SOCIAL MEDIA STUDIO BOSS

As Hollywood wobbles, Dhar Mann shoots scripted content built for digital distribution, drawing billions of views—and tens of millions of advertising dollars.

- BY STEVEN BERTONI

For a glimpse of where showbiz is headed, walk a few hundred yards off the Burbank Airport runway into a 125,000-square-foot complex of warehouses where Southwest jets roar over the roof and Amtrak trains rattle the walls.

Inside is a maze of jail cells and hospital wards, courtrooms and classrooms. They are all sets where Dhar Mann and his team of 200 produce digital shows which, on a typical week, rack up nearly 300 million views across Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Mann’s social channels have 160 million global followers. His content is translated into 13 languages. Last year Dhar Mann Studios earned an estimated $65 million in revenue from YouTube AdSense, Facebook In-Stream ads and brand deals with Adobe, Old Navy and the NFL.

“Most traditional studios create content and hope that the audience follows. We listen to the audience and follow what they want,” says Mann, 42. “We’re able to do it because of our quick feedback system and direct relationship with our audience.”

Rebecca Zamolo Zamolo turned family-friendly videos into a media fortune creating over-the-top superhero spoofs and spectacular stunts (building a water park in her house) for her 22 million YouTube subscribers. In 2025, she harnessed her vast reach to launch fertility supplement brand Molo, which she sells online and through Walmart.