Underscore Talent Announces New Hires and Promotions as Company Accelerates Multi-Division Growth For 2026

LOS ANGELES — Underscore Talent has announced a new slate of hires and promotions, marking the company’s continued momentum into 2026 as it scales into a layered, multi-division management company built for the modern digital entertainment economy. The moves reflect Underscore’s commitment to developing leadership from within while strategically expanding its executive bench to support talent across entertainment, sports, culture, and emerging media.

Over the past year, Underscore executed 20 internal promotions and welcomed 44 new hires, including 11 new talent managers, 6 senior leaders, and over 20 support staff across departments to bolster its expanding services. “These promotions reflect the way we’re building Underscore, by investing deeply in our people and giving them room to grow into leaders,” said Dan Weinstein, Co-CEO of Underscore Talent. “As our creators’ careers become more complex and ambitious, it’s critical that our team grows with them. Developing talent from within, alongside bringing in new leaders, is what allows us to move faster and think bigger.”

Collectively, these promotions and hires reflect a broader industry shift heading into 2026: creator management has moved beyond one-off brand deals into long-term career architecture, IP development, and cross-platform media strategy. Recently, Underscore Talent released their first-ever Creator Economy Trends & Predictions Report for 2026 to map out how creators, brands and other major players can navigate an increasingly complex ecosystem as the creator economy continues to grow. 

The hires and promotions span Underscore Talent’s growing roster of verticals, including Sports & Outdoors, Comedy, Culinary, Podcasting, Entertainment, Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle, Gaming, as well as the company’s Brand Marketing and Shared Services divisions. The company also recently launched a new talent division dedicated to creators operating in the rapidly growing AI space.

Included is Shorthand Studios, its recently launched content and strategy company, which has added new team members to support its work with creators, public personalities, publishers, and IP holders focused on scalable, multiplatform growth.

Full list of promotions and hires listed below.

Promotions

Mallory Llewellyn - Partner, Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle

Nadi Filsoof - Partner, Entertainment

Senior Leadership

Kyle Stevens - Senior Director of Talent & Co-Head of Comedy

Chris Burns - Senior Director of Talent & Co-Head of Comedy

Cristina Fernandez - Senior Director of Talent

Sam Schoenberg - Senior Director of Talent, Entertainment

Frankie Ray - Senior Director of Talent, Entertainment

Director-Level

Zach Cole - Director of Talent, Entertainment

Athena Nash - Director of Talent, Culinary

Nick Schlegel- Director of Talent, Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle

Manager-Level

Claire Mink - Talent Manager, Culinary

Chaisten France - Talent Manager, Entertainment

Larissa Thorold - Talent Manager, Sports

Megan Valdez -Talent Manager, Entertainment

Mandie Meier - Talent Manager, Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle

Brand Partnerships

Adrienne Gao - Brand Partnerships Manager

Virginia Dodenhoff - Brand Partnerships, Sports

Hires

Leadership Additions

Kyle Singles - Talent Partnerships Director, Shorthand Studios

Lisa Bossman - Director of Brand Partnerships & Endorsements, Sports

Emily Salerno - Director, Campaign Management

Zack Evans - VP, Creative Strategy, Shorthand StudiosScott Rowe - Operations Manager, FAST

Joshua Fasold - Senior Account Manager

Talent Managers

Sachi Ezura - Comedy

Andrew Topel -  Comedy

Polly Auritt - Culinary

Chris Motyl - Entertainment

Zachary Cole - Entertainment

Neville King - Sports

Molly Werner - Entertainment

Dylan Flinn - AI

Steph Lechman - Gaming

Lloyd Tyler - Entertainment

Kieran John - Gaming

Eric Schulman - Entertainment

About Underscore Talent

Underscore Talent, a division of TheSoul Publishing, is the leading next-generation talent management firm known for its successful and diverse creative clients. Launched in 2021, the company represents an extensive list of the top global YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, Snapchat, gaming, and podcast content creators. Led by entertainment industry veterans Reza Izad and Dan Weinstein, Underscore’s team assists their roster of creators in leveraging cultural relevance and audience connection to build long-lasting and lucrative careers. 

Recently, Underscore Talent launched Shorthand Studios, a cutting-edge digital production and distribution company. 

For more information, visit underscoretalent.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.