Dharminder Mann (born May 29, 1984) is an American entrepreneur, film producer, YouTuber, and influencer.[1] He is best known for his video production company, Dhar Mann Studios, that creates short films for social media platforms such as YouTube. The films target a young audience and typically feature a turn of events that teaches the antagonist a moral lesson.[2]
In 2013, Mann was convicted of defrauding the city of Oakland, California, through his real estate company MannEdge Properties.[3][4][5]
Early life and career
Dharminder Mann was born on May 29, 1984,[6] to Surinder Mann and Baljit Singh Mann, who emigrated from India to the United States.[2][7][8] The Singh family owns Friendly Cab, a taxi cab operator based in Oakland, California.[8][9] They have owned several local real estate companies since 1980, and more than 130 properties.[7][10]
Mann recalls growing up in a one-bedroom Bay Area apartment which was shared with three other families. As his parents were focused on managing their company, he has said that rather than "give me their time, they gave me money to do things".[2]
At the age of nineteen, Mann started a real estate company while in college at the University of California, Davis so Mann dropped out of college to focus on the business. Later, he returned to college to complete his degree in Economics and Political Science.[11][12] Founded other, often failed, companies within the decade[2] including ventures in luxury car rental services and mortgage refinancing.[13]
Mann started LiveGlam in 2015 with online makeup tutorials through collaboration with several beauty influencers. Eventually, he expanded the business while working together with his fiance Laura G.[2][14][11]
In 2018, Mann founded Dhar Mann Studios, a video production company that produces films for social media platforms such as YouTube.[2][16] When he began publishing videos on YouTube in 2018, his output consisted of motivational videos and later shifted focus to morality plays.[17]
In 2021, Mann started a contract with the Creative Artists Agency[16] and launched a mobile app where users can watch videos produced by his studio.[18]
In 2024, Mann signed with production company Studio71,[19] and former MTV president Sean Atkins joined the company as president and COO.[20] He was included in Forbes Top Creators 2024 at number 2 with an estimated income of $45 million.[1][21][22] Mann also won the Favorite Male Creator award 2024 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.[23]
Videos
The studio's videos feature often recurring actors.[24] A New York Times profile of Mann described his YouTube videos as "timely narratives about police-calling Karens and Covid-19 hoarders" told in the fashion of "1980s after-school specials and the educational short films of the '50s". It noted their often "thin and absolutist" moral philosophy and "openly click bait" titles.[2]Vulture called them "feel-good" videos intended to "encourage people to be decent to one another."[25]
In 2023, the studio announced Jay & Mikey, a comedy kids show based on the titular characters from Mann's previous short film series with Shaun Dixon and Kaido Lee Roberts reprising their roles as the titular middle-schoolers.[24]
By mid-2023, the studio's YouTube videos had more than a total of 11 billion views.[24]
Workplace scandal and actors' protest
In February 2023, multiple actors employed by Dhar Mann Studios said on social media that they have poor working conditions and unsustainable pay.[26] Many of the actors took to protesting outside of one of Mann's studio lots, with the protests happening abruptly. Actor Charles Laughlin revealed that many actors requested a meeting with Mann about working conditions, but he declined to meet with them. Laughlin also accused Mann of firing actress Jessica Ruth Bell after the actors asked for the meeting. Laughlin and actor Colin Borden said that actors who spoke out against the working conditions were immediately let go. Borden stated that many of the actors employed by Mann could not afford rent.[27][28][29] After the protests, Mann issued a statement on his YouTube channel and Instagram account disputing the claims of the protesting actors and accusing them of "spreading false information" about his studio, family, and himself. He explained how the studio operated and disclosed hourly rates for actors.[26][30]
Legal issues
Mann founded weGrow, a retailer of cannabis-growing hydroponics, with former stock broker Derek Peterson in January 2010. Mann and Peterson rented a supply store in Oakland to sell hydroponics equipment, and aimed to open franchises in eight other states.[2][31] weGrow was closed two years later amid lawsuits between the business partners.
In 2012, Mann was charged with thirteen felony counts of fraud for allegedly defrauding a city beautification program while operating his real estate company MannEdge Properties in 2008 and 2009.[3][4] Prosecutors reduced the charges to five felony counts in August 2013, and later that year Mann pled no contest to the five counts.[32] He was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and restitution.[5] Mann told The New York Times in 2021 that the conviction was later expunged.[2]
In 2014, Mann was in a relationship with businesswoman Lilly Ghalichi, known for participating on the reality television series Shahs of Sunset.[34][35] He met his fiancée Laura Avila in 2015. They have two daughters, born in 2020 and 2021.[36][37]
In late 2020, Mann purchased a mansion in Calabasas, California, previously owned by media personality Khloé Kardashian.[38] Along with his family's real estate activities in Oakland, Mann and his brother Harmit own property across the city.[7]
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