Portal A Interactive
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 and has offices in SoMa and Downtown Los Angeles.[4][5]
Type | Independent |
---|---|
Industry | Media Development and Production |
Founded | 2009 |
Headquarters | San 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/ |
In early 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 is known for creating White Collar Brawler, an original digital series which ran for multiple seasons on TV with the Esquire Network.[9]
In 2017, Portal A released Song Voyage, a musical comedy series shot across 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 that follows WilldaBeast Adams on his journey to find the next underground dance star.[12]
In 2018, Portal A developed and produced 5 Minutes From Home,[13] an episodic series starring Stephen Curry, airing exclusively on YouTube. The series received 6 million views[14] over the course of its first three episodes. In 2019, Lyft sponsored the second season[15] of 5 Minutes From Home.
In September 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 closely with YouTube and Google[21] on brand video campaigns, and with brands like Lenovo, Target, Infiniti, Clorox, Amazon, Twitter, Sony Pictures, Procter & Gamble, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures.[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 efforts, including "Best Roommate Ever" with Stephen Curry and King Bach, featured as a Google case study.[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 Glad and Brita respectively.[31] In 2020, Portal A released Let's Target with Target featuring Laverne Cox, Tabitha Brown, Emma Chamberlain and more.
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.[11] In 2020, Portal A worked with the Joe Biden presidential campaign to launch the social media campaign #ImVotingFor[33] and released the documentary film American Pathogen, about the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[34]
Recognition
In 2018, Portal A was named Content Agency of the Year[35] by Digiday. In 2019, Portal A was named Video Agency of the Year by Digiday.[36] Portal A was named Digital Studio of the Year by Cynopsis in 2016,[37] a top Content Agency by The Drum in 2019 [38] and a finalist for Agency of the Year in the Streamy Awards in 2020.
The company's work has been recognized by the Webby Awards, the Shorty Awards, the Clios, the Streamy Awards, the Mashies, the IAC Awards, the Hermes Awards, the Telly Awards, the AVA Awards, and more.[39] Portal A was profiled by Adweek in its Portrait series[40] and Business Insider wrote that Portal A is “a go-to for social video work for marketers anchored by influencers.”[41]
References
- "We make videos for the Internet. And you". Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- "Constructing This Summer's Viral Video Hit".
- "Portal A videos appeal to young voters". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
- Longwell, Todd (2017-04-12). "Los Angeles' New Tech Scene Flourishes Downtown". Variety. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
- "Offices | Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles". Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles. 2012-11-14. Archived from the original on 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
- "Brent Montgomery's Wheelhouse Invests in Digital Studio Portal A (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- Coffee, Patrick (10 January 2019). "Wheelhouse Entertainment and Partner Jimmy Kimmel Buy a Minority Stake in Content Agency Portal A". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "WME Signs Digital Studio Portal A". Retrieved 2016-08-06.
- "How Esquire Network Was Sold on White Collar Brawler".
- Hamedy, Saba. "YouTube musical comedy group The Gregory Brothers launch new series". Mashable. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
- schmoyoho (2017-01-25), Chicken Attack // SONG VOYAGE // Japan //, retrieved 2017-02-21
- "Miami's Underground Dancers Get 'One Shot' on YouTube Red". Retrieved 2018-03-08.
- Spangler, Todd (2018-04-25). "Stephen Curry to Relaunch YouTube Channel With Show Featuring His Postgame Chats With Guests". Variety. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- Stephen Curry (2018-06-26), Rudy Mancuso & Stephen Curry Drop a New Track | 5 Minutes from Home, retrieved 2018-07-30
- Ramos, Dino-Ray (2019-03-14). "Stephen Curry's '5 Minutes From Home' Sets Joel Embiid, Daveed Diggs And Others As Guests For Season 2". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
- Spangler, Todd (2018-09-13). "YouTube Orders LGBTQ Documentary About Pride Movement". Variety. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "YouTube And Portal A's 'State of Pride' Chosen As Opening Night Feature For SXSW 2019". Tubefilter. 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
- "UPDATING: Award Recipients at the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- Spangler, Todd; Spangler, Todd (2020-06-11). "Snapchat Renews Content Deals With Disney, ESPN, NBCU and More; Unveils Original Shows From Kevin Hart, Catherine Hardwicke". Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- www.tubefilter.com https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/06/24/youtube-original-stephen-curry-ultimate-home-championship/. Retrieved 2021-01-19. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - "Work | Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles". Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
- "A Few of Our Partners and Friends". Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- "How YouTube Crammed an Entire Year Into Its Epic Rewind Video".
- "The Folks Behind YouTube Rewind Video Are Portal A". AdAge. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- "Close To 300 Creators Recreate 2017's Top Online Video Trends In Latest Edition Of YouTube Rewind - Tubefilter". Tubefilter. 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
- "YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind". Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- "Inside the Making of YouTube's End-of-Year Video and the Company Behind It". adage.com. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
- Spangler, Todd (2018-12-13). "YouTube Rewind 2018 Officially Becomes Most-Disliked Video Ever". Variety. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
- "Brita uses social influencers to target millennials - Think with Google". Think with Google. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
- "Lenovo / Moto Mods + YouTube Heroes". www.oneclub.org. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
- "Portal A, Kevin Hart, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Honored At First 'Streamys Brand Awards'". Tubefilter. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- "Portal A videos appeal to young voters". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
- Wasserman, Todd. "Portal A: From The Playground To Campaigning For Biden For President". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- Grove, Lloyd (2020-09-15). "How Jeffrey Wright Is Helping Expose Trump's Coronavirus Lies". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- "Digiday Awards on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- Hayes, Melissa (2019-03-08). "Complex, NBCU and Group Nine win at the Digiday Video Awards". Digiday. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
- "Winners - Cynopsis Digital Model D Awards 2016". Cynopsis Digital Model D Awards 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
- kieran.mceniff_691 (2016-04-13). "The Content Awards 2016". The Drum Awards. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
- "About | Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles". Portal A | Video for the Digital Age | San Francisco, Los Angeles. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
- "Portal A Creates Branded and Original Content for the Next Generation of Digital". Retrieved 2017-02-22.
- "A new breed of social-video specialists is stealing business from old-school, TV-obsessed ad agencies". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-03-08.