EXCLUSIVE: TikTok and creator economy firm Made By Us Studios have vertical video on the mind, and have enlisted major digital and music stars to help them.
The two have partnered on a multi-year deal to make a slate of creator-led micro-series for TikTok and its app, PineDrama. Deadline has the news for you ahead of a MIPCOM session today officially unveiling the pact.
The first two productions are Player, a romantic revenge thriller produced by Jonas Barnes, starring creator and actress Hannah Stocking, written by Arun Blair-Mangat and Chela Reyna. Stocking, who also serves as an executive producer, has also contributed to the script, with Louiza Zouzias the director.
The Knock, meanwhile, is being billed as a genre micro-series created and directed by R.H. Stavis, executive produced by Paranormal Activity and Weapons producer Spooky Pictures in collaboration with Moby‘s Little Walnut Productions.
The series stars actor, filmmaker and digital comedy performer Adam Rose opposite Zaria Simone (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin). Moby also composed the series’ music.
This is the latest example of how vertical video and microdrama is becoming central to major social media services’ video strategies. Microdrama has been a hot topic here in Cannes this week, as companies wrestle with how they invest and what creatives resources they employ.
It comes after TikTok teamed with Issa Rae’s Hoorae to make micro-series Screen Time, which has amassed nearly 580 million views globally and become the top-performing show on the social platform and PineDrama.
“Micro-series are pioneering a new language of storytelling,” said Dawn Yang, Global Head of Entertainment & Micro-Series at TikTok.
She added the slate would put “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.”
Tanya Cohen, co-CEO of Made By Us Studios, added: “Creators have already transformed how audiences discover talent, culture and entertainment. Vertical series are the next evolution of that relationship.
“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. 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.”
“For over a decade, I’ve represented creators with the ambitions to develop premium IP and build careers in Hollywood,” said Leanne Perice, the other Made By Us Studios co-CEO. “Now, as a studio, we get to help bring those ambitions to life, working with them from the first idea through production. This partnership with TikTok opens an exciting new path for creators to develop scripted stories, take on leading roles and help shape the projects they’re part of.”
Made By Us Studios launched earlier this year as social marketing firm Made By Us moved into digital production for the creator economy.
TikTok, meanwhile, has been working with the likes of Tubi on creator-led content initiatives this year.