Portal A Interactive
Portal A is a social video content company that creates brand and original entertainment. The company was founded in 2009 by three childhood friends, Nate Houghteling, Kai Hasson, and Zach Blume. As of 2024, Portal A is independently owned.
In 2019, Portal A entered into a strategic partnership with Brent Montgomery and Jimmy Kimmel's Wheelhouse Entertainment, with Wheelhouse taking a minority stake in the company.
Original Content
The studio created White Collar Brawler, an original digital series that ran for multiple seasons on TV with the Esquire Network.Portal A released Song Voyage, a comedy series shot in Asia following YouTube musical group The Gregory Brothers. The show was distributed by Disney's Maker Studios, and reached over 30 million views, including the viral "" music video.
The studio released One Shot on Youtube Red in February 2018, an unscripted special with WilldaBeast Adams on a journey to find the next underground dance star.
Portal A developed and produced, a series starring Stephen Curry. The series received 6 million views over its first three episodes. Lyft sponsored the second season of 5 Minutes From Home.
In 2018, Portal A announced State of Pride for YouTube Originals, a documentary feature film directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film premiered at the opening night of South by Southwest and was named Best Documentary at the GLAAD Awards.
In 2020, Portal A announced the scripted original series Action Royale with Snapchat Originals, and released the 60-minute special with YouTube Originals. In 2023, Portal A released Level Up with Stephen Curry, an episodic series with Snapchat Originals.
In 2023, Portal A announced Moonshots, a content fund for investing in independent projects with creators. In 2024, Portal A reported that they had allocated $1m in production and staff resources to over 20 Moonshots projects.
Branded Content
Portal A works with YouTube and Google on social video campaigns, and with Lenovo, Target, AT&T, Volkswagen, Infiniti, Clorox, Amazon, Twitter, Sony Pictures, Procter & Gamble, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, and others.Portal A is known for producing the annual YouTube Rewind, which has accrued over 1 billion views in aggregate since 2011. The company also produced YouTube Rewind 2018, noted as the most disliked video on YouTube.
The company has worked with Clorox for multiple projects, including "" with Stephen Curry and King Bach. Portal A's work on the "#MotoMods + YouTube Heroes" campaign for Lenovo won a 2017 One Show Pencil. In 2018, Portal A won the Streamy Award for Best Branded Content and the Streamy Award for Best Influencer Campaign for its work with Clorox. In 2020, Portal A released with Target featuring Laverne Cox, Tabitha Brown, Emma Chamberlain and others.
Portal A's work with Lenovo includes #CreatorOdyssey, a global creator campaign featuring artists from around the world.
Portal A has worked on a variety of political initiatives, and partnered with the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign to reach young voters in swing states. In 2020, Portal A worked with the Joe Biden presidential campaign for a social media initiative called and released the documentary film American Pathogen, about the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recognition
Portal A was named Agency of the Year by the Streamy Awards, Brand Entertainment Agency of the Year by Campaign US, Content Agency of the Year by Digiday, Video Agency of the Year by Digiday, and Digital Studio of the Year by Cynopsis.Portal A was profiled by Adweek as "creating branded and original content for next generation of digital" and Business Insider wrote that Portal A is "a go-to for social video work for marketers anchored by influencers" and "Portal A has found success bypassing the traditional agency model."