Netflix and Amazon are two tech companies that have publicly, and a little unceremoniously, disrupted traditional broadcasters by producing original shows to be streamed just for the internet.
But on the fringes of entertainment festivals like Sundance, competitors like Apple, Google, Facebook and Alibaba are quietly entering the fray of original content, technology magazine Fast Company reported in a new feature Tuesday.
Homegrown talent takes the stage in YouTube's newly minted programming, while Facebook is paying celebrities to live stream and Alibaba is financing feature films, Fast Company reported. Apple is using its clout from licensing deals on iTunes to land scripted series, according to the report.
Silicon Valley's pursuit of Hollywood comes as consumers are "cutting the cord" with cable companies. Meanwhile, executives of technology companies with huge user bases are muscling to monetize those eyeballs in new ways, Fast Company reports.
That leaves brands with "simultaneous power and fragility," one insider tells the magazine. The companies did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.