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How Meta Movie Gen will change UGC forever

News

This weekend Meta announced their AI powered video generator. A few months after Open AI announced Sora. Neither are available to the public yet, but as soon as they do, the world of brand content will be on the cusp of another transformation.

4 minute read

Written by Diana Ellis-Hill

I’ve taken a look at its capabilities, and although there remain outstanding issues with IP, and a little way to go on the ‘uncanny valley’ effect, it has the potential to have a huge impact on the future of User-generated content. The developments in generative AI text-to-video tools - let’s call them Vid Gen - like these promise to elevate brands' content in ways that feel collaborative, deeply personal and scalable. But what does this really mean for brands, creators and audiences?

The Next Evolution of UGC

With 50% of consumers finding UGC more trustworthy and 20% more influential than other media types, could Video Gen tools help ensure brands are able to eliminate some of the more risky sides of UGC?

Vid Gen has the potential to transform self-shot video clips into polished, cinematic storytelling experiences. By providing a clever suite of editing, effects, and narrative capabilities, it takes a simple user-recorded video and elevates it to a level that, in time, will rival professional production.

Side note to professional brand film agencies like us - if you are not already across the potential and becoming the experts, it will sideline you.

But the real genius lies in its accessibility—empowering everyday users to tell stories that could look as compelling as brand campaigns. Vid Gen sits at the sweet spot of creativity, tech, and authenticity. Here’s why this matters for brands and how it will reshape UGC:

1. Empowering Consumers as Creators

UGC has always thrived because it’s authentic—it's content made by real people, which resonates with audiences more genuinely than many traditional ads. Vid Gen will amplify this by giving users access to tools that were previously limited to professional filmmakers. Imagine your customers creating branded content with blockbuster-level production quality, all from the comfort of their homes. This will bring a fresh wave of creativity from real brand fans who feel even more engaged, with a deeper sense of ownership among the brands’ community.

2. Creating Immersive Brand Narratives

With Vid Gen, brands have an opportunity to craft more immersive narratives through collaboration with their audiences. Picture a brand campaign where users contribute their stories, which Vid Gen then helps weave into a collective narrative. The level of polish and cinematic flair possible now ensures that these stories feel unified, almost like chapters of a movie that the entire community creates together.

For instance, a travel brand could encourage users to share their holiday (vacation!) footage, which AI could transform into a travelogue-style film. This becomes more than just content; it becomes an epic representation of shared experiences, blending individual stories into a cohesive branded narrative.

3. Hyper-Personalisation at Scale

Vid Gen has the ability to blend personalisation with quality. In the near future, we’ll see brands creating templates or prompts that encourage users to include specific themes, colours, or even music associated with the brand. Imagine each user creating their own trailer for a new shoe release, using their real-world stories. Every video is unique, yet unmistakably part of the brand’s universe.

This level of hyper-personalization, combined with the possibility of professional-grade production quality, means that brands can reach smaller, more defined niches in a more meaningful way. UGC moves from feeling homemade and disparate to being high-quality and consistent—without losing the individual voice that makes it relatable.

4. More Than Influencers—A Community of Creators

Instead of focusing only on influencers with high production skills, brands can now reach micro-creators and everyday fans. These people, equipped with Vid Gen, become ambassadors who create content as beautiful and impactful as that produced by traditional influencers.

This technology democratises storytelling power and places it in the hands of everyday people, shifting brand advocacy into a space that feels more authentic. As a result, brands can generate a volume of content that is high quality and speaks directly from the community—offering a more grassroots approach to word-of-mouth marketing, but with cinematic flair.

5. Fostering Creative Challenges and Campaigns

Vid Gen opens new possibilities for creative challenges and campaigns. Imagine a brand launching a contest that encourages people to "direct" their own brand-inspired mini-movie. With advanced generative tools, users can create videos that would have previously required teams of editors, VFX artists, and days of work. This sparks participation from users who may have never before considered themselves capable of high-level content creation.

These community-driven creative challenges will foster greater brand loyalty as participants invest more of their creative energy into content aligned with the brand. The pride that comes from seeing their high-quality creations shared on official brand channels—now visually impressive thanks to AI—makes these contributors part of a movement.

The Future Is Co-Created

The emergence of Vid Gen signals a shift where UGC can become a more closely integrated extension of brand storytelling. It levels the playing field between professional and amateur creators, resulting in a more vibrant ecosystem where community members produce powerful, emotional, and visually stunning brand content.

For agencies and brands, our role in this future is to facilitate, inspire, and guide our communities—offering the tools and prompts that can enable creativity without limiting it. Meaning more engaged and loyal communities can offer their potential to uplift each other.