For the past 35 years Todd Wharton (A native New Yorker), has worked in a variety of positions in real estate and mortgage lending, along with both management & head-serving positions in numerous restaurants where he has brushed elbows with up and coming artists and burgeoning superstars alike. He has worked in a number of restaurants from Long Island to NYC. Throughout these years numerous friendships have been formed with his fellow employees who all happen to be aspiring artists. In the hospitality industry the people you work with tend to become more than just colleagues, but family. This is what made it so heartbreaking when he began to witness (what he calls it) this “DOWNFALL OF PASSION” in them. "Artists have an amazing drive when they do something they love and it truly is inspiring, but watching the passion slowly erode in their eyes has always bothered me". I saw them consistently getting lost or caught up in the game of struggling to get by: connecting with the right people, going to the right seminars, attending the right shows, floating resumes all over town, going to every casting call possible, demo gigs, practice, dress rehearsals, meetings, on top of supporting themselves with paying jobs, paying bills and so on, and so on and so on…It gets pretty drowning. Many of his friends eventually ended up moving away or going back home with the attitude, “Well I tried, now back to reality.” So he decided to do something about it and help all of his present/future friends and family better their careers. As we all know networking is an absolute imperative for any and all successful business, no matter the field. He suddenly realized what was missing for his friends: a proper tool to get their name out, a tool for the most important ingredient of success- a networking tool, thus GTC (Global Talent Connect) was born.

GTC (A Global Social Network for the entire Arts & Entertainment Industry) was originally established & named LocalTalentNY September 21, 2012 (Dedicated to his mother on her birthday).

Since 2012 Todd Wharton has proven to be a future leader in this world and not just in the Arts & Entertainment. He has produced some of NYC’s highest acclaimed events for independent (aspiring) artists as well as the established, including the #1 networking event in NYC “GTC Mixer”, along with the GTC Stand Up Comedy Showcase, GTC Cinema Series, GTC Indie Artist Showcase & GTC presents “A Red Carpet Christmas”

In mid-December of 2012 the start-up icon changed the name to LTC (Local Talent Connect), due to the overwhelming response of attendees from neighboring states, such as PA, RI, CT, NJ and so on, realizing this is not just about the artists of NYC, it's about the artists of the world. On Thursday, June 18, 2020, the company was re-branded to it’s new and appropriate name Global Talent Connect or GTC, to which included an online membership platform and online events.

The network was made to be a tool for connecting and networking with others in their field, along with providing information and connections to those who can help turn their dreams into reality. It catered to every artistic field there is including but not limited to actors, singers, dancers, writers, musicians, designers, poets, comedians, martial artists, culinary artists, architects, etc..... Along with promoting your talents, the goal was to provide a means of bettering careers, of getting more connected to inside information and a place to come to meet new and prospective colleagues from all over the world. A place where all share one thing in common- "TO MAKE IT." .

Due to the Covid Pandemic, LTC/GTC & All Events have been discontinued.

In 2017 (Prior to LTC/GTC being Discontinued) Todd was noticing a negative rise in the world from racism, hate crimes and so on… He decided to dedicate his life in the fight for humanity, by creating what is now called L’s Up Global, along with public speaking on todays issues as well as attending rallies as a community, world & peace activist. Originally entitled One Love L’s Up, he approached the city of New York with a proposal to produce an annual peace concert in Times Square (The melting pot of the world). The event started out as a peace rally and continued to grow to a concert that included Live performances by aspiring to established artists, fashion shows, charity participations, public speaking by influential individuals and much more…The event became such a positive impact on the city that he was given the honor to host it on a Saturday Night in the fall of 2018 to which the events guest turn out covered 2 square blocks.

In 2018 (Prior to LTC/GTC being Discontinued) Todd started producing & starring in his own talk show entitled entitled LTC Live. The show started out as a video info segment where he would discuss up and coming events for than LTC/GTC. It soon turned into interviews and comedy sketches to which Mr. Wharton found his niche. The show premiered in a restaurant, moved to a venue, than found itself in the heart of Times Square as a featured segment of L’s Up Global. During the pandemic, as you read prior, LTC/GTC was discontinued and Todd’s talk show was also discontinued, but that didn’t stop Todd. Todd knew he was onto something, so he took advantage of the hours that the pandemic provided and he learned how to write, direct, act, sing, dance, create content, graphic design, website design, video editing, social media marketing, he tapped into his inner comedian, connected with 1000’s of