Digital creator and multi-hyphenate entertainer Joey Graceffa has signed with HeartRock Partners for management representation. The move matters as a marker of the growing creator economy, with an established management firm backing a YouTube pioneer to expand his ventures across entertainment, publishing and consumer brands.

Graceffa rose to prominence through the YouTube series Escape the Night — the opening episode of season two alone drew 69 million views — and now has around 9 million YouTube subscribers, 6.3 million Instagram followers and nearly one million on TikTok. Beyond video, he has written the memoir In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World and the young-adult novel The Twelve, launched the natural pet wellness brand Tale, and appeared on The Amazing Race. HeartRock was founded earlier this year by CEO Alec Shankman, formerly head of alternative at Gersh, whose firm focuses on entrepreneurial talent, consumer brands and content owners; Shankman praised Graceffa as a "pioneer of the creator economy".