12 Million Posts a Day: How Fans Now Market TV and Film

More than 12 million posts about TV and film land on TikTok every single day.

That figure came from Dawn Yang, TikTok's global head of entertainment, during a marketing panel in Los Angeles on Thursday, Sept. 17. She shared it as part of a discussion about how studios now rely on fans and creators to spread the word, according to Variety.

The session was part of Variety's Entertainment and Technology Summit. Six senior marketers took part, with the conversation led by Dea Lawrence, Variety's publisher and co-president.

Joining Yang were Ben Harms, chief growth officer at youth culture marketing agency Archrival, Sara Pollack, Pinterest's global head of consumer marketing, and Briana McElroy, Lionsgate's global head of digital marketing. Executives from Spotify and AMC Global Media completed the line-up.

McElroy said Lionsgate hires fans to make TikTok content for the Lionsgate brand. In practice that means paying people who already post about films and shows to create official videos, rather than building every post in-house.

Pollack described a different kind of partnership. Pinterest worked with Warner Bros. to promote the cinema release of Practical Magic 2, using the platform's search and mood-board style pages to reach people planning what to watch, wear and try.

For viewers, this means the trailer you see may not come from a studio account at all. It may come from a fan on your feed, or a pinned image tied to a film's release.

The summit is a one-day industry meeting focused on the tools and strategies changing entertainment, including AI and gaming. This year's edition was scheduled for Sept. 17 and was presented by EY, with a programme that also featured Bill Hader and James Wan, according to earlier Variety announcements.