Shots Podcast Network is a podcasting company founded by brothers

John Shahidi John Shahidi is the President of Shots Podcast Network and Happy Dad Hard Seltzer. Also, a partner of the popular YouTube group, Nelk Boys. On October 28, 2022, Shahidi became an investor and advisor to Twitter and Elon Musk. With his brother ...

and

Sam Shahidi Sam Shahidi (born August 1, 1983) is a businessperson and co-founder of Shots Podcast Network and CEO of Happy Dad Hard Seltzer. Also, a partner of the popular YouTube group, Nelk Boys. In 2009, he and his brother John Shahidi started the video ...

. The company was originally founded as a software development company named Rock Software in 2009, creating mobile games along with YouTube channels with celebrities. The first iPhone game and YouTube channel was created in partnership with

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

. With the support of a team of investors including Justin Bieber, podcasts underneath the Shots Podcast Network include Full Send Podcast, The Pivot and Hotboxin with Mike Tyson.

Podcast Network and YouTube

In November 2019,

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

announced a suite of podcasts and included a partnership with Shots Podcast Network for a podcast hosted by

Lele Pons Eleonora Pons Maronese (born June 25, 1996), better known as Lele Pons, is a Venezuelan YouTuber, actress, and singer who holds both Venezuelan and American citizenship. Pons came to prominence on Vine before the platform shut down in 2017 w ...

. "

Best Kept Secrets with Lele Pons ' ''Best Kept Secrets with Lele Pons'' is a weekly podcast produced by Shots Studios and exclusively distributed by Spotify. Hosted by American YouTuber Lele Pons, the podcast invites anonymous callers to share deeply personal and intimate secrets ...

" debuted exclusively on Spotify on August 19, 2020. In 2020, Shots released 2 podcasts, I Am Athlete with Brandon Marshall and Hotboxin with Mike Tyson. In 2021, Shots released Full Send Podcast with the

Nelk Nelk (stylized as NELK), also referred to as the Nelk Boys, is a Canadian-American YouTube channel and entertainment company. They are known for their prank videos, vlogs, and their brand Full Send Entertainment. The group's founder, Kyle Forge ...

Boys. In 2022, after parting ways with I Am Athlete, Shots released The Pivot Podcast.

Shots & Consumer Goods

Shots Podcast Network has expanded to consumer goods and merchandise. In August 2020, Shots became a retailer of

NRG Esports NRG Esports is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. It has rosters in '' Apex Legends'', '' Clash Royale'', ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', '' Fortnite'', ''Gears of War'', ''Hearthstone'', ''Overwatch'', '' Rocket League ...

merchandise after forming a partnership with the gaming company. On April 3, 2020, WWD announced a partnership between Shots Podcast Network and Syllable, a beauty product company, to create Loops Beauty, a line of sustainable face masks. Shots Studios creators model and promote the product. In June 2021, Shots helped launch Happy Dad Hard Seltzer with the Nelk Boys.

Company History

Rock Software: 2009 - 2011

The company launched as Rock Software in 2009 by brothers John and Sam Shahidi in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. They started as a mobile gaming company focused on

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android apps, with its first commercial release being RunPee, an app which gives users the best time to use the restroom during a movie. The app was featured on ''The Today Show''. Through a mutual friend on the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, the Shahidi brothers met star wide receiver

Chad Ochocinco Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson; January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Santa Monica College and Oregon State University, and p ...

which led to a partnership and creation of two apps, the Chad Ochocinco Experience and MadChad.

RockLive: 2011 - 2013

During this time the company continued to grow and rebranded as RockLive. They expanded their focus on mobile gaming apps and created apps for celebrities and athletes including

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

, and

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. In 2011, the company launched a mobile game called ''

's Main Event''. Across their various platforms, RockLive saw more than 3 million active users.

Shots App: 2013 - 2017

In 2013 the company began moving away from mobile games and working on a new social media app. With a large investment from

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

earlier that year, they released the Shots app on November 12, 2013. The app was a selfie picture sharing app with a focus on anti-bullying. Other investors include

Floyd Mayweather Floyd may refer to: As a name * Floyd (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Floyd (surname), a list of people and fictional characters Places in the United States * Floyd, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Floyd, I ...

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Wayans began his career portraying a pedestrian in ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' (1988). He went on to regularly collaborate with his brother Shawn Wa ...

Omar Epps Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Epps's film r ...

Shervin Pishevar Shervin Kordary Pishevar ( fa, شروین پیشه ور; born March 24, 1974) is an Iranian-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, super angel investor, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Hyperloop One ...

, Ben Parr, WI Harper,

Upfront Ventures Upfront Ventures, formerly known as GRP Partners, is a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies. It is one of the largest venture capital firms in Los Angeles, with $2 billion in total raised funds. ...

and DCM Ventures. This led to the move of the company headquarters to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. After Twitter CEO Anthony Noto accidentally tweeted a message about an acquisition for Twitter, a source close to the company confirmed that Twitter was looking to acquire Shots for $150 million. CEO John Shahidi stated to

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

that the company was not for sale at the time. By 2015 the Shots app had over 7 million active users. During this time, the company began partnering with digital content creators including

Rudy Mancuso Rodolfo Mancuso (born February 28, 1991) is an American Internet personality, musician and actor. He is known for making comedy skits with his friends on YouTube and Vine having 10.6 million followers by the time it shut down making him the 4th ...

to explore delivering original content to its users. This led to the development of the Awkward Puppets series. In 2017, the Shots mobile app was removed from the

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

as the company shifted focus towards producing original content for

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and other social platforms.

Shots Studios: 2013 - 2020

The Shots app launched Shots Studios and became a full-time digital studio in 2016. After the companies transition to digital entertainment, the Shots app was removed from the

App Store (iOS) The App Store is an app store platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS Software Deve ...

in 2016. Shots Studios channels have tens of millions of followers combined, tapping into an increasingly digital world with online comedy, music, and other video content. The company has landed partnerships with companies such as

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

, and many

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

brands for branded content. In addition to its core YouTube channels, Shots Studios has since launched a music division, a kid-friendly "

edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainment ...

" channel, an apparel line, and beauty products. In addition to content production, Shots Studios also manages a roster of artists and creators including

Hannah Stocking Hannah Stocking-Siagkris (born February 4, 1992) is an American comedian and internet personality who first gained recognition from the social media platform Vine. She later became known for her comedy videos on YouTube.

, Anwar Jibawi,

Delaney Glazer Delaney may refer to: People * Delaney (surname), including a list of people with the surname * Delaney (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places * Delaney, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Delaney, West Virginia, ...

. Shots Studios creators have partnered with companies such as

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

Tarte Cosmetics Tarte Cosmetics is an American cosmetics company headquartered in New York City. It was founded by Maureen Kelly in 1999; her first product was a cheek stain that was used the following year for the cover of ''Self'' magazine. Also in 2000, Tart ...

AXE An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...

COVERGIRL CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989 and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics li ...

, and many others to produce branded content. In October 2015, Shots Studios launched Awkward Puppets, an original series created by

, thus launching the recently re-branded company's first foray into content production. In 2016, Shots Studios partnered with Mike Tyson to launch a YouTube channel for the boxer to share sketch comedy on. The company began to manage other creators, assembling a roster of Rudy Mancuso, Lele Pons, Anwar Jibawi, Hannah Stocking and Jake Paul, in order to produce content on their own YouTube channels. Shots Studios previously partnered and collaborated with other entertainers such as

Alesso Alessandro Renato Rodolfo Lindblad (born 7 July 1991), better known by his stage name Alesso (), is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He has worked with numerous artists, including Tove Lo, Theo Hutchcraft, Ryan Tedder, Hailee Steinfeld, Calvi ...

Anitta Anitta may refer to: * Anitta (king), Hittite king *Anitta (singer) Larissa de Macedo Machado (born March 30, 1993), known professionally as Anitta, is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and television host. She is regarded as one of biggest Brazi ...

Inanna Sarkis Inanna Sarkis is a Canadian actress of Bulgarian and Assyrian descent. Early life and career Sarkis was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of a Syrian father who was a dentist and a Bulgarian mother who used to be a surgeon in Bulgaria. ...

, and

Loren Gray Loren Gray Beech (born April 19, 2002) is an American social media personality and singer best known for the TikTok career she began in 2016, at the age of 13. She is the seventeenth most-followed individual on TikTok as of December 2022, and ...

. In July 2017, Shots Studios signed Brazilian megastar

. On September 3, Anitta released her first English-language single, a collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter

Poo Bear Jason Paul Douglas Boyd, better known by his stage name Poo Bear, is an American songwriter, singer, and music producer. He is best known for being one of Justin Bieber's main collaborators, having co-written many of Bieber's hits (including " ...

titled "Will I See You." The video earned over 10 million views in its first two days on YouTube. On October 7, 2017, Mancuso released his first single titled “Black & White” with Poo Bear. On November 19, 2017, Anitta released "

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

," a Spanish-language collaboration with Colombian singer

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

. The song was nominated for "Best Urban Song" at the

Latin GRAMMYs The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

. Shots Studios also produced music videos for Grammy Award nominated Swedish producer Alesso, including the visuals for 2017's “

Is That For Me "Is That for Me" is a song by Swedish DJ Alesso and Brazilian singer Anitta. It was written by Poo Bear together with Alesso and produced by the latter. The song was released as a single on 13 October 2017, and is part of Anitta's project entitled ...

” with Brazilian star Anitta, 2018's Mancuso-directed “ Remedy” with

Conor Maynard Conor Paul Maynard (born 21 November 1992) is an English singer. Born and raised in Brighton, he signed a recording contract with Warner Music Group in 2011. Maynard rose to fame in 2012 when he was nominated for, and subsequently won, MTV's ''M ...

, and 2019's “ Sad Song” with Tini. In September 2017, Alesso and American artist

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hailee Steinfeld, various accolades, including a Peabody Award, and nominations for an Academy Award ...

released "

Let Me Go Let or LET may refer to: Sports * Let serve, when the served object in certain racket sports hits the net and lands in the correct service court, such as; ** Let (badminton) ** Let (pickleball) ** Let (tennis) * Ladies European Tour, the ladi ...

" featuring

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was ...

and

Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

. The record was certified Platinum and amassed over 1 billion streams across streaming platforms. In July 2018, ''Variety'' announced that Shots Studios partnered with

to produce a six-episode

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

that followed the life of Brazilian pop star

. The series, titled ''

Vai Anitta ''Vai Anitta'' (English: ''Go Anitta'') is a biographical docu-series produced by Shots Studios and released on Netflix. Synopsis The six-episode first season follows Brazilian artist Anitta as she steps into the international spotlight, going ...

'', was exclusively released on Netflix on November 16, 2018. In March 2018, Billboard named Shots Studios one of Dance music's "Internationalists," a company that is "leading dance music's global expansion." John and Sam Shahidi were named to Billboard's Latin Power Players list for their and their artists' success in the Spanish-speaking market in November 2018. In late November 2018, Alesso released "Tilted Towers," a collaborative project with ''

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...

'' streamer and YouTuber

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

, which debuted live on the gamer's Twitch stream. The song appeared on Ninja's first music endeavor, a compilation project titled " Ninjawerks (Vol. 1). In August 2018, Shots Studios Music was formed in partnership with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and Lele Pons released her first solo single, “ Celoso.” Pons would perform the record at the

Latin American Music Awards The Latin American Music Awards (Latin AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by the MRC Live and Alternative. It is the Spanish-language counterpart of the American Music Awards (AMAs). As with AMAs, the Latin AMAs are determine ...

after it was certified 3× Platinum. On March 13, 2019, ''

Tubefilter Tubefilter, Inc. is a privately held company based in Los Angeles, California that operates media businesses focusing on the online entertainment industry. Tubefilter is best known for Tubefilter News, a blog targeted at the fans, creators, pro ...

'' announced that Shots Studios would join a handful of other creative studios and content creators to produce new original programming for

Facebook Watch Facebook Watch is a video on demand service operated by American company Meta Platforms (previously named Facebook, Inc.). The company announced the service in August 2017 and was available to all U.S. users that month. Facebook Watch's original ...

. Shots Studios’ slate of programs was headlined by projects from Rudy Mancuso,

Juanpa Zurita Juan Pablo Martínez-Zurita Arellano (born March 29, 1996), commonly known as Juanpa Zurita, is a Mexican social media influencer, vlogger, actor and model. He became known in 2013 through making comedy videos on the Vine app. Later, he diversif ...

and Lele Pons. On June 12, 2019, Shots Studios released a series of Mancuso-written and directed shorts titled "Stories From Our Future" in collaboration with Netflix's

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winning series ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

''. On August 14, 2020, it was announced that social media superstar

Jake Paul Jake Joseph Paul (born January 17, 1997) is an American media personality and professional boxer. He initially rose to fame on Vine, before playing the role of Dirk Mann on the Disney Channel series ''Bizaardvark'' for two seasons. Throughout ...

signed with Shots Studios. On April 22, 2020, ''Variety'' announced Shots Studios’ YouTube Original docuseries titled ''

The Secret Life of Lele Pons ''The Secret Life of Lele Pons'' is a biographical docuseries about YouTube star Lele Pons, produced by Shots Studios, directed by Emmy-award winner Alicia Zubikowski. The first episode was released on Pons' YouTube channel on May 19, 2020. Syno ...

''. The first episode of the five-part docuseries premiered on May 19, 2020, on Lele Pons’ YouTube channel. On August 24, ''Tubefilter'' announced that Shots Studios had entered a new partnership with

for content production, social strategy, and apparel.

References

External links

Shots Podcast Network
on YouTube
Shots Podcast Network
on Twitter
Shots Podcast Network
on Instagram {{Authority control Mobile social software American record labels Entertainment-related YouTube channels