UTA creator chiefs detail agency role in influencer businesses

United Talent Agency’s creator executives say top online personalities are increasingly being run as stand-alone media businesses. In a Decoder interview published by The Verge from the Cannes Lions advertising festival, Ali Berman and Raina Penchansky described a creator market that now stretches well beyond sponsored posts.

Berman and Penchansky run UTA’s Creators division, which The Verge said represents major online figures including Charli D’Amelio, Markiplier, Kai Cenat, Emma Chamberlain, Alex Cooper and Alix Earle. Berman said the division’s work reflects a broader change in entertainment, with creators building direct relationships with audiences and turning those audiences into multiple revenue streams.

Penchansky said creator representation now involves more than dealmaking with brands. She said creators often need support across content strategy, public perception, events, books, products and other projects that may sit outside their main social platforms.

Berman said many UTA clients now do more than endorsement deals. She said the agency helps coordinate opportunities across entertainment categories, using UTA specialists in different parts of the business.

From blogs to creator-led companies

Berman told Decoder host Nilay Patel that she is entering her 16th year at UTA after beginning her career at another agency. She said UTA’s early digital work was once a catchall for projects outside traditional film and television, and that she became interested in artists who were building communities directly online.

Penchansky said she co-founded Digital Brand Architects 16 years ago, before Instagram launched. She said the company grew out of work with fashion bloggers who were attracting audiences and asking how to price brand posts, lookbook appearances and fashion-show work.

UTA acquired Digital Brand Architects in 2019, Penchansky said. She said DBA now sits within UTA Creators, while she serves as DBA’s CEO and co-heads UTA Creators with Berman and Oren Rosenbaum.

Berman said UTA has been working in the creator field for 20 years. She said Rosenbaum built related work on the audio side, and that UTA also acquired companies including one in gaming and esports.

Agency and management roles blur

Penchansky said UTA keeps agency and management functions separate, while sharing some back-end services. She said the operation includes teams for brand partnerships, product development, data and analytics.

The model differs from a traditional Hollywood agency role, according to the executives. Instead of focusing only on a negotiated fee for a job, Penchansky said creator representatives may help shape a broader business plan around a creator’s audience.

Berman said some creators now require added business infrastructure, including teams that help think through profit-and-loss questions. She said some clients have in-house accounting when their businesses require it.

Penchansky said the work can include deciding whether a creator’s business should include physical products, events or television. She said UTA’s role is to connect a creator’s content and audience with commercial opportunities.

AI and platforms remain part of the discussion

The Verge said the interview also covered artificial intelligence and platform instability in the creator market. Patel described both as forces affecting the wider creator ecosystem.

Berman and Penchansky did not frame the platform issue as only a threat in the published introduction. The Verge said they discussed how creators and their representatives handle changing distribution, while also noting that UTA represents some VTubers.

The interview places UTA’s creator business inside a wider advertising shift visible at Cannes Lions, where creators have become central to brand discussions. Berman said 2026 feels like a moment when direct-to-audience creators have arrived across advertising and entertainment.

This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.