June 27, 2025 • 20 mins
The newly appointed leader of one of Hollywood’s largest talent agencies sketches out his vision of the fast-changing entertainment landscape and what it means for the talent represented by his firm.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello again, Strictly Business listeners. I'm Cynthia Littleton, co editor
in chief of Variety and host of this podcast. I
told you in my last episode that we were incredibly
busy at the can Lyon Festival of Creativity earlier this month.
We had so many deep conversations about the future of
media and entertainment. So here is a bonus Strictly Business
(00:29):
Live from can Lyon episode featuring newly appointed UTA CEO
David Kramer. We recorded this in a conference room in
the enormous two story installation that UTA and its Media
Link Advertising Consulting arm erect every year on the beach
for can Lyon. The hugeness of the place makes it
(00:52):
a buzzy hub of activity and a natural meeting spot.
Kramer is new to the top job, but he's been
with UTA for more than thirty years. He's a proverbial
mailroom success story. In our conversation, Kramer shares his perspective
on how the ten percentary business is changing, and he
(01:13):
talks about what all the activity at can Lion means
for the talent that UTA represents. That's all coming up
after this break, and we're back with a conversation with
(01:33):
UTA CEO David Kramer. David Kramer, CEO of UTA, thank
you so much for having me here. We are literally
on the beach in can at can Lion and UTA
and Media Link have the two story installation erected here
on the beach to all to facilitate conversations about marketing
(01:54):
and advertising big businesses.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
That you all are invested in. I know you have
us army here of about one hundred and twenty people.
What is the focus for you this year at Canline.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Thank you so much for being here and having me.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
You know, what we have realized over the past several
years that we got into the brand business when we
started our entertainment, culture and marketing team and then with
the acquisition of Media Link back in twenty twenty one,
is that the brands want to get closer to all
the different various parts of the business clients that we
that we represent, that we touch and whether that's film
(02:29):
and television, whether that's comedy, music creators, athletes, musicians, et cetera.
The brands want to get closer to all those things
that we have built out over the past thirty years
of being an agency, and so we've made a big
investment in being the bridge between brands that we represent
and don't represent, and of course all the different clients
(02:51):
and the different business lines that we have on our platform.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It's kind of I mean, it's just canline brings together
people that cross so many different roads these days, from
social media creators to brand deals. We all know how
important that is to that space and social media creators.
Everybody here is talking about social media creators and AI
and I know the creators representing that kind of new
breed of auteur has been a real focus for you.
(03:17):
Are there like significant conversations happening here this week that
will impact clients down the road.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
Absolutely. You know, we invested in starting the creator space.
We don't even call it creator space. We called it
the digital space eighteen nineteen years ago when we started
our division.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And then on top of that.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
We were the first agency to start an audio space,
the podcast space. And so what we've seen at cam
Lyon in general is the makeup of who is here,
not just the many brands that are here, but the
kinds of people clients that we work with, and whether
it be creators, whether it be athletes, whether it be musicians.
(04:00):
We have fifteen different musical acts here performing this week.
So the brands wanting to get closer into to all
those different people we've seen only grow exponentially over the
past several years. They really want to get close to
those creators who have such a direct relationship to their audience,
(04:22):
to their consumers, if you will. And so we have
a number of our biggest creators here in town meeting
with all these different brands. Some they already have partnerships
with and some who we will create new relationships with.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It's being here, it's just it's such an expression of
the power of brands and marketing and advertising. And it's
not just entertainment, which is what gives it such scale.
Is it's sports. It's you know, the biggest corporate bands,
brands showing up in a big way, and there are
a lot of perks and a lot of great performances.
(04:55):
Congratulations are in order. You were recently promoted to CEO,
but you are certainly no stranger to Enterprise, having rose
through the ranks since nineteen ninety two. Media Link the
advertising business that you t acquired a couple of years ago.
How has Media Link in the activity that you're involved with?
