Local screenwriter, influencer reacts in realtime to TikTok’s sudden onoff switches
Jan 19, 2025
TikTok services were restored for 170 million US users Sunday morning after becoming unavailable Saturday night.TikTok is for the common man. The common man is poor. People are getting money through TikTok and putting it back into businesses, back into communities," said Mary Kate Teske, a Billings based screenwriter and multimedia artist with a 56,000 user following on the platform. She originally went viral for sharing the story behind her 1961 Dodge Lancer, which she has turned into a 110-page screenplay currently seeking funding. Photographer seeks film funding for screenplay about 1961 Dodge LancerI had a (TikTok) video go to a million views and I made $2,000 off of that one video. So, to me, thats huge. Thats one months worth of rent," said Teske.TikTok service was restored with the social media company thanking president-elect Donald Trump on X (formerly Twitter) following his comments about issuing an executive order to extend TikTok's time table, despite initially signing sanctions in 2020 against the ByteDance property."We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," said TikTok via X.Trump cited interests in the app's monetary value in his comments online.Teske explained, though she has her doubts on the motives behind restoring the app, she is glad TikTok is back for the time being for the sake of creators, their communities, and their culture.Me, a little farmer from Eastern Montana, Im able to tell my story on TikTok and that is a way of sharing farming, cowboy culture, Eastern Montana culture," said Teske.Her proof-of-concept short film, which reveals the full story behind her car, can be viewed below.