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Founded in 2017 by Rob Fishman, Darren Lachtman, and Jimin Park, Brat TV is a Los Angeles digital media company producing original scripted shows for Generation Z and young millennials. The network features prominent teen influencers and actors, including Jules LeBlanc, Mackenzie Ziegler, and Anna Cathcart, starring in popular series such as Chicken Girls, Crown Lake, and Total Eclipse. The company distributes its free content across YouTube, Snapchat, Roku, and Fire TV, generating revenue through advertising, brand partnerships, and content sponsorships. Supported by over twenty-nine million dollars in total venture funding, the brand has accumulated four million eight hundred thousand YouTube subscribers and one billion six hundred million views by 2022. To further expand its distribution footprint, the organization recently partnered with Future Today to launch a dedicated channel offering over eighty-five hours of ad-supported programming.
Brat TV has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round.
Brat TV has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Brat TV has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Brat TV's investors include Amasia, BoxGroup, Founder Collective, Habitat Partners, Shine Capital, The Finger Group, Union Square Ventures, Clark Landry, Karl Jacob, Oliver Jung, Rafe Furst, Scott Heiferman.
Brat TV has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $3.0M Seed in July 2017.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2017 | $3M Seed | — | Amasia, BoxGroup, Founder Collective, Habitat Partners, Shine Capital, The Finger Group, Union Square Ventures, Clark Landry, Karl Jacob, Oliver Jung, Rafe Furst, Scott Heiferman | Announced |
Brat TV, operated by Brat, Inc., is a digital production company specializing in original web series and content for Generation Z audiences.[1][3][5] It produces scripted shows exploring teenage life, such as *Chicken Girls*, *Total Eclipse*, and *Mani*, streamed primarily on YouTube, Snapchat, and platforms like Peacock, Pluto, and Roku, serving over 20 million viewers.[2][3][5] The company solves the gap in high-quality, free digital entertainment for young teens by leveraging social media stars, enabling monetization through ads, partnerships, and VOD delivery while streamlining production workflows.[1][2][3]
Founded in 2017 in Los Angeles, Brat TV has shown growth through hit projects like *Chicken Girls: The Movie* (over 40 million views) and strategic acquisitions, including Crypt TV in 2024 and React Media (rebranded as ZATV) in 2025 via Electric Monster.[1][3] This expansion into horror and reaction content broadens its appeal beyond core teen dramas, boosting revenue via efficient media management and remote collaboration tools.[2][4]
Brat TV was founded in 2017 by television writer Rob Fishman and Darren Lachtman in Los Angeles, California, with $2.5 million in seed funding.[1][3] Fishman identified a market opportunity for premium, free scripted teen content on digital platforms like YouTube, capitalizing on social media influencers' built-in audiences as "under-leveraged media properties."[3] The name draws inspiration from the 1980s "Brat Pack" films, evoking youth culture.[3][4]
Early traction came from flagship series *Chicken Girls*, which led to *Chicken Girls: The Movie* in 2018 (over 40 million views by 2023) via a short-lived Lionsgate deal.[3] The company featured rising stars from Disney and Nickelodeon, like Jules LeBlanc and Anna Cathcart, building a loyal Gen Z following.[1][3] Pivotal moments include adopting creative.space for post-production in 2017, saving 12 hours daily on workflows, and recent acquisitions: Crypt TV (horror) in January 2024 and React Media (rebranded ZATV) in 2025, signaling evolution into diverse genres.[2][3][4]
Brat TV rides the shift to digital-first, short-form entertainment tailored for Gen Z, who favor free, mobile-native content over traditional TV amid declining linear viewership.[1][2][3] Timing aligns with platforms like YouTube and Snapchat dominating youth media consumption, amplified by influencer economies where stars bring pre-existing audiences.[3][5]
Market forces favoring Brat include rising demand for authentic teen stories, ad-supported streaming growth, and tools like creative.space enabling lean, remote production—critical post-pandemic.[2][4] It influences the ecosystem by nurturing Gen Z talent (e.g., Jules LeBlanc), proving scalable models for niche digital studios, and expanding via acquisitions into horror/reaction niches, potentially reshaping youth content aggregation.[1][3]
Brat TV's acquisition of React Media into ZATV positions it for a "different kind of Brat summer" in 2025, blending teen dramas with reaction and horror to capture evolving Gen Z tastes.[1][3] Next steps likely include more genre expansions, leveraging workflow efficiencies for faster content drops, and deeper platform integrations amid AI-driven personalization trends in streaming.
As digital natives demand interactive, influencer-led media, Brat could evolve into a Gen Z content powerhouse, influencing how studios monetize short-form video—echoing its origins in filling the free teen content void with scalable, star-powered hits.[3][5]
