Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
Lori Arias, Georgia Berger and Matt Teng Select Management Group These three managers have a knack for growing brands: In 2020, Arias orchestrated a partnership between Sarah Cheung and incubator Gloss Ventures to launch SACHEU Beauty. Berger sold TikToker Eli Rallo’s fiction debut, I Hope Eden Reads This, which releases next month. Teng signed My Sister’s Skin, two sisters who focus on mature skin, when they had just a few thousand followers. They now have over 100,000. Eyal Baumel Flywheel This CEO makes sure top creators aren’t missing out on opportunities, especially in China. He oversees Jimmy Donaldson’s, aka MrBeast’s, business there, while expanding the brand of family creators Jordan and Salish Matter, who have over 55 million followers across platforms. Baumel also launched a supplement called Molo for expectant mothers with influencer Rebecca Zamolo, now at Walmart. Ali Berman, Oren Rosenbaum, Matt Alsberg and Ty Flynn UTA Division co-heads Berman and Rosenbaum have built an A-list roster with YouTube powerhouse Emma Chamberlain, who debuted a successful coffee brand and Warby Parker collab; Alix Earle; and Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy. Rosenbaum has been the go-to for podcasters like Alex Cooper, while TikTok comic Veronika Slowikowska was just cast on SNL. Flynn helped Morgan Riddle land deals with the Tennis Channel and the NFL, while Alsberg signed Kai Cenat early on and works with major Black lifestyle creators on Twitch like Fanum and Duke Dennis. Rick Bhatia and Megan Frantz Sixteenth/Whalar Group Bhatia was behind the launch of TikTok pop-culture expert Coco Mocoe’s Middle Row talk show and landed YouTuber Nicole Rafiee a six-figure ambassadorship with NOCD while growing her Chronically Online Girl series into a YouTube franchise. Also a partner, Frantz has built a top-tier roster of culinary creators, securing a Simon & Schuster deal for Edith Galvez’s debut cookbook and launching Emmanuel Duverneau’s apron collab with Hedley & Bennett. Dana Commandatore Commandatore After more than a decade in advertising, the agency founder hopped to conservative media brand The Daily Wire, where she helped make right-leaning influencers like Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens into household names. Now, she manages Brett Cooper, 23, one of the fastest-growing conservative stars on YouTube. Daniel Daks and Josh DeAngelis Palette When Kamala Harris’ campaign was looking for liberal-leaning creators, Palette was at the top of the list. The political powerhouse manages V Spehar, aka Under the Desk News, and Garrison Hayes, who recently collaborated with Barack Obama. In between running from NYC to the White House, the duo also have negotiated creator partnerships with Paramount, McDonald’s, Amazon, Grubhub and Netflix. Ben Davis, Jad Dayeh, Richard “Shibby” Webb and Alexandra Devlin WME WME’s team has surpassed $750 million in podcast deals, and co-head Davis’ roster includes YouTube megastars such as Hot Ones’ Sean Evans, techie Marques Brownlee and vlogger Casey Neistat. Dayeh, also co-head, launched YouTuber Mark Rober’s TV channel on Samsung TV Plus and facilitated Jay Shetty’s sold-out North American tour. Agent Webb secured hosting roles for Pokimane and Ludwig with snack brand Takis’ Super Bowl livestream. And agent Devlin landed Addison Rae a Super Bowl ad and podcaster Paige DeSorbo a Dunkin Donuts partnership, which resulting in billions of impressions. Kai Gayoso and Eman Redwan Range Media Gayoso and Redwan, who co-run the digital team, are behind Twitch star Valkyrae, Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and Kamie Crawford of Catfish. Range has a new division called Awareness Creation, aimed at targeting younger audiences for brands, and also will be helping clients like Warner Bros. and Applebee’s go viral. Yoni Ginsberg Loaded The vp talent strategy oversees career planning at Twitch and gaming creators Tarik Çelik, Disguised Toast, iiTzTimmy and TheBurntPeanut. He negotiated Twitch star Ninja’s switch to Mixer for a reported eye-popping $20 million to $30 million annually, then back to Twitch in 2020. He now helps oversee Çelik’s relationship with Riot Games, which includes on-site co-streaming at major esports events. Greg Goodfried Dam Good Management In just two short years, Goodfried, ex-head of digital at UTA, transformed Charli D’Amelio, one of the most followed TikTokers, into a multifaceted entertainer who debuted on Broadway this year with & Juliet and is the face of campaigns with CeraVe, Prada, Red Bull and Kate Spade. D’Amelio also appeared in Apple TV+’s The Studio. Michael Gordon, David Huntzinger and John Nelson Night Night helped take MrBeast from a no-name kid in North Caroline to the most followed creator on YouTube. Nelson has facilitated Kai Cenat’s rise as he breaks Twitch record after record, launching his personal-care brand Tone. Gordon helped transform The Rizzler, a jolly 9-year-old, into this generation’s Shirley Temple. Meanwhile, Huntzinger has guided Hasan Piker to becoming the most relevant left-leaning creator for young people. Hannah Haarala Jones, Dan Levitt and Marcela Woessner Wasserman Jones has scaled up the creators division from 17 employees to more than 70 in just two years. In 2024, Wasserman bought Dan Levitt’s Long Haul Management, and the exec has since orchestrated a groundbreaking deal where MMG, the top Madden and NCAA football gamer, became the first