that behavior at a global scale, and together we have the opportunity to build franchises with creators who arrive with audience, community and cultural relevance already built in.”
TikTok’s deal with Hoorae Media started big earlier in the year with Screen Time, a hit microdrama about a terrible double date. The series, starring Xavier Avila, Jasmine Luv, Eric C. Lynch and Brittney Jefferson, has earned nearly 580 million views globally since it premiered in April.