How Creators Took Over Hollywood and the Talent Agency Business w/ Darnell Strom - Hot Girl Finance | Lyssna här

What does a talent agent actually do for their 10%? Why are creators and brands now sitting in the top ten earners at one of the biggest agencies in the world, next to the actors and the athletes? And why does the man who runs UTA in Europe tell his clients that a brand coming to them directly is a brand planning to undercut them?

Darnell Strom is Head of UTA Europe, the agent behind Malala Yousafzai, Michaela Coel, Jon Batiste and Karlie Kloss. He walks Poppy through how the money actually moves in the talent business, from the $30 million guarantees of the 90s and early 2000s to the equity deals being written for talent now, and what that teaches anyone negotiating their own worth without an agent in the room.

In this episode:

◼️ Why UTA signed YouTubers 20 years ago while rival agencies laughed, and who is scrambling now

◼️ Why TV and film went from 85% of UTA's business to under half in 15 years

◼️ How the definition of talent expanded to anyone with a platform and a following

◼️ Why creators and brands now sit in the top ten earners next to the actors and the athletes

◼️ What a brand is really doing when it comes to you directly instead of your agent

◼️ Why giving up 10% beats getting paid 50% less on a deal you negotiated yourself

◼️ Why the data on your own audience is the leverage you cannot get on your own

◼️ Why a creator's recommendation converts like a friend's, and what that is worth to a brand

◼️ Whether to stay the expert in one thing or expand, and how to expand without losing the audience

◼️ The film made with AI tools for $750,000 that reached cinemas because the audience asked