– BERLINALE 2026: With distribution models in flux, the event looked at TikTok’s growing role in turning participatory fandom into ticket sales and streaming subscriptions
l-r: Aylin Kazi, Melo Nsuka, Runa Greiner and Jacky Meire during the panel discussion
On 13 February, Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM, 12-18 February) trained the spotlight on audiences and social media with an afternoon event titled “From Community to Box Office: How Fandom on TikTok Drives Impact”. The session examined how online communities – particularly on TikTok and its film enthusiast subcommunity, #FilmTok – are reshaping film discovery, marketing and, ultimately, revenue streams.
First, Stephen Naughton, group vertical director for Entertainment, Media, Tech and Telco at TikTok UK, argued that the platform’s role in film culture has evolved from promotional add-on to structural tool. Before the subsequent panel discussion, he offered a data-driven overview of what he described as an increasingly measurable connection between TikTok engagement and real-world performance.
Naughton reminded the room that TikTok positions itself primarily as an entertainment destination, rather than a conventional social network. “You don’t check TikTok; you watch TikTok,” he said, noting that users arrive already primed to discover content. According to the company’s research, three-quarters of its audience come to the platform specifically to find new entertainment, a proportion he contrasted with lower discovery rates on rival services.
For producers and distributors, he suggested, that behavioural shift represents a structural opportunity. The platform functions as a “24-7 virtual stage” reaching more than one billion users worldwide, where studios, creators and fans can engage on an equal footing. Crucially, he emphasised that fandom on TikTok is participatory: users do not merely consume trailers, but remix, analyse and reframe them, amplifying titles organically across borders.
Film culture on TikTok, he argued, is already operating at industrial scale. In 2025 alone, an average of 6.5 million posts per day related to film and TV appeared on the platform. More importantly for the business side of the sector, TikTok has been working with market-research company Media Control to track correlations between online virality and theatrical performance. The result, Naughton said, showed that “15 of the 20 most successful theatrical releases in 2025 across Europe were TikTok viral hits,” defined as titles generating over one million related posts.
The implication is not simply that TikTok mirrors popularity, but that it accelerates it. Naughton enthusiastically described the platform as an “incredible discovery engine” capable of driving urgency around cinema attendance or streaming sign-ups, especially when campaigns incorporate creators as partners, rather than passive influencers. Creator-led content, he noted, can achieve up to 91% more engagement than traditional advertising assets.
The company’s work with German firm Constantin Film illustrated that point. Collaborations across more than 15 releases generated over one billion video views, demonstrating how integrated creator campaigns can build awareness before release and sustain conversation afterwards. Naughton pointed to case studies where spikes in TikTok engagement closely tracked box-office peaks, arguing that early fan-driven conversation can be harnessed strategically through tools such as TikTok Spotlight, which aggregates official and user-generated content into a central hub.
Search behaviour on the platform is also shifting industry assumptions. One in five users searches for content within 30 seconds of opening the app, with film-related queries growing by more than 100% year on year. That, Naughton said, reflects the fact that audiences are increasingly treating TikTok as a discovery engine for both theatrical and streaming content – a trend that could influence how release campaigns are structured.
Underlying his presentation was a broader point about the nature of contemporary fandom. Online communities, he argued, do not respect geographic or cultural boundaries, allowing films from smaller markets to find global audiences. Fandom on TikTok is “participatory, personal and perpetual”, extending engagement well beyond opening weekend.
The session also highlighted the platform’s partnership with the Berlinale itself. Naughton cited last year’s collaboration, which reportedly boosted the festival’s TikTok following by 60,000 users and increased engagement around Berlinale content by 2,000% year on year. The company sees festivals as key entry points for building fan communities around arthouse and independent titles.
After Naughton’s presentation, moderator Aylin Kazi was joined on stage by Prime Video EU head of Social Jacky Meire, TikTok creator Melo Nsuka and actress Runa Greiner to discuss the case of Maxton Hall, a #BookTok phenomenon-turned-streaming hit.
The ensuing discussion broadened Naughton’s data points with on-the-ground perspectives from streamers, talent and creators. Speakers repeatedly stressed that community engagement functions as an “extra layer” of storytelling, with fans dissecting scenes, debating character arcs and sustaining conversation long after an episode drops. Viewing, they noted, is no longer solitary: audiences often move straight from watching to TikTok, recreating a shared, quasi-cinematic experience around streaming titles.
The panel also underlined how creators now operate as trust brokers, with recommendations from familiar voices carrying more weight than traditional advertising. At the same time, book-to-screen adaptations arrive with built-in expectations, exposing casting and creative choices to real-time scrutiny.
Finally, the panellists highlighted transparency and behind-the-scenes access as key to maintaining momentum, suggesting that consistent interaction helps transform online enthusiasm into durable fandom – even as its scale can become both exhilarating and overwhelming for talent.
