Signed: Conversations with Digital Mavericks

Hank Green: 30 Years on the Internet, the Algorithm, and the Art of Making Things (Part 2)

In Part 2 of this conversation, Anita sits back down with Hank Green to pick up where they left off, and the conversation gets more personal, more urgent, and more honest than ever. They start with the platforms. Hank has a clear-eyed view of why the algorithm puts us in silos: it's not because the technology is bad. It's because the technology is very, very good at keeping us watching. The problem isn't incompetence. It's incentives. And Hank isn't sure the platforms are going to fix it, but he does think people will eventually change, the way they did during the yellow journalism era of Hearst and Pulitzer. Newsrooms that once competed on salience eventually had to compete on credibility. He thinks something similar has to happen now. He just can't work out exactly how. From there, the conversation turns to X, and what it has become. Hank goes there to check on cancer drug research and ends up scrolling past videos of people dying. That's not a platform problem anymore. That's something else. And then: the cancer diagnosis. In 2023, Hank was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and shared his journey publicly. He talks honestly about his first reaction (annoyance that he didn't get a choice), and how he made peace with it by realizing he actually wanted to talk about it because he cared about his audience. He also talks about the moment he stopped being afraid and started getting curious. He was taking four different chemo drugs simultaneously, each with its own discovery story. One of them can only be made from Madagascar periwinkles. Science, he says, is just cool. The conversation closes with AI: how he uses it, how he doesn't, why he hates that it gives opinions, and the AI flattery moment that made him want to put his laptop through a wall. Plus a lightning round that includes his worst internet take ever, what he would say to the algorithm if it were a person, and the retirement of 6-7. Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client. Produced by Anita Sharma and Phoebe Dunn.  Edited by Carmine Mattia.  Social Media Strategy by Maureen Lloren Sedlak.  Signed Theme Music by Carmine Mattia.

Hank Green: 30 Years on the Internet, the Algorithm, and the Art of Making Things (Part 1)

Hank Green has been building on the internet since before most people knew what it was. He co-created Vlogbrothers, co-founded VidCon, co-founded Complexly (home to Crash Course and SciShow), and has spent nearly 30 years figuring out how to turn curiosity into something scalable, sustainable, and genuinely meaningful. He is, by any measure, one of the architects of the modern creator economy. And in this conversation, he is remarkably honest about what that means. In Part 1 of this episode, Anita sits down with Hank to talk about what the internet looks like after nearly three decades of building on it, and what it has cost. When Hank started, there was no money to make and no status to chase. Collaboration was easy because there was nothing to lose. Now, he says, everyone has become islands. The scene that once felt open and weird and creative has collapsed a little under the weight of its own value. That's not entirely a bad thing, but it is a real thing. From there, the conversation moves into the mechanics of what it actually takes to break through as a creator today. Hank's answer is honest to the point of being uncomfortable: raw exceptional talent, ungodly luck, or a kind of ruthlessness. Often some combination of all three. He shares the piece of advice nobody gives - watch content outside your genre, or you'll look exactly like everyone else in it - and makes the case that the most important decision a creator makes isn't the title or the thumbnail. It's the topic. Hank and Anita also dig into the difference between platforms that treat creators like business partners and platforms that run like casinos, why storytelling is the only reliable way to keep people watching, and what it means to be authentic when the algorithm is only rewarding certain kinds of authenticity. Hank's take: the algorithm is just the weather. Complaining about it is like being surprised it rained. This is a conversation about creativity, longevity, and what happens to an industry when it grows up. Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client. FOLLOW HANK GREEN YouTube: @HankGreen YouTube (Vlogbrothers): @vlogbrothers YouTube (Complexly): @Complexly Instagram: @hankgreen TikTok: @hankgreen X: @hankgreen  FOLLOW SIGNED Instagram: @signedthepodcast TikTok: @signedthepodcast LinkedIn: Anita Sharma YouTube: @signedthepodcast Listen everywhere you get your podcasts Produced by Anita Sharma and Phoebe Dunn.  Edited by Carmine Mattia.  Social Media Strategy by Maureen Lauren Sedlak.  Signed Theme Music by Carmine Mattia.

