Digital Media Veteran / Building Digital Businesses, Moving Culture

Phil is a pioneer of the digital media revolution, working as a pre-YouTube professional web video producer in 2005, video content app creator before the smartphone revolution in 2007, an early exec in the MCN boom with two successful exits, and as the Head Gaming Creators at Facebook and Mobcrush, driving the live streaming and the creator-driven media paradigm shift. Currently, as COO of Fixated, Phil is creator services with Fortnite UEFN and Roblox games, creator-focused products, branded integrations, and critical infrastructure necessary to scale a creator's media business.

Previously, Phil was the Head of Gaming Creators, North America at Facebook and the Head of Creators at Mobcrush. In both roles, the departments saw significant growth working with top game streaming talent including Ronda Rousey, Disguised Toast, Corinna Kopf, Shroud, and Nate Hill, to name a few.

Phil was the COO of Studio71, one of the world's largest MCNs, growing the network from 1 billion to over 8 billion monthly views in 3 years with over 1,000 creators.

Before S71, Phil joined Fullscreen as the Head of Channel Partnerships as the 9th employee, completing his tenure as the VP of Networks. He grew the network to the largest MCN in the world (on comScore) in less than 1 year. He was the recipient of Fullscreen's first "Founders Award" for his role in building the industry-leading company.

In May 2006, Phil worked for Viva! Vision, who powered the #1 Latin channel designed specifically for mobile (Viva! Vision TV), the #1 Action Sports channel on V-Cast, and over a dozen mobile phone channels. Phil produced hundreds of hours of successful, digital-endemic original content.

In 2005, Phil created a comedy series for Turner's broadband channel SuperDeluxe.com, for which he acted as producer, director, and editor, called "Party Animals."  A trailer for the pilot was shown on national television when it placed top 5 in FX's "Make Your Own Pilot Competition."

Phil was also a popular comedian, performing at such prestigious LA venues as the Second City Los Angeles (and acting in their touring company aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines), the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater (improv program graduate), and comedy festivals across America. As a content creator, his videos have received over 100 million views on digital platforms bolstered by his work as a talent/producer on the YouTube channel "PronunciationManual" and co-hosts the "Two and a Half Sportsmen" podcast.

Can we talk about early-stage CEO FOMO?

I'm missing CES, 1 Billion Follower Summit, and Creator Economy Live in January.

I've missed most Los Angeles-based creator economy meetups recently.

Had to miss multiple holiday parties.

Gotta keep my hands on the keyboard.

Because at this stage of Stealth Talent, the KPIs aren't going to hit themselves.

Every second Brian Foster, Katarina Marossy, and I, along with our awesome team, aren't knocking it out of the park for our clients, the company is standing still.

The FOMO is real. Everyone have a wonderful time and safe travels.

Consider this selfie our 'coffee meeting' we would have had.

Phil Ranta

CEO, Stealth Talent - Building Digital Businesses, Moving Culture / 20 yr Digital Media Veteran

That’s a wrap on Creator Economy Live West! Some thoughts:

- Brands aren’t just looking for reps to pitch creators anymore. They want you to pitch ‘creative’. I had a 100% hit rate for interest on a celebrity live stream we’re doing next month, and even top creators in our roster got <50% interest.

- The influencer marketing platforms were out in full force and were pitching product features, not just ‘make influencer marketing easier!’ It feels like everyone ‘gets’ influencers now, and deals are won on efficiency and simplicity.

- IRL was the talk of the show! I had about 5 meetings where people unexpectedly asked what we can do on that front. Time to be prepared for that answer! I feel like we can thank Speed and Kai for that.

- I have a new strategy for meeting new people: if you have an open meal slot just book a table somewhere and invite everyone you want to meet through the app. In 45 minutes I rallied a table of 12 people and it was my highlight of the show! If any brands want me to do that for you at the next show, just cover my T&E and the bill!

- Challenger brands get it. They want a big partnership with a big talent to get them going. Happy to give up equity for needle-movers. We’re probably going to be structuring 5 more cap tables coming out of this!

- Let’s never do a panel or keynote again. I walked into some amazing sessions that had 20 people in the audience. It’s embarrassing for the speaker and weird for the audience. Let’s get some MrBeast-style spectacle in those rooms!

- The Chase Sapphire lounge in the Southwest terminal in Vegas is incredible. Free coffee, free WiFi, free really good food, and less loud slot machine noise >>>
 https://lnkd.in/gyuQByPt

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I lied to you.

I said I wasn’t going to Creator Economy Live in Vegas this week.

Now I’m on a plane.

Too many meeting requests to miss it.

See you there?

There’s a Creator Bill of Rights in Congress. 

I need your help.

Ro Khanna, Shira Lazar, dedicated creator advocates (Me!), and hundreds of creators came together to make this bill, which will act as a roadmap to pass legislation to advocate for the career decided by more than 50% of Gen Z.

But we need more of Congress to sign on.

And the best part: this is bi-partisan!

It will help us get resources, benefits, platform transparency, and more. Issues both sides of the aisle cared deeply about during the big tech Congressional grillings.

If your company claims to be ‘for creators, by creators’ it’s time to prove it.

Okay, now the part where I ask for help: share and tag people in Congress so they sign on.

Let’s get some worker’s rights for creators going Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, Ayanna Pressley, Mark Kelly for Senate, Chris Coons for Delaware, Ted Cruz, and colleagues!

