Disney Plus TikTok Verts Pilot Tests Fan Videos

The new streaming battleground is not premiere night. It is the Tuesday afternoon thumb twitch, when nobody knows what to watch but everyone knows how to scroll. Disney is now testing whether that reflex can live inside Disney Plus instead of only outside it. Translation from platform speak: the app wants to become part of the deciding, not just the place you open after the group chat has already picked the movie.

What changed, according to Forbes

Forbes reports that Disney and TikTok are bringing selected fan made videos featuring Disney characters into Verts, the vertical feed inside Disney Plus. Maureen Kerr describes the effort as a U.S. pilot designed to give subscribers more reasons to open the app between major film and series releases, with a steady flow of creator content meant to increase discovery and time spent in the service. Participating creators will gain access to Disney assets, and selected videos will appear on both TikTok and Disney Plus, according to Forbes. The Los Angeles Times similarly reports that Disney announced a partnership with TikTok in which certain creators can use Disney assets to make videos that appear on both the social platform and Disney Plus. That is the core update: Disney is not just reposting internet vibes around its franchises. It is testing fan work as an in app surface, supervised by the IP owner and distributed across two very different viewing habits.

What Verts is trying to solve,

according to The New York Times The New York Times reports that Disney reached a global deal with TikTok to allow fan created short form videos based on Disney characters and franchises to appear inside Disney Plus. Brooks Barnes writes that the videos will be tightly vetted by Disney and described by the company as “thoughtfully curated,” which is a very Disney way of saying the castle gates are open, but the drawbridge operator still has a clipboard. The same report says Verts debuted inside Disney Plus this spring and had previously featured only Disney produced clips from the company’s movies and television shows. That context matters because Verts is not being framed as a cute extra tab. The New York Times describes it as Disney’s attempt to give people a reason to open Disney Plus when they do not already have a specific movie or show in mind. The hope, according to the report, is that a few minutes of scrolling turns into an hour of streaming. For a subscription app, that is the retention dream with mouse ears on.

What creators get,

according to Forbes and the Los Angeles Times For creators, the upside is obvious but incomplete. Forbes says participating creators gain access to Disney assets, while the Los Angeles Times says certain creators will be able to make Disney related videos that appear on both TikTok and Disney Plus. That is a meaningful visibility lane for people already making franchise fandom their native language. Now for the running tally, because platforms do love announcing creator upside before the fine print arrives. Forbes reports that a separate ambassador program offers visibility, events and career development, but neither Disney nor TikTok has disclosed whether creators will be paid or what rights they grant. That is not a small footnote. If your work moves from a social feed into a subscription product, the question of compensation and rights is not drama, it is the whole contract conversation.

The platform read,

according to TechRepublic and Forbes TechRepublic frames the test as Disney Plus asking whether fan made TikTok videos can turn quick swipes into full movies and shows without sending subscribers to another app. That is the sharpest version of the strategy. TikTok is where a lot of fandom already performs, remixes and narrates itself, but Disney Plus is where Disney owns the subscription relationship. Forbes makes the same bigger point from Disney’s side: the test is whether activity built on TikTok can become a repeat viewing habit inside a platform Disney owns. That should make other streamers pay attention. The old streaming model was library plus launch calendar. The newer one is library plus launch calendar plus a lightweight daily reason to open the app, preferably before the user drifts to another feed and forgets the show exists. The closing call here is cautiously pro creator and deeply platform skeptical, as required by being online and having pattern recognition. Disney is validating fan made short form work as a real discovery layer, which is good for creators who know how to make franchises feel alive between official releases. But until payment and rights terms are disclosed, treat the pilot as promising, not settled. Watch whether Verts becomes a true creator pathway or just another polished showcase where the platform captures the habit and creators wait for the paperwork.