MSG to Theatre: Career Beyond Creators
Creator Conversation with David Jacobson, Director of Marketing of Cherry Lane Theatre at A24
Welcome to “Creator Conversations,” a weekly feature on Paid Partnership where I interview a prominent creator, agent, marketer or industry professional to discuss wide-ranging topics from outreach to negotiation to content.
In the bowels of Madison Square Garden, there existed a man so chronically online, so energy-filled that every creator in the world was at his fingertips.
Enter, David Jacobson
David’s passion for making cool stuff combines with his self-described “social butterfly” personality to make him an unstoppable force in the creator ecosystem and beyond.
Now in a new role as the Director of Marketing at Cherry Lane Theatre (A24), David is relishing the opportunity to make tangible impact within a team of six people to activate across all marketing verticals, not just creators.
I’ve always been impressed with two core traits of David’s: his ability to form genuine connections (and real friendships) with creators/celebrities - large and small - as well as his desire for creativity that expands beyond collaborative content into his own photography and side projects.
David called me pool-side (not a joke, see below) while on a scouting mission in LA to link about:
Hosting The Rizzler at the Knicks Celeb Game
The power of long-term creator relationships
Embracing new career opportunities
And more!
Neil: Starting off, you always seemed to be hosting the newest, hottest creators. How did you successfully connect with so many people?
David: I always say, anyone could do what I did. It's like the classic having the keys to the Corvette. It's like Erik Spoelstra (coach of the Miami Heat)... “Do you think you can coach Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh?” You just say yes, and then you just figure it out. Just based on my email signature alone being at Madison Square Garden… it was such a cheat code. I'm also a bit of a social butterfly.
And it's not like I was 25 years old doing this. I worked for TAO Group handling their marketing, where I was connected from when I was 21 to 22 - Like if I wanted to go to any event, from Coachella to the NBA All Star game, or to the Super Bowl or Sundance, I was there. Everyone likes to party, so I was just meeting people all the time.
I'll even take a step back further. I worked for a company called Overtime before this, and they really opened my eyes up. I'll give them credit because they were like, “You should be on TikTok. You should be leaning into creators and finding new talent,” and they kind of stole that format from Barstool honestly - As much as I hate Barstool, they're really good at cultivating and harvesting their own talent, making people online become these well known voices and figures.
The creator space became so big. I feel like, when I first started at TAO, it was just like lifestyle and foodie kind of people, or just food influencers everywhere. We didn’t even see that as a huge part of of marketing ecosystem and we owned a ton of restaurants, but as the creator space grew it kinda was a no brainer it would become what it is now.
So when I was MSG, I had all these connections where I could text Nick Heller (New York Nico), or somebody, “Hey, can you connect me with someone?” Or I would cold email people, or just reach back into my Rolodex of people I’ve met over the years. That's the people that I met seven, eight, almost 10 years ago. Everyone wants to come to Madison Square Garden for free and be part of that. It was not a hard sell whatsoever. It's the easiest sell of all time [laughter]. If I would have been anywhere else for some minor league baseball team, you would see just a completely different result. So none of the credit goes to me. That is for sure.
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Neil: How would you stay up on who's hot? I feel like you always had the best pulse of anyone in the industry.
David: I really think again, being chronically online. I always hate to be that type of person, but one of my flaws is if someone says/sends something I’m like “Oh, I've heard it or I've seen it.” I've always been that person. I was that way with music in high school, where I was always on the blogs before everybody and putting together playlists of music and unreleased stuff, going to underground shows. I'm so chronically online, and I'm always digging for really cool up-and-coming, non-commercial stuff, but also the influencer stuff can also be very commercial. With algorithms nowadays, creator discovery is there for you. So it’s just a matter of you taking the time to do a little digging.
Neil: I need to know more about The Rizzler playing in the Knicks Celebrity Game.
David: I think the timing was perfect. Sometimes creators are a little too saturated, or they've already done too many similar activations, so it doesn’t hit as hard. I'm not taking credit for his entry into sports but he was not doing too much in that realm beforehand and now you see him throwing the first pitch at the Mets game, on the field with the Chiefs during the playoffs, walking out WWE guys.
My initial pitch was - What if he was a ball boy? I thought that would have been really funny during the games because he's eight years old. I was like, wouldn't it be funny if when the team went to the other side of the court he would just come out with a “Knicks Ball Boy” T-shirt to sweep the floor then quickly run off. That would go so crazy. But then someone on my team was like “Why doesn’t he just play for a minute?” That was the most viral thing I think that ever could happen. I never even thought about the idea of him playing.
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Neil: Any other memorable collabs or people that stood out to you through the years?
David: My favorite thing I ever did—and you know about this—was the Alpha Dads. That was just something going viral. The vests, the way they talked—just crazy dad, corporate jargon. Stuff like, “The deal’s done” or “Yeah that’ll please the shareholders” just muttering ridiculous corporate tropes. It was really dumb and funny.
It was also cool doing stuff with people in our space, like Paul the Zamboni guy—he ran the Zamboni at the Rangers. That was really cool. We were trying to use as many front-facing MSG people as possible. I was really never in any of the videos myself of course. I wanted to use more of our security— there were so many amazing personalities at The Garden.
Using Paul the Zamboni guy—he did this interview with the Broadcast Boys and also Nico. I thought that was really funny and also sweet. Getting The Rizzler on—that was amazing. My friend Veronica when she was coming up. My buddy Brandon Cohen did a thing on the court. Laundry Day would pop up here and there. We got Cooking With Lynja to a game… we had Alix Earle. Obviously, Cugine was like my Leonardo DiCaprio— he did so many things for us that were so dumb and silly. New York Nico was big. He ended up directing, scouting talent for our commercials. We did a podcast with him, too.
