Amplify moves into creator-owned IP with new funding programme

Australian creator marketing agency Amplify is moving beyond brand partnerships by funding creators to develop and own original shows and content.

The agency has launched Amplify Originals, a new programme through which creators can pitch original ideas and receive funding and production support to develop pilot episodes. Six projects will be backed in the first round, with the finished productions screened later this year.

The move expands Amplify's role from facilitating commercial partnerships between creators and brands into developing and co-funding creator-led content.

"I've watched the smartest creators we work with stop waiting for brand briefs," co-founder Tom Maynard wrote on LinkedIn. "They're building shows, formats, entire production companies. At some point you have to decide whether you're going to watch that happen or put money behind it. So we're putting money behind it."

Applications will be reviewed by a panel including Sabine Zonderland, head of top creator partnerships at YouTube, casting director Ben Parkinson and Shivani Maharaj, chief creator officer at WPP Media.

Maharaj said the shift towards creator-led entertainment had been building for some time. "The next Oscar could be won by a creator," she said.

Amplify's move comes as agencies and studios increasingly look beyond facilitating brand deals to help creators build and own entertainment IP.

As previously reported by The Daily Influence, United Agents launched a dedicated unscripted division for creators earlier this year, while Whalar launched Lighthouse Studios to help creators develop longer-form entertainment formats.