America can lead in this valuable growing industry, but we need your help!!

The press >>>  https://lnkd.in/gCxP3HYH

Some people who I think would love this: Daniel Abas Avi Gandhi (Creator Logic) Monica Khan Gil Kruger Tim Mulligan Brendan Gahan Brett Dashevsky France Tantiado Dylan Huey Lindsey Gamble

FaZe Clan is no more. Was it always doomed to end this way?

I don't think so.

In fact, it took a lot of bad decisions from outside forces to get them to this point.

Don't worry about them. Everyone who made those bad decisions is doing great. That's the secret of corporate America.

In this edition of 'The Creator Rep' I break down the key moments that brought FaZe Clan to collapse and my three golden rules to keep creator-led organizations surviving and thriving.

Also in this edition:

🐥 Popeyes Tries Streamer Meals Again
📉 YouTube Quits the Billboard Charts
🦾 Meta Buys Manus AI
🤷🏻 Marco Rubio Claims EU Will Arrest US Social Media Users
💪🏼 Jobs from IPSY, Kajabi, and Sony Music Entertainment
🎭 …and a dank meme from yours truly!

As always, if you enjoy the newsletter, please share it with everyone you know!

Here it is >>> https://lnkd.in/gEtmwrdg

And just for fun, I want to send you the first 100 short, actionable editions of 'Grow 1%' as an ebook. Do one per day, and by April, you'll be smarter at social media growth than most pros. Comment 'GROW' below and make sure you're following so I can DM it to you!

The Metaverse is thriving. And the numbers make MrBeast look quaint.

In this edition, we talk about some crazy stats and launches around Roblox and Fortnite, how creators have played along in the past, and the huge opportunity they've mostly missed.

Also in this edition:

🙅🏽 X Get’s X’ed in Multiple Countries for Deepfakes
📆 TikTok Launches a Screentime Calendar for Parents
🤩 Hannah Stocking Gets Her Own Vertical Microdrama
🤖 A Virtual Creator Re-Takes the Twitch Subscriber Crown
💪🏼 Jobs from TikTok, Red Bull Media House, and Taco Bell 
🎭 …and a dank meme from yours truly!

As always, if you like it, please share it with your team >>> https://lnkd.in/dFCmTFzj

And a HUGE thank you to RockWater Industries and Chris Erwin for sponsoring this edition. If you've ever thought about selling your creator business, hit them up!

In my Facebook feed, I was served AI videos labeled “Create and explore vibes”

It was sandwiched between two news stories in my feed.

And both videos surfaced showed violent supermarket riots.

Two things:

1. Nobody outside of the industry knows these are AI just because you label the box ‘vibes’. It auto-plays and looks just like Reels.

2. The labeling of AI content, especially when showing a potentially emotionally triggering and realistic scene like people trashing a supermarket, should be legally mandated, especially when it auto-plays.

I’m not being alarmist when I say this: unless our politicians and tech giants understand how unacceptable this is and we get legislation passed yesterday, AI can quickly bring about the destruction of objective truth.

My Facebook feed is already full of alarmists sharing phony headlines from phony news organizations that a simple search proves is 100% false, and people are defining their realities from their feed.

Add an administration that tells you not to trust your eyes and ears, who prefer a good story to actual science and research, and this gets dark fast.

Meta is failing us. Hard.

I’m calling my representatives about this daily. I recommend you do the same. And if they want to know why this is scary, feel free to share this story and screenshot of my actual feed.

And, no, I didn’t fake this with AI.

No, Kai Cenat is not quitting.

But he did seize the moment to get loud about the launch of his clothing brand, Vivet.

I'll break down the much-discussed video 'I Quit,' what most of the press got wrong (hint: they didn't actually watch it), and what creators can learn from it.

Also in this edition:

🧾Creators Get Their Own Bill of Rights
🏋🏽‍♀️ Ashton Hall was the Second Fastest Growing Instagram of 2025
📲 Threads Beats X on Mobile
🌎 Meta Lays Off 1,500 on Metaverse Team
💪🏼 Jobs from Amazon, Epic Games, and Apple
🎭 …and a dank meme from yours truly!

And, as always, if you like this newsletter, please support it by sharing it with the social media nerds in your life!

View the full edition here >>> https://lnkd.in/gwTWHZDH

Want high-quality video assets in seconds for free? I've got you covered.

Actually, popular video template apps have you covered.

But you can't just drag and drop whatever you have in your phone and expect it to look like a million bucks.

You need to give the template what it wants.

In this edition of 'Grow 1%' I go through a few of my favorite apps and show you edits I made in less than one minute.

As always, if you like the newsletter, please share it with everyone looking to grow on socials and who doesn't like reading too much!

This is 'Grow 1%', the short weekly newsletter with tips to improve your social media strategy by 1%. Subscribe so it gets delivered to your inbox! An

Open article: Working Backwards From Templates by Phil Ranta • 3 min read

Is 'zombie content' part of your social media strategy?

And this isn't just for horror creators.

I'm talking about content ready to come back to life by deleting and re-uploading.

I'll dive into the three factors every piece of zombie content must have and how to work it into your content plan.

As always, if you like the newsletter, please share with the social media nerds in your life!

Open article: Zombie Content by Phil Ranta • 3 min read

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