Why Hollywood Is Investing in Influencers Amid the Cultural Impact of TikTok

Ever wonder how Addison Rae was cast in the upcoming film Thanksgiving, or how a guy known to most as "Straw Hat Goofy" hosted official live streams from the red carpet?

One of the hottest current trends in Hollywood is putting big bucks behind TikTok influencers to make ticket sales at the box office skyrocket and viewership for TV shows remain consistently high.

How much money is Hollywood willing to shell out to influencers? Amanda Castrillo, who promises "nerd content & more" and currently has over 300,000 followers on TikTok, can make approximately $3,000 to $10,000 in content deals with studios — dependent on the volume of posting — she told Insider in an article published Friday.

But the outlet reported that figure can sometimes go into the "hundreds of thousands" range, with studios and networks and PR firms finding more clever ways to leverage the promotional potential of influencers than just flying them out to premiere events across the globe with social media-friendly activations.

"The devotion to this part of marketing is probably the biggest change during the COVID era," Marc Weinstock, the president of worldwide marketing and distribution at Paramount Pictures, explained to the outlet. "I think it was exacerbated by the fact that a lot of people were watching TikTok videos because they were stuck at home. So why wouldn't you have creators have fun with your campaign and get the word out that way?"

Influencers' connection to Hollywood has proven to have benefits beyond a paycheck — some, like Rae and Andrew Bachelor, have gone on to score Hollywood roles, while others like Juju Green (of "Straw Hat Goofy") and Reece Feldman are getting access to one-on-one interviews with some of today's most sought-after stars.