The Creator Economy is booming as a result of digitization in every facet of our lives. Some estimates suggest that it could be worth $100Bn+. Yet, managing your professional life as an actor, model, writer, or designer is a nightmare. There are emails, manual booking processes and the dreaded PDFs. Even though top talent agencies collectively have a value of $20Bn, creatives are still subject to late payments and opaque industry practices. While modeling talent is subject to a commission of 20-40%, social media is gradually replacing traditional agencies by making it easier for talent to access the internet and lowering barriers to entry. Social media, however, is not a place where anyone can manage their career.The Contact platform was launched late last year. It initially offered models the ability to book bookings and manage certain aspects of their work. The company is now seeking to solve the larger problems mentioned above with a new round funding that will involve key players from the creative industries.It is backed by Maisie Williams, well-known for her Game of Thrones work, and who has now become Creative Strategist, Advisor, and a passionate advocate to improve conditions for creatives in this industry.Contact has raised a seed round of funding in the amount of $1.9 million (1.4million) from Founders Fund. LAUNCH (the fund headed by investors Jason Calacanis), Sweet Capital, Rogue VC and Angel investors Simon Beckerman and Eric Wahlforss (cofounders of SoundCloud and Dance), Joe White and Abe Burns are also participating.Contacts original focus was on the modeling industry, but its vision is much larger. Reuben Selby, co-founder of Contact and CEO, is a former member of Williams' founding team. Selby, a fashion designer, has previously worked for Thom Browne and JW Anderson when she began her career. The platform will be scalable and provide back-end solutions for the $104.2 billion Creator Economy. This will allow everyone to have access to the best creative talent in the world, according to Reuben Selby.Selby recently spoke out about his experience as a founder with autism. He is also the creative director and founder of his label Reuben Selby and co-founder and CEO of Cortex, a community and creative agency. Selby is joined by Josh McMillan, CTO of Deliveroo and Daisie, as well as the Government Digital Service's Chief Technology Officer.Although Creatively, Patreon and The Dots might be its main competitors, Contacts vision to combine many aspects of these platforms under one roof can be called ambitious. It is, however, tantalizing.Individuals and businesses can now find and book creative services and creators directly without the need to go through agencies. This is a significant shift in an industry that has been dominated by agencies.Contact launched its platform in October 2020. It allowed fashion models to find and book models. However, after raising funds, plans were made to expand the platform to include other creative verticals like photographers, stylists and videographers.Selby says that Contact was inspired by his personal experiences as a photographer, model and creative director trying to get into the creative sector. He realized that there were no secure ways to get paid, and that booking agencies did not have basic technology tools. This led him to realize that the main beneficiaries were middle-men and agencies. They took cuts on both sides while still delivering sub-par products.How does Contact work?A Creator can showcase their portfolio across multiple creative services and accept direct bookings when they join.The business can then search for talent and use filters to find the best talent. They can also shortlist talented people, provide details about the job and even book creators. The web platform allows creatives to accept or reject jobs. Soon, a smartphone app will be available. After the job is completed, the talent receives payment via Contact.Contact claims it has signed up nearly 600 creatives since soft-launching in the modeling industry. It also boasts over 1,400 clients, including Depop and Farfetch, Nike and Vivienne Westwood. According to the startup, the platform's users have grown by 100% YoY.Contact plans to stay in the background, Selby states. This will allow talent to be recognized independently in different industries. Contact doesn't take money from creators. It only takes money from booking companies.Trae Stephens (Partner at Founders Fund) commented: We're always thrilled to find founders who seem born to build a company. Reuben certainly seems like one of these founders. We are excited to see the company grow and expand into new creative areas.Pippa Lamb (Partner at Sweet Capital) said: Contact has been pushing the boundaries in the creator economics long before it became a buzzword. Contact is a rare combination: world-class technical talent and the raw innovation of today's most creative minds. We are looking forward to the next chapter.Williams is best known for her role as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones. She has also worked on startups. Her previous contributions to the Daisie platform were in support of her art.However, it was clear that her desire to disrupt a creative world dominated by middle men was not satisfied by this experience.Williams and Selby spoke to me in an exclusive interview.Selby stated that the current marketplace for models is only the beginning. The vision was always about creatives and getting creatives paid. We started in the modeling industry, and are currently working on new verticals to bring in photographers, makeup artists, stylists, and other creatives. However, this is only a small part of our overall vision.He stated that the current focus is on how work is distributed, how it works with the audience and how they can monetize. It basically gives them tools to monetize creativity, not just physical limitations. This is what we are currently exploring. This marketplace is a part of what we have, but it's only a small piece of the bigger picture.He stated that the marketplace model could connect brands to creators and creatives but, he added, brands still have a lot of power. The creators just wait for someone to give them something. We are now helping them to figure out how they can distribute their work by themselves and monetize it their way. The back end of logistics and operational work is handled by the product weve created, which handles the payments and insurance.Williams, despite being a star in Hollywood, told me that the entertainment and creative industries she is familiar with and works within are stuck in an old world full of links and emails, not the platforms the tech industry uses. As someone who has had my career represented by talent agencies, the entire interaction online is email. None of the assets are ever digitized. There is no place where I can store all my scripts. I cannot upload all my audition tapes. It's usually just an email link. There is no industry standard. Agency perspective, no work is very streamlined.She believes that there are many things that can be done to improve casting. We are working to streamline the process.Selby spoke about the investors he'd assembled to support Contact. He said that the team chose Founders Fund as their lead investor due to their approach. I find the way they work with founders to be very empowering. They give you lots of freedom and allow you to think creatively. There was a clear alignment.He said that the Angel investors were all connected to music and fashion.Williams spoke out about the possible reaction of the entertainment industry to Contact. He said that actors have many other talents. It is important for actors to be able to monetize other things. This is especially true since you are often unemployed. It's not very motivating or rewarding. Many actors create their own shows, documentaries, or sell their work on other platforms.Contact hopes to facilitate this through the platform and allow creatives more freedom. The music and film industries are full of multi-talented people with diverse talents. They are held back by record labels, managers, and representatives who hold a lot of power. It is important to be able offer something that can be used with so many other tools.It is clear that Williams and Selby have a big vision. It is now up to them to make it happen.However, it must be noted that the combination of a talented Gen-Z-influential group (with additional star power), a fully-fledged technology platform, US investors and Angels drawn from creative industries points to the potential success.
