TikTok teams up with MADE BY US STUDIOS on scripted micro-series led by creators

TikTok has signed a strategic partnership with MADE BY US STUDIOS to co-produce a slate of vertical micro-series led by creators. The shows will run on TikTok and PineDrama, its app for short scripted drama. The company announced the deal in its newsroom on October 14 at the MIPCOM market in Cannes.

MADE BY US STUDIOS describes itself as a studio built for the creator economy. It is backed by the creator management company MADE BY ALL. Under the deal, the two companies will develop scripted shows that put creators at the centre, both on screen and behind the camera.

The first slate

TikTok named two launch projects. Player is a romantic revenge thriller starring Hannah Stocking, who has 29.7 million TikTok followers. Stocking also co-wrote the story and serves as an executive producer. The show is produced by Jonas Barnes, written by Arun Blair-Mangat and Chela Reyna, and directed by Louiza Zouzias.

The Knock is a genre series created and directed by R.H. Stavis. It is executive produced by Spooky Pictures, the company behind horror franchises including Paranormal Activity and The Ring, together with Moby's Little Walnut Productions. Creator Adam Rose, who has 7 million TikTok followers, stars opposite Zaria Simone of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. Moby is composing the music.

Why now

The deal builds on a test case. Earlier this year TikTok partnered with HOORAE, Issa Rae's company, on the micro-series Screen Time, released exclusively on TikTok and PineDrama. TikTok says the show has drawn nearly 580 million views worldwide since its April launch, making it the best-performing show on either platform.

In the release, Dawn Yang, TikTok's global head of entertainment and micro-series, said the format is developing a new storytelling language. MADE BY US co-CEO Tanya Cohen said the aim is to create a new form rather than shrink television for phones.

Our analysis

Vertical micro-dramas, short episodic stories built for phones, have grown quickly in recent years, mostly through standalone apps funded by in-app payments for episodes. TikTok's approach is different. It is using the same format to give creators with large followings a route into scripted work, and it is pairing them with established producers to raise quality.

For creators, the deal points to a career path beyond sketches and brand integrations. Stocking's role as co-writer and executive producer is notable: it gives her a share in the intellectual property rather than just a talent fee. Creators who have relied on brand deals should watch whether these shows produce lasting rights or work-for-hire paychecks. The release did not disclose deal terms.

For management companies, the structure is the story. MADE BY ALL is a management firm with its own studio, so it can develop shows for its own clients and sell them to platforms. That makes management more like a production business, and it echoes how large Hollywood agencies built packaging businesses in the past.

For brands, scripted creator shows open the door to product placement and sponsorship inside long-running stories, which may be more valuable than a single sponsored post. Neither company has announced advertising or sponsorship plans for the series.

For competitors, the moves are adding up. YouTube used Made on YouTube in September to introduce Shorts series, which let creators group Shorts into seasons and episodes, according to Social Media Today. Instagram began testing 90-minute horizontal videos in October. Tubi and TikTok separately named 12 creators for an incubator that will make long-form series. Every major platform is now competing to own serialised creator content, in short form or long.

The release also points to how this kind of deal comes together. Spooky Pictures brings horror credentials, Moby brings music and a recognisable name, and the creators bring audiences of tens of millions. Few micro-drama apps can put that kind of combination together, and that gives TikTok an advantage in quality as the format grows more crowded. TikTok said its platform is used by more than a billion people each month, according to Tubi's joint release.

The open question is money. A 580 million view count shows reach, but TikTok has not said how Screen Time was funded or what creators and producers earn from the new slate.

There is also a talent-development angle. Stocking and Rose are established creators with comedy and sketch backgrounds, and both are being cast in genre drama alongside professional actors and crews. If the shows work, they give TikTok a pitch to other creators: build an audience here, and the platform will help you move into scripted work without leaving it.

The take

Editors' opinion: Pairing creators with genre specialists like Spooky Pictures is smart. It answers the main criticism of micro-dramas, which is that they look cheap. But view counts are not a business model, and TikTok has shared no economics. Until creators can see how ownership, back-end payments and placement revenue are divided, this looks more like a promotional showcase than a new industry. The deal will prove itself when a creator owns a hit outright.