United Talent Agency’s Oren Rosenbaum got candid about the creator economy at TheWrap’s AI Creator Day Tuesday, detailing his agency’s early mistakes, how the Netflix podcasting partnership came to be and the entertainment industry’s growing embrace of creators.
The co-head of UTA Creator told TheWrap’s senior television reporter Kayla Cobb that the agency has been in the digital talent business for nearly 20 years. As the business has evolved, so has managing its expanded client roster. He acknowledged it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
“The beauty of UTA and our group specifically is we have 20 years of experience, and what I mean by that is you f–ked up so much sh-t early on,” he said at TheWrap’s AI Creator Day, part of the company’s annual Grill business conference. “The biggest unlock was we had this battle where you know YouTube and YouTube shows were lesser than and that’s not a conversation anymore.”
The comments come as creators have become a dominant force in entertainment, with brands, studios and streamers bending over backwards to woo the top personalities to their platforms. That dynamic has opened the opportunities for creators, which don’t all want the same thing.
Indeed, Rosenbaum’s biggest takeaway was that the creator economy and his approach to his client roster, including Alix Earle, Jake Shane, Mel Robbins, Markiplier and more, is there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Correspondingly, creator deals shouldn’t be struck based on monetary value but how well they match with the individual.
“We don’t look at it as just like, ‘Let’s get paid.’ We look at it as, ‘Does that brand stick with the creators and help that creator accomplish the goals?” he said, while adding a little shade: “I wish I could say this is about our competitors although I don’t think we have any.”
UTA has several creators on its roster whose podcasts now stream on Netflix, including “Therapuss with Jake Shane,” Stephanie Soo’s true crime show “The Rotten Files” and an “Untitled Harlan Coben Podcast.” Rosenbaum stated that his team reached out to Netflix and other streamers years ago to discuss licensing content.
“We were again laying the groundwork with streamers, and specifically with Netflix, mostly because you know Netflix is in a place where they are very innovative,” he said. “They have the biggest audience.”
Cobb asked how the podcasts were performing, but the agent did not reveal specific details but said that some are “doing incredibly,” even outpacing YouTube viewership. But he added the caveat that it depends on the podcast. He added that Netflix made the specific decision to invest in creator and podcasting content in the sports, true crime and pop culture buckets.
“Their best performing shows are doing incredibly well,” he added, remaining vague about viewership for these projects.
As for the growing relationship between creator and legacy media, Rosenbaum said there is much more trust in creators than ever before.
“[Creators] know the type of content their audience wants. They know the type of content that can transcend their audience and make sense on someone else’s platform,” he said.
He also added that the “traditional” partnerships extend beyond the studios and streamers. The agent shouted out SiriusXM and iHeart Radio, specifically, for their licensing, monetization and distribution support on the podcasting side.
The post UTA’s Rosenbaum on How They ‘F–ked Up so Much Sh-t Early On’ to Find Success for Creator Clients appeared first on TheWrap.
