Podcasts and streaming command major deals
WME's Ben Davis negotiated an unusual arrangement for Jay Shetty's On Purpose: joint exclusive rights for Netflix and Spotify. Announced May 27, the multiyear agreement was worth about $100 million, according to a source cited by Variety. Three other companies had submitted bids in the nine-figure range.
The agreement took full-length video episodes off YouTube beginning July 13 and placed them on Netflix and Spotify. Spotify also handles global advertising sales for the show, while audio episodes remain available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
At Weinstein Senior, Tara Senior and Todd Weinstein served as MrBeast's lead counsel on deals for the second and third seasons of Amazon Prime Video's Beast Games. Each season carries a budget exceeding $100 million.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, reached 500 million YouTube subscribers on June 12, becoming the first individual creator to do so, according to the YouTube Official Blog. He had taken the lead among individual creators in November 2022 and among all channels in June 2024. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan marked the milestone by presenting him with a custom 500M Play Button, NDTV reported.
CAA builds a creator-business investment vehicle
CAA and TPG's Integrated Media Company launched Compound Creative Holdings in June with $250 million to acquire, operate and expand creator-economy businesses. Tucker Brown leads the company as managing partner, according to TheWrap via Yahoo Finance.
The venture's executive committee brings together Kevin Huvane, Jim Burtson and Maya Ho from CAA and Jon Miller, Ori Winitzer and Ben Loffredo from IMC. Andrew Graham, an agent at CAA Creators, and Adam Goldstein, a CAA strategic development executive, advise the company.
At the launch, the partners put the global creator economy's value above $250 billion and projected that it would exceed $1.25 trillion by 2035. They linked that forecast to creators moving beyond advertising revenue into equity ownership and structured financing.
CAA Creators remains under senior leader Brent Weinstein and represents more than 300 digital creators. The agency's signings over the past year include Rhett + Link, Valkyrae, Stokes Twins, Nara Smith and Reece Feldman.
Financing and ownership at Unwell
Alex Cooper's business now extends beyond Call Her Daddy to the Unwell Network, a growing film slate, live events, touring and major brand partnerships. Weintraub Tobin lawyer Shaun Gordon has advised Cooper through that expansion, including the podcast's distribution relationship with SiriusXM.
Unwell secured its first outside investment at a reported $500 million pre-money valuation. The August 12 announcement identified the investor as WTSL, led by former Endeavor executive Patrick Whitesell and Jason Lublin, Axios reported. Whitesell founded the firm in 2024 with backing from Silver Lake.
The investment amount was not disclosed. Cooper and co-founder Matt Kaplan retain majority ownership of Unwell, which they launched in 2023 under the holding company Trending.
Sidley Austin's Matt Thompson handled transactional work for Unwell, including the outside financing, a multiyear Google partnership and an agreement with Nestlé to co-own the Unwell hydration brand. Elsewhere in creator-owned media, Senior and Weinstein serve as lead counsel to Dhar Mann Studios, where Mann retains full creative ownership and independence.
From online audiences to theaters and television
Mark Fischbach, known as Markiplier, took a different route into entertainment with his self-financed, $3 million film Iron Lung. Represented by Hansen Jacobson's Adam Kaller and Ryan Pastorek, he urged fans to call theaters and request screenings. The film went on to net $50 million worldwide.
The fan campaign expanded an initial plan for 60 theaters into a January 30 opening at 4,161 locations worldwide, according to the film's Wikipedia entry. A digital release followed on YouTube Movies on May 31. YouTube agreed to make Fischbach an aggregator, allowing him to retain control over distribution.
UTA Creators and its in-house Digital Brand Architects also represent Markiplier, alongside Kareem Rahma, Colin and Samir and Olandria Carthen. Their work this year included placing shows on Netflix's new video podcast slate, arranging the MrBeast-James Patterson novel collaboration and securing Alix Earle's Netflix series Earle Meets World.
On Broadway, Gersh's digital representatives helped Ariana Madix, Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas deliver record-breaking runs in Chicago. Consumer products offered another avenue: Palette founders Daniel Daks and Josh DeAngelis represent Roblox creator Lana Rae, whose product line generated more than $20 million in retail sales over the past five months.
Night expanded its own business by acquiring experiential marketing company Experiential Supply Co. Its representatives also built out client ventures, with David Huntzinger launching Hasan Piker's merchandise line.
Specialists in AI, sports and educational content
AI-focused creators brought new work to talent representatives. Underscore's Dylan Flinn secured one of the early celebrity likeness agreements with HiggsfieldAI. Rakugo Media, led by Douglas Pinsky and Jake Williams, exceeded $50 million in gross partnership revenue in 2026 as brands showed greater interest in AI creators. The pair also sold Roberto Nickson's Life With Claude series to Anthropic.
Sports representation expanded across several firms. Sixteenth built a sports division, Select launched Select Sports, and Outshine Talent grew its roster of internet-famous baseball players.
Smooth Media, founded by former Morning Brew executives, has built a rapidly growing management business around knowledge creators. Its work includes campaigns for Anthropic, Notion, Microsoft, Ramp, Canva and Google.
