Why Lionsgate Hired TikTok Fan Editors to Market Movies

Imagine a movie trailer decked out with colorful filters and massive neon lettering, set to a Dua Lipa track. Picture it created by a teenager in the Philippines or Brazil using unauthorized clips, and the film’s storyline completely ignored.

If you’ve navigated TikTok, you’ve likely come across a plethora of fan edits—carefully assembled montages that blend clips from films and television with chart-topping songs. Some resemble highlight reels, while others take on a meme-like quality or offer whimsical interpretations that diverge from the original material. Take, for instance, #SydCarmy, a trending hashtag brimming with edits that romanticize the friendship between the two key characters in “The Bear.”

These creative edits amass millions of views, galvanizing fan communities around series and films from “The Summer I Turned Pretty” to “Barry Lyndon.” Briana McElroy, who leads global digital marketing at Lionsgate Films, describes them as “love letters from fans.” Viewed with a more critical lens, they also serve as unintentional advertising.

Recognizing the profound viral influence of these TikTok creations, Hollywood entities such as Hulu and Paramount+ have begun incorporating fan edits into their official marketing strategies. Lionsgate is at the forefront, regularly sharing edits of both new titles like “The Long Walk” and classics such as “Divergent.”

“Within our digital marketing division, we work as if we’re fans ourselves,” McElroy explains. “To effectively engage in conversations with fans online, we need to communicate in their language.” Lionsgate partners with “legacy agencies” to develop a more refined voice for platforms like Facebook and Instagram, while producing content that resonates with the unique culture of TikTok.

Naturally, any corporation trying to tap into internet culture risks appearing like an out-of-touch “cool mom.” Instead of mimicking the vibe of viral fan editors, Lionsgate opted to collaborate with them. Felipe Mendez, the manager of Lionsgate’s TikTok presence, reached out to approximately 250 editors to establish a collective of about 15. “We’re approaching the creative individuals that fans are already fascinated by and proposing: ‘Create what you do best; we want to partner!’” Mendez, who is 26, shares.

Mendez, a member of UTA’s Next Gen team, has previously aided brands like Axe and PBS in reaching younger audiences. He actively encourages company leaders to embrace aspects of Gen Z culture that they may not fully understand. “For success on TikTok, your content must be distinct from your brand’s identity,” he remarks, implying that brands need to laugh at themselves. (An example includes a Lionsgate edit of “Hunger Games” featuring Katniss Everdeen’s signature call paired with Flo Rida’s explicit hit, “Whistle.”)

He first recognized the power of fan edits a couple of years ago when “Suits” clips were racking up hundreds of millions of views on TikTok. He attributes these viral snippets to the resurgence of the legal drama, which became the most-streamed show of 2023 and even led to a spinoff.

While it’s challenging to quantify how many viewers transition from watching a fan edit to streaming the original film or series, Mendez points out that viewer reactions in comment sections provide compelling evidence. He highlights a “Creed” edit by user Areq, which has generated 195 million views and 19 million likes since July. Out of 300,000 comments, sentiments like “Guess I’m watching ‘Creed’ today!” and “Just let the editors make the trailers” resonate strongly. Following the post of Areq’s edit, viewership for the 2015 boxing drama rose by 29% on Amazon Prime, according to Luminate data.

Can these fan edits spark real-world engagement? For Lionsgate, a significant test will be the upcoming rerelease of “Twilight,” driven partly by enthusiasm surrounding a fan edit initiative. The studio has published nearly 40 edits since last summer and is optimistic that there’s a new wave of TikTok users born after the original “Twilight” release who will fill the theaters for this vampire saga.

McElroy further emphasizes that the marketing strategy goes beyond mere ticket sales for a single release. “When we started sharing ‘Twilight’ content on TikTok, our aim wasn’t solely to drive revenue or bring the film back to the big screen,” she clarifies. “Our primary goal was to cultivate and maintain a thriving community.”