diff --git a/TTS/TikTok.py b/TTS/TikTok.py
index 543568f..b370455 100644
--- a/TTS/TikTok.py
+++ b/TTS/TikTok.py
@@ -108,7 +108,11 @@ class TikTok:
             raise TikTokTTSException(status_code, data["message"])
 
         # decode data from base64 to binary
-        raw_voices = data["data"]["v_str"]
+        try:
+            raw_voices = data["data"]["v_str"]
+        except:
+            print("The TikTok TTS returned an invalid response. Please try again later, and report this bug.")
+            raise TikTokTTSException(0, "Invalid response")
         decoded_voices = base64.b64decode(raw_voices)
 
         # write voices to specified filepath
diff --git a/video_creation/background.py b/video_creation/background.py
index 0405e66..0458ce6 100644
--- a/video_creation/background.py
+++ b/video_creation/background.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from utils import settings
 from utils.console import print_step, print_substep
 
 # Load background videos
-with open("utils/backgrounds.json") as json_file:
+with open("./utils/backgrounds.json") as json_file:
     background_options = json.load(json_file)
 
 # Remove "__comment" from backgrounds