It was cool doing the Knicks podcast. Having Jon Stewart on it—that was a life goal, for sure.
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Neil: You've always been interested in different formats, beyond just the TikTok creators as well. How is that directing or bringing Nico in for those other extensions?
David: Nico just really spoke to what we were doing. I mean, his name is New York Nico—it was perfect. I think our CFO or SVP of Business Operations already loved him, so it was an easy sell. He had premiered something at the New York Film Festival, so I was like, this guy knows how to work a film set. He knows how to be around people and get what you need—not just shooting on an iPhone. He started out that way, sure, but he’d literally been at NYFF with a short film. So I was like, this guy can direct.
He ended up directing two or three commercials. On my last day before I left MSG, I took him to a game—a full-circle moment. We had started working together early on, and so much happened from there. He even thanked me—not that I’m taking credit—but he said, “You pushed for me to be a director, not just someone doing TikToks for The Garden”
That was the whole idea: making it more 360 marketing, not just transactional. Because it can feel that way sometimes. You bring someone in, use them for a moment, and move on—like being on The Tonight Show. You get seven great minutes from a guest, then it's like, “Alright, we’ll be back with somebody else,” and boom, on to the next. That’s kind of what the job can feel like.
So I tried to walk the line—don’t use people for one-offs or make them feel like pawns. If you work with someone a few times, you start to see how they can fit into different spaces. They can be on a podcast, in commercials, campaigns. Cugine ended up doing TikToks, and he was even on our Jumbotron explaining the NBA In-Season Tournament. I thought he could totally be our ambassador, and it kinda worked.
It was about more than just checking a box. It was: how do we integrate them into the ecosystem? Almost like building a Simpsons-type universe of creators. That was really the whole goal. That’s what I was trying to do.
Neil: Yeah, those long term relationships are key. Bringing the whole family in. I've always been impressed with you shooting your own content, your own photos, throughout the entire process. How do you balance? Like shooting content for the brand, and then you always have the camera on the side?
David: We need content. All content, all the time. I had an amazing boss at TAO—my first ever job. He was just like, “You're gonna learn graphic design. You're gonna learn Adobe Premiere.” Total drill sergeant. Like that coach who pushes you hard in sports—he was exactly like that.
He told me, “You’re gonna know how to use Facebook Ads Manager. You’re gonna learn the back end of a website.” I was doing everything—minimal coding, even before Squarespace was a thing. I handled our ticketing, ran Facebook ad campaigns, managed all our sponsor work, did email marketing, made the graphics, shot food photos. All of it.
He drilled it into me: be a content machine. And that really came from working at a small company where you had to do it all. I kept all those skills with me, and I always had a camera on me because of him too. That stuff’s so valuable.
Neil: I'm always so inspired. Quickly pivoting to your current position (Director of Marketing, Cherry Lane Theatre)—curious how this role differs from what you did previously.
David: So different. I went from working for the World’s Most Famous Arena to this historic off-Broadway theater that seats maybe 170 people. It’s a completely different world. When you work at MSG, there’s no need to explain—it’s the Knicks, it’s the Garden, everyone gets it. But this? It’s such a small, niche part of theater culture.
And it’s not even Broadway—it’s tucked away in the West Village on Commerce Street. It started with Sam Shepard plays,. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Barbara Streisand used to temp there back in the day—she worked in the wings. John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman did True West there in the '90s or early 2000s. Really amazing stuff has happened there.
I found Cherry Lane right as I was becoming a film and culture geek. A lot of comedians and creatives were doing trial runs there—Mike Birbigilia, for example—because it’s such an intimate space. It’s so small, and the audience is different. These are people who truly care about honoring theater history and people who love alt comedy. Sometimes I can’t even keep up with the conversations—they’re so in-depth, I’m taking notes constantly when I’m working with the A24 and theatre team here.
It's more 360 brand marketing here. We’re trying to maintain the theatre identity as the place to discover talent. That was its original purpose since it began in 1923—a launchpad for voices that hadn’t been heard yet. You walk in and think, “I’ve never heard of this person,” but then they blow you away, and you know they’re going to be huge. That’s exciting.
At the Knicks, I used to say, “I could get hit by a bus and the place would still move without skipping a beat” It’s a massive institution. This place is too, but it’s held together by a bunch of small moving parts. At MSG, I worked with event production, sales, marketing, campaign strategy, ushers, security—you name it. At A24, there are only about 100 people, and our Cherry Lane team is just around 10 people. It’s small. Everyone has to pull their weight.
People say, if you want to test a relationship, go paddle boarding—because both people have to balance and work together… Carry their weight. It’s like that here. (Kind of funny I’m saying that while I’m tanning by a pool right now haha but I’m working I swear.)
Neil: Similarly, any thoughts on your personal brand after leaving MSG? I know you were thought of as “the Knicks guy.”
David: If you look at my Instagram, I’m barely in the photos. I love being behind the camera, making things happen. That’s why I was a producer at MSG—I love being the logistics guy, the brains behind the moment. People say, “Your life looks amazing,” and I’m like that’s just because I know how to show it from the right angle. You don’t see all the stuff behind the scenes.
That job also came with a lot of hand-holding—especially in entertainment. You’re babysitting, massaging egos, coordinating with managers, negotiating contracts, working with legal to get everything approved. Then the talent shows up and they’re lost, and I’m walking them in, trying to get them where they need to be. A lot of small, tedious stuff that you’ll never see.
But I love that this role is on a smaller scale, where I don’t feel like I’m just part of a massive machine. At MSG, the place itself is legendary. You can make a mistake and the company’s still a multi billion-dollar brand. Here, the stakes feel higher—which I like. I wanted to be a little scared again. That’s why I started over here.
