Terriers InBiz is a series that highlights Boston University alumni who have been innovative leaders in their field and have played a significant role in businesses, locally or globally.
When the digital age first came into the entertainment industry, YouTube was a site known for cat videos and a biting Charlie. Now — almost 11 years later — the video site hosts more than a billion users and counting. That’s why gettings subs is much easer than it was if you can get your video in front of the right people.
With this boom in users came an increasing prominence of YouTube personalities. Shane Dawson, Bethany Mota and PewDiePie are now big names making big bucks through their comedy, lifestyle and gaming channels. And as they gained an influx of followers, a business began to build around their videos.
Adam Wescott, a 2006 graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication, is the CEO and co-founder of Select Management Group, a company that manages YouTube talent and enhances that business.
The Falmouth, Maine native said he was determined to enter the entertainment industry as a television producer. He recalled his first tour of BU and his instant attraction to the business-focused mentality of COM’s television department.
“A lot of people get excited about the production component and the creative side,” Wescott said, “but I wanted to study the business and history of entertainment, and I saw that in my tour.”
As a freshman, Wescott joined BU’s student-run radio station, WTBU, hosting his own show entitled “Up and Adam.” His first look into his future career, though, occurred during his study abroad program in Los Angeles his junior year, where he interned at FOX and created connections that would later prove helpful.
Toward the end of his time at BU, Wescott got involved with marketing events and worked with Los Angeles-, New York- and Chicago-based companies to manage local Boston events. After graduation, he made a permanent move to LA with help from his abroad connections, and began working at PathConnect, LLC.
“I went to a small company instead of going through a hierarchy in Hollywood, where newcomers often start as an assistant and work their way up,” Wescott said. “That company ended up getting acquired and got me into digital. Sometimes it’s good to choose your own path.”
His own path led him to E! Entertainment’s digital team, where he oversaw the network’s online videos. After accomplishing his main objective to increase video views on the site through search engine and algorithm improvements, Wescott led E!’s involvement with Verizon Wireless, Hulu and YouTube.
Wescott left E! in 2011 and found himself running online websites for celebrities and personalities such as Lauren Conrad, Nick Cannon and Bethenny Frankel.
Wescott’s full-time job working with YouTube’s platform encouraged him to analyze the foundation of YouTube — its talent. At the time, big name studios such as Fullscreen, Inc., Maker Studios and StyleHaul gained prominence as talent management companies for popular YouTubers, but Wescott wanted to focus on individual talent. He then partnered with talent manager Scott Fisher and did exactly that. Fisher brought an expansive roster of talent to the new company.
Select, under the direction of Wescott and Fisher, now manages 12 individuals on YouTube in the lifestyle, beauty and pop culture genres.
“My side of the business is more original entertainment, production and building business in partnership with my clients,” Wescott said.
One of his biggest clients is Eva Gutowski, also known as MyLifeAsEva on YouTube. In partnership with Select, she released her own song, “Literally My Life,” and a short-form series on YouTube, “How to Survive High School.”
“We are helping empower our clients so they can focus on the creative side of their channel,” Wescott said. “We’re allowing them to focus on what they do and do it well, making it consistent and make sure they’re growing their audience.”
Wescott said that while Select does not proactively sign talent, it keeps an eye on emerging talent to see where brand interest lies.
But Wescott couldn’t have gotten here without his four years at BU, he said. He credits the urban campus setting as an advantage to students.
“It’s not a traditional, cozy campus where you’re isolated,” Wescott said. “You have to adapt to the school [and] the city, and that’s what an entrepreneur does.”
His greatest advice to students is to seek opportunity by constantly being aware of the industry’s changes.
“Keep your finger on the pulse, be aware of everything that’s going on and go out of your way to network and utilize those connections,” Wescott said. “Put yourself out there and be aware of what space you want to be in. You have to be the master of the area that you want to succeed in.”
More importantly, Wescott’s career in digital is an example of how forging one’s own path involves taking risks and adapting to new environments, such as BU.
“That’s what digital is all about,” Wescott said. “It’s all changing and learning and doing it rapidly.”
