TikTok star Josh Richards linked up with Mark Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas to start his own company, CrossCheck studios. The studios focus to produce content for Gen Z.
Other endeavors
Richards — a co-founder of TalentX and is a member of the collective SwayLA — is not new to the world of entertainment entrepreneurship. At the age of 19, he has amassed millions of followers across social and is now a CEO. Micheal Gruen, also a co-founder of TalentX, will serve as the companies president.
The scope of Richards’s career has skyrocketed. Over the past year, Richards co-founded an energy drink company, Ani. He began the Bffs podcast with Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports. Richards invested in a multitude of companies like Chalk and Atmos, commonly alongside Sway house members, Bryce Hall, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck. The Sway members earlier this month bought a stake in Sillybandz as a group.
Working with Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg spoke highly of Richards in a statement “I am impressed with Josh and all of the things he’s already accomplished”. Wahlberg’s manager Stephen Levinson and Archie Gips, a filmmaker, will support CrossCheck in its beginning endeavors.
Richards is vocal about how pleased he is to be working with Mark Wahlberg. He took to Twitter and TikTok for the announcement. Richards told TooFab “The coolest part of this is teaming up with Mark. He’s an idol to me. I’ve always looked up to him. The way that he’s been able to pivot his career from modeling to acting to running a restaurant”.
Expect CrossCheck to be filled with familiar TikTok stars. Richards stated his hopes for the company “Definitely be expecting a docuseries or something along the lines of that with this production company and hopefully some Emmy nominations or something!”. He has high expectations for his company and rightfully so. Richards wants the company to become the go-to internet-native creators.