WME Launches Creator Labs as Clients Own Distribution

WME has launched Creator Labs, an in-house unit helping clients run YouTube channels as media businesses.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, WME is unveiling Creator Labs, an in-house digital operations team inside the agency's Digital Division that helps creators, podcasters and other clients build and scale media businesses on YouTube and elsewhere, covering channel management, content syndication and more. Net Influencer reports the same move, adding that WME has made a strategic investment in video strategy and operations company Astra Media, which has powered projects for clients including Khloé Kardashian and Kevin Hart, and has expanded its creator sales team under Doreen Dinour to chase brand sponsorships. Joanne Lee, who joined WME in 2024 after leadership roles at Meta, YouTube and Sony Pictures, leads Creator Labs.

The surprising part is the reversal in what an agency is for. Ben Davis, co-head of WME's digital group, said in both outlets' reporting: "Our clients now own their distribution, so how does the role of an agent change." Jad Dayeh, his co-head, framed it as a response to a marketplace where, per The Hollywood Reporter, "YouTube has in many ways deconstructed all the different pieces that you have in what historically was a network or distribution operation and put that in the hands of the creator." Dayeh said the team works from ideation through posting, scheduling and distribution to build a subscriber base — without clients staffing their own production companies.

The evidence comes from marquee early clients. The Hollywood Reporter reports that World Cup breakout Erling Haaland worked with the team to create his YouTube channel and attain sponsorships, and that Julian Shapiro-Barnum, creator of Recess Therapy and Celebrity Substitute, worked with WME to land multiple sponsorships for his new YouTube late-night show, Outside Tonight, celebrated at a New York event on Wednesday. Net Influencer confirms Shapiro-Barnum used WME's services for the late-night launch. The Hollywood Reporter adds that WME hired 11 people to support Creator Labs and Creator Sales, with 50 full-time employees and contractors working through Astra Media, and plans to expand the group.

Net Influencer places the move in a wider shift: in June, CAA and Integrated Media Company launched Compound Creative Holdings, a $250 million vehicle to acquire and operate creator-led media companies, separate from CAA's 300-plus-creator representation business. As Net Influencer frames it, agencies are treating creators less as talent to be booked and more as founders of standalone media enterprises needing capital, operations and infrastructure. For podcasters and YouTube creators, the consequence is that top representation now competes on operations and sponsorship sales, not just deal-making — and WME says the group will keep growing.