Exclusive / New creator brand launches - Semafor

Megan Cunningham, an advertising industry veteran and founder of Magnet Media, is on Monday launching Magnet Originals, a brand to help established personalities grow their media empires and to incubate the next generation of stars. Former TikTok executive Dustin Goot and former Vice exec Subrata De are both joining in senior roles, alongside media operators  Alexandra Zaslow and Brannan Goetschius.

Magnet Originals will provide advice and production support for media personalities, including Justin Tranter, Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman, and former NBA star Byron Scott. It will also build on its own original franchises. The company said it is launching with a docuseries from the poet and critic Hanif Abdurraqib and a music show hosted by Billboard executive editor Lyndsey Havens, both co-produced with Live Nation, as well as Everyone Watches Women’s Sports, a show co-hosted by comedian Sam Jay, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, and broadcaster Ari Chambers.

The company is also hoping to build a business around training the next generation of creators. Its Top Creator Academy will offer courses and one-on-one consulting with professionals. Cunningham told Semafor that she saw the program growing into a seven-figure business on its own.

“Documentaries can’t count on distribution, and newsrooms keep closing because their business model is in jeopardy. … I was watching a generation of entrepreneurial, brilliant storytellers build podcasts, YouTube channels, and newsletters on sweat equity alone,” Cunningham said. “A consultancy would have reached a handful of clients at a time, and it didn’t excite me.”