Growing up in the small town of Cornwall, Ontario, Dimitrios Seymour found a passion in sports. He was a natural athlete, dreaming of one day playing in the NBA, becoming even better than his icon Michael Jordan. However, in his teenage years, he came across the talent agency IMG and became mesmerized with how they marketed two of their star clients at the time, athletic icons Vince Carter and Anna Kournikova.
“They were being marketed as models almost, which was very interesting to me. It was literally at that moment, at 13 years old, that I decided I wanted to work with talent and athletes, and market them the same way,” said Seymour.
Flash forward, Seymour is the founder and President of DMG Inc., a wildly successful Toronto talent management firm, and he has more than achieved his goal that he set out at the mere age of thirteen. DMG manages prolific individuals in the sports and entertainment industries. DMG’s mission is to help artists and athletes take the next step in their career by providing full-service A-Z management and career development. Seymour himself has a long list of accomplishments, including being recognized in 2016 by Notable Life as a Notable Young Entrepreneur, listed as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Influential People by the Alberta Youth Commission in October of 2014, and was Entrepreneur of the Year, Under 25 in July 2014 at the SIG Awards.
“I’m immensely grateful to be at a point in my career where I have had the amazing opportunity to represent so many talented and truly inspiring artists and athletes, who have provided me with so many memorable highlights as a talent manager. I really and truly am nothing without my clients. Among so many other things, we have a fiduciary responsibility to our clients as talent managers to represent them to the highest degree of care by providing professional management, sound, researched and well-thought-out information, and reliable mentorship,” Seymour described.
One of Seymour’s success stories involves helping one of his youngest clients at the time, Sam Ashe Arnold, get in front of the casting for Netflix, which eventually led to him getting cast as a lead actor in the Netflix original series Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever. when he was only 14.
Seymour also aided Simi Shittu in signing an exhibit-10 deal with the Chicago Bulls in his rookie year. At the time, Shittu was a 1-and-done college athlete, who had previously come off an injury the year prior. After signing him as a client, Seymour was following him around as he was working his way back through Summer League, and at a mini camp for the Phoenix Suns.
“Just seeing him work so hard through the workouts and evaluations he had with the personal trainers and athletic therapists we surrounded him with really endeared me to his process. Knowing how much signing with the Bulls meant to him and his career is a major highlight, because it couldn’t have happened to anyone more deserving. He’s extremely bright and humble and was raised by a strong family. Seeing where he’s taken his career now has been awesome to witness,” Seymour recalled.
Seymour is hard at work with his current clients. JYDN has two upcoming EP projects, which he will be scheduling production meetings and sessions for, finding and soliciting producers, co-writers and feature artists to collaborate on the projects, arranging PR tours, marketing and events.
Ca$tro Guapo has an upcoming solo LP project, that DMG will be project managing along with his co-management team of Antonio Macieira and Natasha Vanos. Macieira is a strong A&R, who has an ear for emerging and progressive sounds, which allows him to curate Ca$tro’s studio sessions with the top engineers and producers. Macieira also acts as a booker, by arranging Ca$tro’s shows.
“Dimitrios and I have worked together on Ca$tro Guapo and CMDWN, as well as with models we manage. Dimitrios is extremely knowledgeable about the talent representation industries, he understands what a career needs in the specific growth stage it’s in, and he recognizes when to bring on key strategic partners to help grow the career,” said Macieira.
Natasha Vanos, who has a background in hospitality and journalism, will be responsible for the event creation and press outreach; writing press releases for the new singles that are released in advance, organizing Ca$tro’s events, and coaching him on effective media training/communication. Seymour will act as day-to-day, ensuring Ca$tro’s contracts are drafted for the project, scheduling his meetings with the entire team (distributor, label, publisher, business manager), finding brand partnerships, and other related tasks.
“As a talent manager at AMTI, I’ve witnessed Dimitrios scout numerous new face models – who didn’t even know this could be a career for themselves – and develop them to the point where they are not only working for some of the Country’s top brands, but are also travelling the world as a successful International model. Dimitrios’ eye for talent, mentorship and leadership ability are huge contributors to his success, and it’s what makes working with him so inspiring,” said Vanos.
Seymour will also be working with models Keith Carlos and Matthew Smith, both from America’s Next Top Model, who have upcoming campaigns that Seymour booked them on, as well as prepping them for the Fashion Week circuit in NYC, London, Paris and Milan.
On top of this, Actor Helena Alexis will be shooting the third season of Chronicles of Jessica Wu shortly, and Seymour will be navigating the contracts and scheduling on her behalf, making set visits, and arranging her press schedule.
As a leader in the Canadian talent management industry, Seymour has his eyes set on the future. In the short term, he is aimed at cultivating talent with DMG and establishing a division in the near future, where he and his team can consult young talented people on how to approach their career on an ad hoc basis. This will involve consulting for emerging managers, emerging artists, emerging creatives, and more, and Seymour is excited for the many doors this will open for both DMG and his clients.
“I’ve been at this for almost a decade already, and I feel like I have a lot to provide the younger generation of creatives. I think a consulting division is a natural complement to what DMG is doing on the management side,” Seymour concluded.
Photo by Max Jamali
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