Internet & Social
Disney wants fan creators to rescue Verts
Disney is adding fan-made videos to Verts through TikTok, but its creator program promises exposure and access—not direct pay.
Disney+ launched Verts in March as a vertical-video feed designed to challenge TikTok and Instagram Reels. The problem is that its first version offered only trailers for Disney and Hulu shows, effectively turning a social-style interface into an advertising channel.
That may change after Disney and TikTok agreed last week to expand the jointly run Disney Creator Ambassador Program. Under the arrangement, participating creators can share fan videos using Disney intellectual property across both platforms. A Kylo Ren edit or Spider-Man role-play video, for example, can use associated audio without being flagged for copyright—and, if the creator opts in, may also appear on Verts.
Disney wants fan content on Verts
The strategic shift is straightforward: Disney is trying to import the material that gives TikTok and Reels their cultural energy. Fan edits, role-play clips, and other creator-made videos feel less like corporate promotion than content produced directly by the rights holder. That distinction matters on short-form platforms, where users often reject feeds that look too much like advertising.
Fast Company argues that Verts struggled because it launched inside an “echo chamber”: a Disney feed filled with Disney-owned promotional material. By opening the door to fan-made assets, Disney gains access to content built around existing communities and fandoms rather than asking users to watch another trailer.
The agreement also changes the copyright relationship for participating creators. Fan videos that might previously have been removed or left unmonetized can now receive formal permission to use Disney material, provided their creators join the program. That does not turn the videos into an independent business, however. Disney’s current offer is visibility and access, not a share of revenue.
Exposure instead of creator pay
The program promises participating creators increased visibility and networking opportunities. Disney has not publicly clarified how much additional distribution creators will receive, what “networking” includes, or whether event access comes with meaningful commercial opportunities.
Fast Company’s central criticism is that the incentive resembles the traditional influencer bargain: exposure, brand relationships, and invitations instead of direct compensation. Those benefits may help some creators build an audience, but they do not replace revenue sharing or payment for the value their work creates.
That puts Disney’s plan at odds with the broader pressure on platforms to distinguish between creator tools and creator income. Snapchat’s decision to stop recommending fully generated Spotlight videos still allows generative edits and enhancements, but shows how platforms are drawing boundaries around what kinds of creator output they want to reward. Elsewhere, AI-generated melodramas paying creators on X demonstrate that audience-driven content can produce direct income—even when the format is highly formulaic.
Disney’s arrangement is not equivalent to either example, but the contrast is useful: it wants the authenticity and engagement of fan culture while retaining control over the intellectual property and avoiding a stated revenue-share commitment.
What the deal leaves unanswered
The reporting does not establish whether Verts will become available beyond its current Disney+ experience, how its recommendation system will rank ambassador content, or whether creators will receive any money later. It also provides no performance figures showing whether Verts has gained users since the March redesign.
Those gaps matter because distribution is the entire value proposition. If creators cannot see a measurable audience increase, copyright clearance alone may not persuade them to supply Disney with free promotional inventory. And if Disney’s algorithm promotes the clips too aggressively, Verts could simply become another branded feed rather than a genuine fan community.
Our read is that Disney has correctly identified why Verts failed: a short-form product built from trailers lacks the credibility of content made by fans. But the company is treating compensation as optional while asking creators to provide the ingredient that could make the service culturally relevant. Until Disney specifies what visibility, networking, and event access are worth—or offers revenue sharing—the deal looks more like a smarter content-acquisition strategy than a new creator economy.