Pocket.watch is partnering with its first TikTok star

Dan Rhodes has come a long way since he appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2019. Over the past three years, the 19-year-old magician has broken out on a pair of short-form hubs. He has 10 million followers on TikTok and 16 million subscribers on YouTube Shorts.

Now, Rhodes is striking a deal that will support him as he develops his brand through traditional and new media ventures. He has signed with pocket.watch, the digital studio that turns family-friendly channels into multiplatform franchises.

In a press release, pocket.watch said that Rhodes is the company’s “first major creator whose audience has been built on YouTube Shorts and TikTok.” The five-year-old firm works with some clients who have established dedicated channels for short-form content, but its typical partners are big names on the long-form version of YouTube. Ryan Kaji, Onyx Family, and Toys and Colors are three of the most prominent channels in the pocket.watch network.

“Dan is one of the most exciting magicians in the world who has globally captured the hearts of young audiences through his approach to teaching while entertaining,” said Kerry Tucker, Chief Marketing and Franchise Officer at pocket.watch, in a statement. “We are so excited to welcome Dan to the pocket.watch family and expand his reach to new platforms and new audiences.”

Rhodes has already begun to branch out. His time as a 15-year-old Britain’s Got Talent contestant gave him TV experience, and he published a book called The Magic earlier this year. The “part memoir, part how-to” title has already hit shelves in the U.K. and will arrive in the U.S. in November. Pocket.watch cited “content development, original programming, and franchise opportunities” as three potential growth areas for the budding young impresario.

Even though Rhodes has plenty of plans that don’t involve vertical video, he won’t be slowing down on his core channels any time soon. He became a stalwart in our Global Top 50 ranking last year after uploading one of the most-watched videos in YouTube Shorts history (it has more than 376 million views to date.) Rhodes continues to win fans by bringing an open and cheerful attitude to his bag of tricks. Unlike many magicians, he likes to show viewers how his magic is made.

Pocket.watch recently announced partnerships with a number of top children’s content producers, including Vania Mania Kids. That slew of signings brought the number of videos in pocket.watch’s library up to 70,000.