Awesomeness TV Snags Larry Shapiro and Team From Fullscreen

CORRECTION: Earlier we had reported that Dan Rosen was among those departing Fullscreen. This was in error; the manager departing was Rana Zand. The article has been updated to reflect this. Furthermore, Big Frame is not an MCN as implied; it is a talent management company.

It looks like more big changes for recently acquired multi-channel network Fullscreen are coming just days after it announced its acquisition by Otter Media. NMR has learned that Larry Shapiro, former CAA super-agent and head of Fullscreen’s Talent Division, has jumped ship to rival network AwesomenessTV, taking several key members of Fullscreen’s talent team with him. Shapiro will be joined by talent managers Andrew Graham and Rana Zand. Talent Director Jordan Worona is expected to remain with Fullscreen.

Larry Shapiro (center) and Graham (right) seen here dining with Brittani Louise Taylor
The news of Shapiro’s departure will also come as a shock to many industry watchers. The former Creative Artists Agency exec was frequently mentioned as one of Fullscreen’s most attractive assets in the trade coverage of the company’s recent acquisition. The sudden change also casts a new light on the unusual “network agnostic” talent management deal struck this summer between Fullscreen and AwesomenessTV star Jenn McCallister, better known as JennXPenn. That deal allowed the Awesomeness star to receive representation from the Fullscreen team while her channels remained signed to her home network. It seems that now McCallister will find all the services she needs in her own backyard.

Shapiro and his team worked closely with top Fullscreen talent
 

Snagging Shapiro and his team is a major coup for AwesomenessTV. The powerhouse agent and his hand-picked team are some of the most experienced talent pros in the digital space. Shapiro has worked closely with top Fullscreen talent like O2L, Connor Franta, Lohanthony, and Brittani Louise Taylor. At this point it’s not yet clear where Shapiro and his talent team will fit in at AwesomenessTV, which already operates its own in-house talent shop in the form of Big Frame, the talent focused management company it acquired last spring. Whether Shapiro and company will be merged with the Big Frame group or operate as an independent division is still unclear, but in any case the move does dramatically change the balance of power in new media. (UPDATE: Variety reports that they will indeed be moving to Big Frame.)

It should be noted that talent signed on with Fullscreen will not be leaving with Shapiro and company, but remaining with Fullscreen.

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