Portal A Interactive

Last updated

Portal A
TypeIndependent
IndustryMedia Development and Production
Founded2009
HeadquartersSan Francisco, Los Angeles
Key people
Zach Blume - Managing Partner
Nate Houghteling - Executive Producer
Kai Hasson - Creative Director
Number of employees
53
Website http://portal-a.com/

Portal A is a digital content company that creates branded and original entertainment. [1] [2] Portal A was founded by three childhood friends, Nate Houghteling, Kai Hasson, and Zach Blume. [3] Portal A is independently owned with offices in SoMa and Downtown Los Angeles. [4] [5]

Contents

In 2019, Portal A entered into a strategic partnership with Brent Montgomery and Jimmy Kimmel's Wheelhouse Entertainment, [6] with Wheelhouse taking a minority stake in the company. [7]

Original Content

Portal A's originals division is represented by WME. [8] The studio created White Collar Brawler, an original digital series that ran for multiple seasons on TV with the Esquire Network. [9]

Portal A released Song Voyage, a comedy series shot in Asia following YouTube musical group The Gregory Brothers. [10] The show was distributed by Disney's Maker Studios, and earned over 30 million views, including the viral “Chicken Attack” music video. [11]

The studio released One Shot on Youtube Red in February 2018, an unscripted special with WilldaBeast Adams on a journey to find the next underground dance star. [12]

Portal A developed and produced 5 Minutes From Home, [13] a series starring Stephen Curry. The series received 6 million views [14] over its first three episodes. Lyft sponsored the second season [15] of 5 Minutes From Home.

In 2018, Portal A announced State of Pride for YouTube Originals, a documentary feature film directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. [16] The film premiered at the opening night of South by Southwest [17] and was named Best Documentary at the GLAAD Awards. [18]

In 2020, Portal A announced the scripted original series Action Royale with Snap, [19] and released the 60-minute special Ultimate Home Championship with YouTube Originals. [20]

Branded Content

Portal A works with YouTube and Google [21] on social video campaigns, and with Lenovo, Target, Infiniti, Clorox, Amazon, Twitter, Sony Pictures, Procter & Gamble, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, and others. [22]

Portal A is known for producing the annual YouTube Rewind, which has accrued over 1 billion views in aggregate [23] [24] since 2011. [25] The company also produced YouTube Rewind 2018, noted as the most disliked video on YouTube. [26] [27] [28]

The company has worked with Clorox for multiple projects, including "Best Roommate Ever" with Stephen Curry and King Bach. [29] Portal A's work on the "#MotoMods + YouTube Heroes" campaign for Lenovo won a 2017 One Show Pencil. [30] In 2018, Portal A won the Streamy Award for Best Branded Content and the Streamy Award for Best Influencer Campaign for its work with Clorox. [31] In 2020, Portal A released Let's Target with Target featuring Laverne Cox, Tabitha Brown, Emma Chamberlain and others.

Portal A has worked on a variety of political initiatives, [32] and partnered with the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign to reach young voters in swing states. [33] In 2020, Portal A worked with the Joe Biden presidential campaign for a social media initiative called #ImVotingFor [34] and released the documentary film American Pathogen, about the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [35]

Recognition

In 2021, Portal A was named Agency of the Year by the Streamy Awards. [36]

Portal A was named Content Agency of the Year [37] by Digiday and named Video Agency of the Year by Digiday. [38] Portal A was named Digital Studio of the Year by Cynopsis, [39] a top Content Agency by The Drum [40] and a finalist for Agency of the Year in the Streamy Awards in 2020.

Portal A was profiled by Adweek in its Portrait series [41] and Business Insider wrote that Portal A is “a go-to for social video work for marketers anchored by influencers.” [42]