YouTuber to formally partner with the NFL. VP Woessner has facilitated live events for her creators, bringing in seven-figure sponsorships for Tianna Robillard’s Tianna’s Night Out and podcaster Jenna Palek’s sold-out Barre to Brunch tour. Seth Jacobs Brillstein Entertainment Partners A former startup exec, Jacobs was hired by Brillstein in 2017 and has since landed major distribution deals and brand partnerships for digital talent. Among his clients are Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart, hosts of Morbid, a top true-crime podcast, Sheena Melwani, host of Sheena Interrupted, and Sabrina Deana-Roga and Corinne Vien, hosts of Two Girls One Ghost. Barbara Jones Outshine Talent Group Jones discovered Charli D’Amelio back when the TikTok star was just a young girl doing dances in her room in Connecticut. Jones played a formative role in building the Hype House and has since helped other creators make their mark, including 26-year-old Mitchell Halliday, whose beauty brand Made by Mitchell made $1 million on TikTok in 12 hours after its launch. Zach Katz and Jason Wilhelm Fixated Wilhelm cut his teeth as a creator himself, eventually teaming up with Katz, former COO of gaming collective FaZe Clan, to manage over a dozen creators including YouTuber Funny Mike and Twitch streamer Sketch. In March, they secured $12.8 million in funding to help creators build out their businesses. Ryan Linden Viral Nation With more than 16 million YouTube subscribers, the McCartys are a family vlogging phenom, and Linden has helped them negotiate multiple six-figure brand partnerships. Linden also orchestrated their Halloween special and merch line. Petar Mandich ADDITION Talent Management Justine Ezarik, aka iJustine, has had a major year, from serving as a co-host at CES to working with blue-chip companies like Microsoft, John Deere, AT&T, Google and Tiffany & Co. Mandich also manages Ahmad Alzahabi, known as The Golden Balance, a Syrian American chef-creator who landed deals with Kroger, the NFL and Ninja Kitchen. Maxwell Mitcheson, Noah Swimmer, Kyle Stevens and Chris Burns Underscore Stevens and Burns, who co-lead the comedy division, closed comic creator Kareem Rahma’s multivideo partnership with UPS. Mitcheson has taken Noah Beck from a TikTok teen to a style icon, partnering with Tommy Hilfiger and La Roche-Posay. Swimmer, leading the culinary division, secured the launch of cooking influencer Jocelyn Adams’ bakery brand in more than 650 Walmart stores. Raina Penchansky DBA Fifteen years ago, Penchansky founded Digital Brand Architects, one of the first creator management firms. Since then, DBA has signed hundreds of clients across fashion and lifestyle and overseen the growth of makeup maven Patrick Starrr and TikTok beauty guru Mikayla Nogueira. Penchansky also co-founded top podcast network Dear Media in 2018, pioneering the video podcast format that dominates YouTube today. Leanne Perice Made by All Perice manages huge creators from Dhar Mann, with more than 144 million collective followers, to Devon Rodriguez, with 65 million collective followers. She’s closed more than $100 million in deals for her comedy creators (Hannah Stocking, Adam Rose, Amanda McCants, Josh Peck). Her clients have hosted red carpets at the Oscars, Met Gala and Grammys and collaborated with Paramount, Procter & Gamble, Old Spice and T-Mobile. Nate Ruff and Brian Sokolik Odd Projects Sokolik has helped Alex Warren transform from a TikTok kid to a full-fledged pop star, performing with Ed Sheeran and racking up millions of plays on Spotify. Ruff, his partner, works with popular alternative YouTubers Jarvis Johnson and Eddy Burback, known for their witty commentary and dedicated followings. John Shahidi Full Send Corp. Shahidi has been a mainstay in creator management since Vine. After transforming his Vine clients into YouTube superstars, he began managing pranksters the Nelk Boys, their mega-successful Happy Dad beverage brand and their political work advocating for Trump during last year’s election. Larry Shapiro The Creator Society As the conversation around family vlogging has heated up online, Shapiro has helped Shari and Chad Franke remain at the forefront of the discussion. The two are children of Ruby Franke, the prominent vlogger arrested last year for child abuse. Shapiro has helped them tell their own stories, brokering a deal for Shari’s New York Times best-selling memoir, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom. Jade Sherman and Rebecca Rusheen Gersh Sherman leads the division following Gersh’s acquisition of A3 Artists Agency’s digital department. She helped Ariana Madix capitalize on the attention around the Scandoval season of Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules and also works with YouTube behemoths Smosh. Rusheen works with TikTok star turned red carpet interview master Reece Feldman, who made his filmmaker debut with the short Wait, Your Car? at Cannes this year. Brent Weinstein, David Freeman, Lydia Fotiadou and Avi Wasserman CAA CAA made a big splash hiring veteran exec Weinstein, who built UTA into a digital powerhouse and pioneered the business models countless creators rely on today. He’s already shaking things up at CAA along with digital media head Freeman and agents Fotiadou and Wasserman. Fotiadou signed Trisha Paytas in 2024, as her first talent rep in nearly 20 years, while Wasserman transformed YouTuber Amelia Dimoldenberg into a global superstar through her Chicken Shop Date interview series.
