William Morris Endeavor has signed digital studio Portal A with the goal of bringing the company’s slate of more than 40 projects to TV, digital and brand buyers.
Portal A was founded in 2008 by Kai Hasson, Nate Houghteling and Zach Blume to develop, produce and distribute programming designed for digital but with an eye for television. One of their early shows, White Collar Brawler, was part of the programming slate for the launch of the Esquire network in 2013. In the years that followed, they placed an emphasis on creating branded content for clients such as Google and L’Oreal.
The company, which has 30 employees split between offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, hired Electus veteran Evan Bregman in 2014 to spearhead a new push into original content and is now currently in production on an original series starring YouTube music group The Gregory Brothers in partnership with Maker Studios and Disney.
“Portal A has built a reputation as a leader in original and branded digital content, and we’ve always punched above our weight as an independent studio,” said Bregman. “Having WME in our corner immediately expands our influence and ability to bring our original projects to market across both television and digital.”
Portal A is also known for producing YouTube’s annual Rewind video, which features a recap of the year’s most popular videos.
