Social Rocket
TikTok is moving deeper into the production of fictional creator series. Together with Made By Us Studios, the platform is developing new microseries for TikTok and its own drama app PineDrama. The partnership, presented at MIPCOM on 14 October 2026, is more than a classic influencer assignment: creators are meant to take lead roles and already contribute to scripts, production and development.
Creators become part of the studio, not just faces for ads
The official TikTok newsroom names two first productions. In the revenge thriller Player, Hannah Stocking takes the lead role, works on the story and is Executive Producer. The Knock is directed by R. H. Stavis, with Adam Rose and Zaria Simone in front of the camera. Moby provides the music. The announcement does not state start dates or the length of the series.
Made By Us is the production division of the creator management company Made By All. The company had announced the studio launch itself in May. The shift from the single sponsored post to professional series production changes the economic role of talent. They can be involved in developing a format, rather than only spreading an existing brand message. Who owns which rights and how revenue is shared, however, is not publicly quantified for the new partnership.
The feed becomes a series channel
TikTok is already testing this model: together with Issa Rae's production company HOORAE, the company launched the microseries Screen Time on TikTok and PineDrama in April. In the earlier announcement, TikTok described the offering as free and ad-financed. In October the platform reports almost 580 million views worldwide for Screen Time. This is a company-reported view count, not data on unique viewers, profit or retention across several episodes.
The development fits the boom in short fictional series. A study on short dramas published by Snapchat and Ipsos examines their reach in the USA, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. However, no German viewership figure can be derived from it. How these formats can be assessed from a marketing perspective we have already classified in our article on microdrama campaigns and open ROI questions.
What brands can take away from the partnership
For marketers, the interesting point lies less in the prominent names than in the standalone series IP: a recognisable plot and characters create several points of contact that can work independently of individual trend clips. However, this requires a script, a production budget, rights clearance and a meaningful evaluation of viewers across several episodes. Our guide to episodic social content covers the editorial side of such formats.
Not every brand therefore has to produce a fictional series itself. The difference between creator production and purchased distribution also remains relevant. For now, TikTok's partnership mainly shows that the platform is investing more heavily in developing and exclusively distributing professional stories. TikTok has not committed to opening this production model to advertisers in general, nor to a German launch of the new series.