Inside Talent Management with Kyle Stevens and Tom Nercessian

*This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

In our latest edition of Inside Underscore, talent managers Kyle Stevens of the Entertainment department and Tom Nercessian of the Culinary department visited the studio to talk about trends, what creators are doing right (and wrong), and more.

Kyle Stevens, left. Tom Nercessian, right.

What are creators doing right?

Kyle: One thing that I see creators doing really right is being bold and taking risks in an authentic way. Authenticity more now than ever in a post-Covid world, really comes through and really shines, and that is your secret weapon because as a creator, no one can be you better than you can.

Tom: Absolutely.

Kyle: Another thing that I've been seeing creators do really well, is creating series from their content. So if you're a sketch comedian and you have a character that really works, like repeating that character and building out a backstory and a storyline for them. That's going to create a hardcore audience that wants to come back and revisit that character. You're also going to get brand outreach like, ‘oh, I love this person's mom character. I'd love to place a sponsorship with them’. It kind of creates a story format for your content.

Tom: Speaking of stories, one thing that I love seeing from creators is really, really good quality

storytelling, no matter what the format. It could be someone in the culinary space, or sports, or luxury lifestyle. Good storytelling persists no matter what you're doing.

Kyle: Absolutely.

Tom: And I think, like going back to your comment on like, authenticity, I think like

the digital landscape has changed. It used to be all aspirational, right? Iin the Instagram photo days it was like you're following these like very aspirational lifestyle [creators] and you didn't care about as much about their personality. Now, I think content is personality first and authenticity first.

What’s a common mistake you see creators making?

Tom: One mistake that I see creators making is once they've found a format that works, they don't always have the courage to deviate [from] that and try new things. The reality is that not everything you're going to do is going to go viral. It's not always going to get millions of views, but you have to have the courage to take risks and to evolve. Otherwise, social media moves so quickly, you're going to get left behind.

Kyle: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I think having one thing that works is great. Use that to get the eyes on your page and then experiment with other formats, experiment with other bits. And that's how you keep that long form like that long term audience like creation. Content creation is all about reinventing and staying relevant.

Kind of going off of that, one other mistake that I see a lot of creators make is like one platform is working for them, and so they get in their head like, ‘I'm a reels creator or I'm a TikTok creator’. Your content, especially if it's short form, should be cross posted across all platforms. So like you do a sketch video that should be on your YouTube shorts that on your TikTok, Snapchat X, meta, etcetera. That's how you kind of build a long form audience. I have clients that were posting on shorts for months, had no real growth, and then all of a sudden out of the blue, their shorts just took off and now YouTube is one of their largest platforms. And then you look at things like the TikTok ban that may or may not be happening, but if you put all of your eggs in that basket, you're in a really hard spot right now. It's kind of like being a stock investor or an investor and only investing in one stock, it's not a good strategy. 

How did you get into talent management?

Kyle: I went to film school. I thought I would be a filmmaker, a writer on set. I worked [on my] first film production. Hated the long days, realized that was not the method for me. 

I moved to LA. I didn't really know anyone. My first job, [I] kind of fell into a PR job. And I say it was like the best grad school I could have gotten because I learned everybody on it, like talent, teams, roles, I learned the breakdown of an industry. What happens after a film is released and, like, kind of like how much goes into, like, building a persona.

 From there, I worked a casting role for a little bit. And I kind of started to see, like the boom of digital, and that really interested me. And a friend of mine was like, ‘you should go into management’. So I kind of was at a different company and trying to figure out what type of talent I wanted to focus on. I thought about, like, what is the content that I consume and what do I like watching? And for me, I love sketch comedy. I love to laugh. I feel like most of the accounts I follow are just like out there, like bits. So I started leaning into the comedy world and I think, like, it's an exciting space because I really believe that the future of comedy is digital and like the biggest stars that we're going to see break in the next, you know, ten, five years to ten years are going to all come from, the digital landscape. And I think that we're just going to it's already happening a little bit, but we're just going to keep seeing that expand. And it's going to be more and more important to have a digital audience to sell tickets and to sell scripts. It's an interesting space. How about you? How did you get into this?

Tom: I got my start as a talent manager a couple of years ago. I was a TV exec, and I was working for a legendary Hollywood producer who won all these awards and had really successful shows on the air and ran a studio. And from the second week into my contract working with him, he said, Tom, you don't have a trust fund. You To make money to live. What are you doing in this industry? And the macro headwinds for traditional entertainment Just kept getting stronger. And it got so much harder to get projects off the ground. So it just didn't feel it was just unfulfilling. It didn't feel like the right fit for me anymore. And so the more I learned about the creator economy, the more I fell in love with it, especially the business side of things. And when I really ask myself, what is the most entrepreneurial thing that I want to do, that's not being a founder and not being a creator. It was managing talent and helping them get projects off the ground.

Kyle: And there's still a lot of creativity in this job as well. Like, just like working in a studio, you're still kind of in a development role, like helping someone organize their thoughts.

Tom: Absolutely. There's still a large amount of creativity working so closely with talent. And when we’re managers, we're not just deal junkies, we're truly partnering with them. So a significant part of the job is following the money. where the brand deals go. What are the kinds of formats that we need to be relevant for those deals? And so there's a lot of creative discussion that's constantly ongoing.

What’s the biggest mistake brands make when working with creators?

