Agency Wars: Winners, Losers & Creators’ Secret Whispers About Each
UTA, CAA, WME, surprise force Gersh: 20+ insiders’ readout, red flags as Hollywood cashes in. Plus: Scoop on a new player crashing the party
This is a preview of Like & Subscribe, my standalone Ankler Media newsletter on the creator economy. I reported on Amazon’s future in podcasts post-Wondery, how creators are making millions teaching online courses, the digital stars replacing late-night TV and golf’s big YouTube swing. Email me at natalie@theankler.com
When Amaya Espinal entered the Love Island USA villa in June, she was a cardiac nurse-slash-model with 300,000 Instagram followers. A mere five weeks later, she exited the villa with $50,000, a cute nickname (Amaya Papaya) and a passionate following of 2.5 million that incited a frenzy of interest from Hollywood reps. Espinal soon announced she was signing with management firm Untitled Entertainment and talent agency Gersh.
These days, there’s a clear career playbook for anyone who blooms into an overnight internet sensation — and it usually starts with finding representation. While there are dozens of management shops that have sprouted around the country to help creators sort through brand deals and chart their professional path, today I’m focusing on the much smaller crop of Hollywood talent agencies hustling to find work for the top 1 percent of digital-first talent.
The talent agencies — always aggressive about moving into new businesses where they sense an opportunity to take their 10 percent commission and bigfoot smaller players — were quick to begin signing creator clients after YouTube’s 2005 launch paved the way for a new type of online star. The rise of TikTok created another opportunity for agencies to grab a foothold. Teenage phenom Charli D’Amelio chose UTA and parlayed her dancing videos into a Hulu reality show and Broadway ensemble role. Addison Rae went with WME and has since starred in a Netflix film and toured with Charli XCX. After Tareasa Johnson went viral for her 50-part “Who TF Did I Marry?” TikTok series, she signed with CAA, and her story is now being adapted into a TV series from Natasha Rothwell.
At first, digital wasn’t a huge money-maker, given that your average creator earns most of their income through a high volume of mid-sized brand deals. But those commission checks are starting to add up to a big business for the talent agencies, especially when you throw in the occasional $100 million podcast deal, multi-city live tour, sold-out merch drop or acting role. And what was once mostly considered a sideline to the overall agency business is moving into the spotlight as the entertainment industry contracts and lucrative film and TV deals become startlingly rare for anyone not named Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie or Ryan Coogler. I’ve written a few times this year about just how much money is moving into the creator economy, with big investment deals, creator media revenue growing at five times the rate of traditional media revenue and ad spending booming in the space (surpassing the money going to traditional entertainment).
In other words, if HBO made Entourage today, Ari Gold would be managing TikTok stars.
As the agency ecosystem has consolidated over the last decade, the number of options for talent of any kind has shrunk. Only four of the Hollywood talent agencies — UTA, CAA, WME and Gersh — have established major digital practices, and smaller players are sensing opportunity. Innovative Artists — fresh off a deal with Coral Tree Partners, which bought a minority stake in the agency this spring (financials were not disclosed) — has quietly started recruiting agents and clients to build out a digital group, sources familiar with the situation tell me.
Once Innovative gets its practice off the ground, that will make five Hollywood shops offering their services to creators — not a huge number, but enough to provide a range of choices for talent looking to super-charge their business. I spent the last few weeks querying nearly two dozen people who work in the creator economy — including managers, executives, lawyers, agency clients and creators — to assess and tell you about the latest intel on each of the major talent agencies and their strengths (and weaknesses) in working with digital-first clients. Best of all, I will name names of the agents who matter at each agency and the deals they have done.
For paid subscribers to Like & Suscribe only, I have the dish on:
UTA, CAA, WME & Gersh: Top clients, red flags, whispered gripes and the names you need to know at each (and who’s too aggressive for some)
Exactly which top creators are signed where and their agents
Connecting the dots: Which agencies put together those big headline-making deals
Old-school clout: The agencies that may still feel like they’re coasting on Hollywood history
Why creators need agents (or maybe don’t) as their brands and ambitions grow
Which agencies deliver success in which arenas — and how to vet the approach that will work for you
The rest of this column is for paid subscribers to Like & Subscribe, a standalone newsletter dedicated to the creator economy from Ankler Media. Click here or on the button below to access the full story.
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