{"id":265654,"date":"2025-07-14T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/?p=265654"},"modified":"2025-07-15T08:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T12:53:09","slug":"meet-the-talent-agency-thats-turning-influencers-into-superstars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/entertainment\/meet-the-talent-agency-thats-turning-influencers-into-superstars\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet The Talent Agency That’s Turning Influencers Into Superstars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Arsenic) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A year ago, she was told she was \u201cjust an Instamodel.\u201d Now she\u2019s in Italy filming a TV show for Hulu produced by Alex Cooper, the creator and host of Call Her Daddy<\/em>. And she\u2019s not alone, she\u2019s part of a wave of social media talent crashing into mainstream TV. When casting directors with top networks like Netflix and Hulu want the next reality TV stars, they don\u2019t just hold open castings anymore\u2014increasingly, they call Arsenic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded by Billy Hawkins\u2014who once repped A-listers like Will Smith and the writers of Transformers<\/em>\u2014Arsenic has become the go-to agency for turning top online talent into mainstream stars. Nowhere is this trend more explosive than with creators coming out of the exclusive content boom. \u201cMany of these creators are already running seven-figure businesses,\u201d Hawkins says. \u201cWe help them make more money and unlock bigger opportunities\u2014TV, brands, press\u2026 the works!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Arsenic) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bringing More Value To The Table<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Affluence doesn\u2019t always equal access. Many of these creators face a stigma that blocks them from mainstream opportunities, especially when it comes to brands, press, and TV. \u201cThere\u2019s a gold rush to take a cut of exclusive content earnings, but the smart creators demand a partner that brings more value to the table,\u201d Hawkins says. \u201cLike Arsenic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arsenic Founder Billy Hawkins (Arsenic) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arsenic<\/a> clients have landed roles on shows across Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, ABC, and more. \u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of a major shift,\u201d says Cindy Chea, VP of Operations. \u201cCasting execs and brands are open to exclusive-content creators\u2014if they\u2019re positioned the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arsenic VP of Operations Cindy Chea (Arsenic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Be The Brand<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While TV is the gamechanger, Arsenic\u2019s brand division\u2014led by Beth Bruno, VP of Client Service\u2014talks to more than 1,000 companies a week to bring top-tier brand deals to its talent. \u201cThe truth is we invest in our talent at a level that others won\u2019t,\u201d Bruno says. \u201cWe don\u2019t mind losing money on a client this month if it means we build something meaningful and earn ten times that down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arsenic VP of Client Services Beth Bruno (Arsenic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the agency\u2019s PR team is landing clients in Glamour<\/em>, Forbes<\/em>, Daily Mail<\/em>, and on major red carpets. \u201cWe tell creators: We\u2019re not just bringing you a brand deal, we\u2019re building you<\/em> as the brand,\u201d Bruno says. \u201cThis is about building empires,\u201d Hawkins says. \u201cThe ones who go for it\u2014who cross over into TV, brands, and mainstream culture\u2014they\u2019re the ones who will still be here in five years.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenic is a powerhouse agency that\u2019s helping top influencers get TV shows, brand deals and cultural status.\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":265661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_comments":false,"tpd_coauthor":[],"tpd_feed_delay":{"delay_type":"default"},"is_tpd_lists_single_post":false,"tpd_featured_posts_arr":"","tpd_franchise_content":"","hide_featured_img_single_post":true,"msn_featured_video":[],"_msn_custom_title":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-14T11:58:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"889dc926-c91c-432b-967b-1a49febaa896","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-15T12:53:07Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AiJ3JJskcQyuWexpJ_rqolg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"tpd_featured_video":[],"tpd_sponsored_post_logo":"","tpd_sponsored_post_logo_link":"","tpd_sponsored_post_logo_width":0,"tpd_sponsored_enable_nofollow":true,"tpd_disable_incontent_ads":false,"tpd_disable_right_rail_ads":false,"tpd_disable_after_content_ads":false,"tpd_disable_header_ads":false,"tpd_disable_sticky_footer_ads":false,"tpd_disable_video_ads":false,"tpd_disable_outbrain":false,"tpd_affiliate_disclaimer":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,75,19501],"tags":[16171,217,196,126,77,5,215],"coauthor":[],"feeds":[],"class_list":["post-265654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-news","category-partner","tag-arsenic","tag-business","tag-influencers","tag-instagram","tag-models","tag-news","tag-success"],"apple_news_notices":[],"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arsenic-Promo-428x241.jpg","coauthors":[],"primary_category":{"term_id":24,"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment","taxonomy":"category","url":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/entertainment\/"},"fimg_url_thumb":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arsenic-Promo-428x241.jpg","featured_img_medium":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arsenic-Promo-788x444.jpg","author_name":"Maxim Staff","author_avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c68fad93dfb24be767f2a0abee844068778c3a24f6a1a2e290ab32d35860a07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_link":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/author\/maxim-staff\/","post_categories":["Entertainment"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265654"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265893,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265654\/revisions\/265893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265654"},{"taxonomy":"coauthor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthor?post=265654"},{"taxonomy":"feeds","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feeds?post=265654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}