Kyle: The biggest mistake brands make when working with creators is hiring a creator for a specific style of content and then hitting them with a million talking points and giving them a really specific creative of what [they] want. That's kind of stifling the creativity and the tone of their content. I think when you're hiring a specific type of creator, you're trusting them to know what performs well with the audience. So giving them talking points and certain things they have to hit, of course, are fine. It's when you start cutting in my client's example, start cutting jokes or stepping on punchlines or asking for tons of re-edits. So that kind of removes the soul of the video. So that content isn't going to perform as well. And you really have to trust the creator to know what's going to perform well, and to come up with a concept that's going to work the best on their pages. You're going to get a better video that's going to perform way better for their audience. 

How do you have a successful client/manager relationship?

Tom: Outside of trust, which is built in the day to day of doing things correctly and showing up when you meant to, and this kind of thing. The most important thing when you're building a successful client manager relationship is sharing the same north star and having real clarity on the underlying why. Like why are you making content? Why am I a manager? What are the values that stemmed from that? Making sure that we're all aligned with the real bigger picture things really helps you set goals that are achievable. That makes sense that we can actually go

together and tackle together.

Kyle: That's exactly right. And I think also there's a level of like both being human beings I think is really important in a manager client relationship. Like there has to be mutual respect and mutual trust. And I think that that's really important, like knowing what's maybe happening in your client's life, and being mindful and empathetic towards them. This is often a really overwhelming industry. There's a lot of eyes on you. And kind of having a similar understanding about, like, what their wants are and what their goals are and what is important to them. Whether that's, you know, I have clients that like, they would feel very uncomfortable going to a premier or an event like that's not their goal in this industry.I have clients that like, would never want to go up on stage. I have clients that that's all they want to do and that's their final goal. And like having an understanding of where people's lines are, what people are open to, is just going to make a way easier relationship. And that comes with having a personal relationship with somebody outside of just email or text. You have to call them. You have to hop on a zoom, you have to go to lunch. Sometimes.

What’s a trend you’ve been seeing in influencer marketing that you want to see more of?

Kyle: I think a trend that I've been seeing, in influencer marketing that I really want to see more of is when brands actually buy into a talent's existing format. I work with Subway Takes as a client. We've been getting a lot of brand interest and the best and most successful campaigns that we have done are when brands understand the format and are okay, kind of like keeping it broad, buying in, and that video will perform way higher. That's the same goes for my character comedians like having a if they have a bit that's working really well, having a brand that wants to buy into that and make the product or to try it, finding a brand that wants to buy into that and make the product work with the style of content. I think a great example of this is; I have a client, Zachary Importer, and he has this hilarious, like, New Jersey mom character. She's a little boozy, a little rough around the edges. We had a wine company, reach out and do multiple videos where she's featuring the wine and doing her existing content, holding the wine. And those videos did so well. But I also think it was funny for audiences to see that it was a brand deal. And like a lot of the comments were kind of like hyping up the brand, like, oh, this is so funny that you bought into this. When brands are a little bit self-aware, [are] always the best campaigns.

Tom: Couldn't agree more. And it's so much fun seeing branded content like that. 

Kyle: Or when you watch something you're like what's that branded? And then you like look into the ad,you know, like, oh my gosh, I wouldn't even know that that's branded, that's so funny that that brand has self-awareness. 

Tom: Or when it's so overtly being branded that it's done tongue in cheek, that can be a lot of fun.

Kyle: Yes, that's the other one. I think that the opposite of it is like taking somebody and doing like a really obvious branded bid that's so over-the-top and ridiculous, can be funny too. I think it's like the two extremes are sometimes funny in marketing.

Tom: One trend that I’m interested in seeing play out is seeing venture capital and private equity starting to take really high conviction bets on individual creators and so they can invest in the creator. The creator can take that money, build out of teams, scale up their operation, but then also start taking some risk. And like building products or starting services that the community that they've fostered are interested in buying.

Kyle: Yeah, I think one like brands building long term relationships with clients is so valuable. Especially because then you start seeing audiences in the comments or to associate a creator with a certain brand and I think that that's really cool to see when that happens.

Tom: Yeah, this is nothing new, but we're definitely going to see more and more of it as time goes on. As the creator economy continues to expand, we're going to see more equity deals for creators.

Kyle: Absolutely. I also wonder if, like, there will be a shift into doing like, like who's going to be like the Flo from Progressive on TikTok? You know, like, how are we going to create these, you know, creators that we associate with a specific brand? Maybe they have their own content, but they kind of are constantly doing content for a specific brand. I think that would be really interesting too.

Tom: Well, my bold prediction for 2026 is that Zachariah Porter's mom character is going to be the next Flo from progressive. 

Kyle: We hope. Progressive. Give us a call.

What makes Underscore Talent different from other management companies?

Kyle: I think underscore is such a great company and just continuing to grow. And I think one of the reasons that, like if I was a creator, I would want to be at a company like underscore is just because of how much the leadership at this company listens. And when there's a need, they meet us with what we need. 

I think a great example of that is, I have a lot of comedic talent that want to tour and want to, act and pursue, like, more traditional opportunities. And that's something that over the last year, Dan and Reza really prioritized hiring managers that came from that traditional comedy space that have come from casting or, the tour to our booking space. And kind of having that expertise. I also just think, like the vertical position of the company is so, so valuable. If I have a client that wants to do a beauty campaign, we have an entire team of people that are literally experts in that space that I can reach out to and ask, like, what strategy should this person be implementing to get noticed by Laneige? And our sales team is just like the absolute best, like that we have built out such a strong infrastructure and relationships with brands. I feel like if I want to get in touch with a brand, they have the contact and have a. that being at other companies like that is just not the case [in] other places. 

Tom: Yeah, every month we're hiring new people. We're meeting new people. And it's like a brain trust. I'm in the culinary department and we share so much information and we make each other better, and we fill each other's blind spots so well that I don't know that I'd want to do this job without that level of support, because it's such an unfair advantage.