Victoria Bachan & Rana Zand: OGs of the Creator Economy (Part 2)

In Part 2 of this conversation, Anita sits back down with Victoria Bachan, SVP of Creators at Wasserman, and Rana Zand, Partner in Digital at Range Media Partners, to get into the nuts and bolts of what it actually takes to build a lasting career as a creator today. The conversation opens with a question creators and their teams are always asking: what actually gives you leverage at the negotiating table? Victoria and Rana don't sugarcoat it. Professionalism matters. The creators who treat their business like a business, show up to deadlines, build real relationships with brands, and never stop generating ideas, are the ones whose careers compound. Having had a job before becoming a creator, they agree, gives people a leg up that's hard to replicate any other way. From there, Anita, Victoria, and Rana dig into where the deal market is heading. One-off brand deals are giving way to longer-term, multi-layered partnerships, the kind where a single piece of content gets rolled out across paid media, digital out-of-home, point of sale, and beyond. The profit margin on deals structured that way, Victoria explains, can be substantial for talent who understand what they're actually signing. And as traditional entertainment turns its attention to the creator space, the deals are only getting more complex. The conversation also turns to the long-form vs. short-form debate, the emotional demands of talent representation that rarely get talked about publicly, and what Victoria and Rana would be doing if they hadn't built careers in this industry. The episode closes with a lightning round, and a final realization that the three women at this table are all first-generation Americans who helped build this industry from the ground up. Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client. Credits:  Produced by Anita Sharma and Phoebe Dunn Edited by Carmine Mattia Social Media Strategy by Maureen Lauren Sedlak Signed Theme Music by Carmine Mattia Follow us on socials: @signedthepodcast

Victoria Bachan & Rana Zand: OGs of the Creator Economy (Part 1)

Before the creator economy had a name, these two were already building it. This week, Anita Sharma sits down with two of the most respected women in creator representation, Rana Zand, Partner at Range Media Partners, and Victoria Bachan, SVP of Creators at Wasserman. These are Anita's colleagues, her friends, and her fellow OGs in a business they all joined before anyone knew what to call it. In Part 1, Victoria and Rana take us back to the beginning, from Victoria's summers on the Vans Warped Tour and her accidental start managing Doug the Pug, to Rana's early days in the WME mailroom staring down a seven-year promotion timeline and deciding to bet on digital instead. Together, they trace the evolution of an industry that went from "begging people to care" to becoming the most talked-about sector in entertainment. The conversation gets into the real business of creator management: what makes them want to sign someone, why a strong POV matters more than follower count, and how they think about building careers that could survive if TikTok disappeared tomorrow. Victoria breaks down the difference between an agent and a manager using a corporate org chart analogy, while Rana offers the quarterback and football version. Both land perfectly. They also get into the art of having hard conversations with clients about evolving their content, why burnout is a real and constant concern, and how Victoria once told a client posting eight times a day that her business model was not going to last, and why that was the wake-up call the creator needed to start treating content like a career. Part 2 coming next Thursday. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss it. Follow Signed socials: @signedthepodcast Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client. Credits:  Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn  Edited by: Carmine Mattia  Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lauren Sedlak  Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

Behind the Contracts: An Entertainment Lawyer's Guide to the Creator Economy

In this special solo episode, Anita Sharma flips the script on Signed: Conversations with Digital Mavericks. Instead of interviewing guests, she's answering the top 10 questions she gets about entertainment law, working with creators, and building a practice in the digital media space. Anita opens up about her unconventional path to entertainment law, from that lightbulb moment seeing "production legal" in movie credits during law school, to leaving a big law firm in New York, actually quitting law altogether to attend film school, becoming a producer, and eventually founding her own practice representing digital creators. She tackles the questions she gets most from creators, law students, and industry professionals: Why entertainment law? What were the key moments (including "cliffs she drove off") in building her firm? What did she see in 2013 when she started representing YouTubers that others missed? Her first YouTube client was getting more views than Canada's #1 TV show, and that's when she realized digital creators had all the leverage that her indie film clients never had. Anita shares practical advice for law students (her networking philosophy: "be nice to everyone, that law student could end up running a studio someday"), insights about the constantly changing digital media landscape, and why entertainment law in the creator economy isn't just about talent agreements anymore, it's about understanding that each creator is their own media company. She addresses when creators should hire lawyers (when you're signing contracts, and please don't feed them into ChatGPT), whether she tells clients to walk away from big money (it's about fit, not just the amount), and what the hardest part of representing creators really is (no precedents exist, you're making them up as you go, plus the mental health concerns when clients face online harassment). The episode concludes with myth-busting: entertainment lawyers' lives aren't an episode of Entourage, they're sitting at desks reviewing contracts and filing trademarks, with the occasional fun screening or party as a bonus. This episode offers honest insights about failure, persistence, relationship-building in entertainment, and why sometimes you have to quit law to become a better lawyer. Essential listening for anyone interested in entertainment law, the creator economy, or understanding what really happens behind the contracts. Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client. Credits:  Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn  Creative Producer: Khairi Williams  Script Editor: Mac Montandon  Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson  Edited by: Carmine Mattia  Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak  Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia Follow us at @signedthepodcast on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube!