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It seems like the loudest voices often become the default representatives of an entire demographic. Few groups have felt that more than Gen Z men. While the group has its fair share of issues, one thing is undeniable: it represents enormous purchasing power and cultural influence. Yet much of the content competing for its attention leans on outrage, misinformation or divisive rhetoric. Bryan Smiley believes brands shouldn’t have to choose between reaching young men and protecting their reputation.
The former president and chief content officer of Hartbeat recently launched Hard Carry Media (HCM), a digital-first media company focused on building and acquiring sports, entertainment and lifestyle brands for Gen Z men.
“I get it, it’s a sexier story,” Smiley says. “But so much emphasis is on these hyper-toxic creators. There’s more to this generation than just the manosphere, and my role is to show the other half of it.”
“I spent two decades in traditional Hollywood. It was nowhere near as exciting as what’s happening in the creator universe today.”
Smiley is a first-time founder, but he’s spent more than two decades building media businesses. Before launching Hard Carry Media, he held leadership roles at Fox Digital Studios, Columbia Pictures and Sony, where he helped spearhead major talent partnerships, including deals with Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media and Issa Rae. He later served as president and chief content officer at Hartbeat, working alongside founder Kevin Hart as the company evolved into a global entertainment studio.
Smiley credits Hart with shaping both his leadership philosophy and his entrepreneurial outlook.
“Kevin’s like my big bro,” he says. “He was exceptionally optimistic and positive about our business. He was never mired in problems. He was always about solutions and pivoting hard when he had to, and he never lost sight of the end goal.”
That mindset proved invaluable as Hartbeat rapidly expanded. At its peak, Smiley estimates the company produced roughly 46 films, television series, unscripted projects and podcasts in a single year.
“When you’re making that much content, it’s easy to get distracted by the noise,” Smiley says. “You have to stay focused on the end goal and why you’re doing it. That’s what Kevin was a master at.”
At the same time, Smiley found himself drawn to another evolving corner of the entertainment industry: the creator economy. His first glimpse into the space came during Vine’s heyday in the mid-2010s, when he worked closely with digital creators on brand partnerships and growth strategies. Watching creators turn online audiences into thriving businesses fundamentally changed the way he thought about entertainment.
“For me, that felt very exciting,” Smiley says. “I went to film school and spent two decades in traditional Hollywood, which I still love, but it was nowhere near as exciting as what’s happening in the creator universe today.”
By the time he was at Hartbeat, that shift had accelerated. While overseeing more than $500 million in productions for partners including Netflix, Peacock, Audible and SiriusXM, he watched creators evolve from influencers into entrepreneurs.
“Funds were popping up to help them, and the biggest creators were turning their influence and audiences into real revenue streams that existed off-platform,” Smiley says.
Recognizing the opportunity, he began bringing creators into Hartbeat’s business, partnering with digital stars including MrBeast, Druski and Kai Cenat.
“It became clear to me that the future was going to be in this space,” he says. “It was going to be closely associated with brand partnerships, and it still felt early enough to plant my flag and make a name for myself.”
“I don’t need to boil the ocean; I just need to figure out how to make content for a group for which we can become the definitive voice.”
Planting that flag required a strong foundation. One of the biggest lessons Smiley took away from Hartbeat was the importance of serving a specific audience rather than trying to appeal to everyone.
“I don’t need to boil the ocean,” Smiley says. “I just need to figure out how to make content for a group for which we can become the definitive voice.”
For Hard Carry Media, that audience is Gen Z men. The focus is a natural extension of the company’s roots in esports, where it spent years learning how to engage young male audiences across digital platforms through brands like Full Squad, HCM’s flagship property.
“We’re talking to men who are at a very transitional point in their lives. That’s something I can relate to,” Smiley says. “Technology, COVID and a lot of other things have shaped this generation differently than mine, but they still have tremendous buying power, and they still relate to many of the same things I related to at that age.”
Full Squad is a Gen Z-focused sports and entertainment platform producing game shows, live streams, real-world challenges and celebrity-driven content across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other social platforms. The brand has amassed more than 11 million followers, generates roughly 260 million monthly views and has surpassed 11 billion lifetime views, attracting partnerships with brands including Ford, Rockstar Energy, Samsung and Energizer.
Smiley attributes much of that success to understanding how Gen Z consumes media. He believes the generation places enormous value on parasocial relationships, becoming just as invested in the personalities on screen as the content itself.
“I feel like this entire demographic has been bucketed into the manosphere category, and my argument is they’re much broader than that.”
Meeting the audience where they are doesn’t mean chasing every trend. In fact, one of Smiley’s biggest goals is to challenge what he sees as the dominant narrative surrounding content for Gen Z men.
“I feel like this entire demographic has been bucketed into the manosphere category, and my argument is they’re much broader than that,” Smiley says.
He hopes to offer an alternative to the increasingly toxic content surrounding Gen Z men, giving them the sports, gaming and culture content they love without wrapping it in hateful rhetoric or misinformation. That doesn’t mean he wants to alienate people because of their interests or beliefs.
“I think people have very diverse interests and consume all kinds of content,” Smiley says. “Even if someone in our audience also watches manosphere content, that doesn’t define who they are.”
He believes Gen Z men’s reputation has been shaped by its loudest voices.
“That kind of content is very noisy,” Smiley says. “But if you look at Twitch and YouTube, there’s also a lot of loud, energetic content that’s not toxic at all. It’s positive, it’s entertaining, and those creators are still getting incredible engagement and huge audiences. The difference is they’re not saying exceptionally controversial things, so no one is talking about them.”
Smiley believes there’s a market for highly engaging content that speaks to Gen Z men in a voice they recognize — without relying on racist, sexist or misogynistic rhetoric to capture their attention.
It seems like the loudest voices often become the default representatives of an entire demographic. Few groups have felt that more than Gen Z men. While the group has its fair share of issues, one thing is undeniable: it represents enormous purchasing power and cultural influence. Yet much of the content competing for its attention leans on outrage, misinformation or divisive rhetoric. Bryan Smiley believes brands shouldn’t have to choose between reaching young men and protecting their reputation.
The former president and chief content officer of Hartbeat recently launched Hard Carry Media (HCM), a digital-first media company focused on building and acquiring sports, entertainment and lifestyle brands for Gen Z men.
“I get it, it’s a sexier story,” Smiley says. “But so much emphasis is on these hyper-toxic creators. There’s more to this generation than just the manosphere, and my role is to show the other half of it.”