Social media has evolved to the point where 10 TikTok creators are attending the Sundance Film Festival in Park City this year. The platform’s goal is for them to produce real-time content from the red carpet, the event itself, and the pre- and post-festival activities. In other words, they want to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s most important film festivals. Among the TikTokers attending the festival are Daniela Manzano, known as dani_apples (174,000 followers on TikTok); Shannon Burns, known as itsshannonburns (752,000 followers); and Louis Levanti, also known as louislevanti (2.4 million followers).
In recent years TikTok has carved out a niche for itself at prestigious events following the rise of content creators
In total, TikTok has brought 10 content creators to Sundance 2026 and also organized a happy hour for creators with Charli XCX. These creators will be providing live, minute-by-minute coverage of virtually everything happening at the fashion festival in Utah. One of the TikTok voices is former Miss Washington, Mandy Schendel, who has made a name for herself on social media after her Miss America career. Schendel, also known as mandykayschendel, has 121,000 followers on TikTok. Joining her and the creators mentioned above in Park City will be film and television creator Kit Lazer, also known as moviesaretherapy (854,000 followers on TikTok); and cultural critic, author, and journalist Touré Neblett, also known as toureshow (691,000 followers on TikTok).
And the platform doesn’t want to be left behind
The fact is that in recent years TikTok has carved out a niche for itself at prestigious events following the rise of content creators who do more than just dance. Among various sectors driven by fandoms—be it books, music, sports, or just news—TikTok’s film section, also known as #FilmTok or #MovieTok, has become a key meeting point for cinephiles. And the platform doesn’t want to be left behind, especially in a week that saw the finalization of the agreement between TikTok and China.
A typical morning routine involves picking up your phoen and scroll: it’s no longer reading the newspaper delivered to their door or listening to the radio
The shift in the platform isn’t just an opinion shared by those who discuss these topics; it’s backed up by numbers. Last year, posts about movies or TV series accounted for 6.5 million daily posts. The reality is that social media has arrived to revolutionize absolutely everything. Now, even politicians issue official statements via Instagram, X, or Truth, as is the case with Donald Trump. It’s not good or bad; it’s a real change that society is experiencing. The first thing the average citizen usually does when they wake up in the morning is pick up their smartphone. It’s no longer reading the newspaper delivered to their door or listening to the radio. Now it’s getting their news through TikTok videos or listening to podcasts, which are also video podcasts on YouTube.
This represents a 54% increase compared to the previous year
As most social media users know, hashtags arrived with the advent of Twitter (now TikTok) and Instagram. They’re a way to categorize posts within a specific category. We mention this because, to understand the current state of social media, in 2025 alone, hashtags like #FilmTok and #MovieTok were used in over 3 million posts combined, according to official data. This represents a 54% increase compared to the previous year. So, it will be interesting to see how the platform performs this year. Even without hashtags, film remains a massive phenomenon on TikTok, hence the platform’s focus on this small but significant niche.