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References

  1. ↑ "We make videos for the Internet. And you" . Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Tate, Ryan. "Constructing This Summer's Viral Video Hit". Wired.
  3. ↑ "Portal A videos appeal to young voters". SFGate. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Longwell, Todd (12 April 2017). "Los Angeles' New Tech Scene Flourishes Downtown". Variety. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Offices | Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles". Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "Brent Montgomery's Wheelhouse Invests in Digital Studio Portal A (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  7. ↑ Coffee, Patrick (10 January 2019). "Wheelhouse Entertainment and Partner Jimmy Kimmel Buy a Minority Stake in Content Agency Portal A". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "WME Signs Digital Studio Portal A". The Hollywood Reporter . 3 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "How Esquire Network Was Sold on White Collar Brawler". 8 November 2013.
  10. ↑ Hamedy, Saba (30 November 2016). "YouTube musical comedy group The Gregory Brothers launch new series". Mashable. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  11. ↑ schmoyoho (25 January 2017), Chicken Attack // SONG VOYAGE // Japan // , retrieved 21 February 2017
  12. ↑ "Miami's Underground Dancers Get 'One Shot' on YouTube Red" . Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  13. ↑ Spangler, Todd (25 April 2018). "Stephen Curry to Relaunch YouTube Channel With Show Featuring His Postgame Chats With Guests". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  14. ↑ Stephen Curry (26 June 2018), Rudy Mancuso & Stephen Curry Drop a New Track | 5 Minutes from Home , retrieved 30 July 2018
  15. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (14 March 2019). "Stephen Curry's '5 Minutes From Home' Sets Joel Embiid, Daveed Diggs And Others As Guests For Season 2". Deadline. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  16. ↑ Spangler, Todd (13 September 2018). "YouTube Orders LGBTQ Documentary About Pride Movement". Variety. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "YouTube And Portal A's 'State of Pride' Chosen As Opening Night Feature For SXSW 2019". Tubefilter. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "UPDATING: Award Recipients at the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  19. ↑ Spangler, Todd (11 June 2020). "Snapchat Renews Content Deals With Disney, ESPN, NBCU and More; Unveils Original Shows From Kevin Hart, Catherine Hardwicke". Variety. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "NBA All-Star Stephen Curry to Host YouTube Competition Special 'Ultimate Home Championship'". www.tubefilter.com. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  21. ↑ "Work | Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles". Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  22. ↑ "A Few of Our Partners and Friends" . Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  23. ↑ Watercutter, Angela. "How YouTube Crammed an Entire Year Into Its Epic Rewind Video". Wired.
  24. ↑ "The Folks Behind YouTube Rewind Video Are Portal A". AdAge. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  25. ↑ "Close To 300 Creators Recreate 2017's Top Online Video Trends In Latest Edition Of YouTube Rewind - Tubefilter". Tubefilter. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  26. ↑ "YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind". YouTube . Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  27. ↑ "Inside the Making of YouTube's End-of-Year Video and the Company Behind It". adage.com. 9 December 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  28. ↑ Spangler, Todd (13 December 2018). "YouTube Rewind 2018 Officially Becomes Most-Disliked Video Ever". Variety. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  29. ↑ "Brita uses social influencers to target millennials - Think with Google". Think with Google. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  30. ↑ "Lenovo / Moto Mods + YouTube Heroes". www.oneclub.org. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  31. ↑ "Portal A, Kevin Hart, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Honored At First 'Streamys Brand Awards'". Tubefilter. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  32. ↑ "Portal A videos appeal to young voters". SFGate. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  33. ↑ https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/hillary-clinton-youtube-glozell-todrick-sam-tsui-1201902383/ [ verification needed ]
  34. ↑ Wasserman, Todd. "Portal A: From The Playground To Campaigning For Biden For President". Forbes. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  35. ↑ Grove, Lloyd (15 September 2020). "How Jeffrey Wright Is Helping Expose Trump's Coronavirus Lies". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  36. ↑ @streamys (12 December 2021). "Register" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2022– via Twitter.
  37. ↑ "Digiday Awards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  38. ↑ Hayes, Melissa (8 March 2019). "Complex, NBCU and Group Nine win at the Digiday Video Awards". Digiday. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  39. ↑ "Winners - Cynopsis Digital Model D Awards 2016". Cynopsis Digital Model D Awards 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  40. ↑ kieran.mceniff_691 (13 April 2016). "The Content Awards 2016". The Drum Awards. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  41. ↑ "Portal A Creates Branded and Original Content for the Next Generation of Digital" . Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  42. ↑ "A new breed of social-video specialists is stealing business from old-school, TV-obsessed ad agencies". Business Insider. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
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