Media Link. How has that changed the complexion for UTA
(05:17):
or opened up opportunities for UTA clients.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Well, the thesis behind the acquisition of media Liink holds
true today than even when we thought about it back in.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Those many years ago, four years.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Ago, Yes, exactly, And as we see the brands wanting
to get closer, getting more support from a company like
media Link that specializes in brand advisory work, brand consulting work,
media reviews, relationship building, et cetera. That coupled with the
marketing division that we already had in our ECM team
(05:53):
and being able to utilize the rest of the platform
in terms of all the different businesses that were in
the different people we represent.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
What you were just saying, everybody wants to get closer
to the.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Talent exactly, That's exactly right. And so having Media Link,
having our ECM team come together as brand representatives, brand
liaisons and then marry that with the rest of the
UTA platform, we couldn't be more excited about our brand
advisory work, which which is growing and you see it
(06:26):
when you walk around here, you know, just on the
first day of can Lion, to see the integration between
our teams, the integration between our clients and those those
brands that are scattered across Media Link Beach.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Today it's I mean, you can hear listeners, the noise
behind us, that this place is humming with activity. And
as you walk around, the media Link offers space for
some of the brands you represent, seeing you know, seeing
grocery store brands and that that to me really strikes me,
is that that is a real big expansion of your business. David,
you came up the ranks through the literary department through
(07:04):
motion pictures, yes, writers and directors. Now that you are
CEO of the whole enterprise, what would you say your
background coming up through the mail room and now up
through the literary business, working with writers and directors, how
did that prepare you for the role you have now? Well?
Speaker 4 (07:24):
I think when I started at ut in nineteen ninety two,
the company was only one year, one years old. We
had about eighteen agents, fifty total employees. I met everybody.
I met everyone at the company by the end of
the first week. It's very different today. As I like
to say, we did three things back then, we do
fifty three things now. We represented writers and directors and
(07:46):
actors from movies intelligence. That's really the extent of it. However,
because we were a new company and we were a
small company, we had to be in the discovery business.
We had to be in the development business, We had
to be in the collaboration business with one another other
to compete with other agencies at that time. As we've
diversified the business, the great thing is that discovery, that development,
(08:10):
that collaboration, that client centric approach has been imbued across
the DNA of all the different areas that we've either
built out ourselves or the businesses we've acquired, and making
sure that that philosophy holds to this day as we
whether we've moved into music, comedy, touring, orts has been
(08:32):
a big one, Clutch sports has been a big one
for sure. And so what's what's I think what's exciting
about what we're doing today is that it is so
vastly different from from where we started, but so many
of the tenants that made UTA uta hold true. And
I'm but I think that the playground has expanded in
(08:54):
so many different ways. That allows our people who work
at UTA to try different things, be challenged in a
different way, be ready for these crazy shifts we've seen
in our business, and more importantly, allows our clients, who
are more ambitious and more excited about trying different things
than ever before, to work with a group of agents
(09:17):
who who are excited by all those opportunities and ambitions
as well.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more from
UTA CEO David Kramer, And we're back with more from
our conversation with UTA chief David Kramer.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Another new thing for UTA, for the agency in the
last decade or so has been the arrival of new investors,
some private equity, some people taking strategic stakes. How would
you say you've navigated that and what would you say
has been the impact that you've seen so far?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Yeah, we got the We had the benefit of seeing
what other companies did with their private equity partnerships.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
So when we.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Approached or were approached by private equity back you know,
several years ago, we were really thoughtful and delivered about
who would be the right partner for us, because the
last thing we wanted was to get into business with
a company that was going to disrupt how how we
did our business, because we hold very sacred the style
(10:25):
and the philosophy about representation and about how we do
it and we think we do it in a very
unique way. So going through that process, going through that
dating process of private private equity. We found a very
good partner back in twenty eighteen, and there were challenges.
It was when the WGAATA dispute was happening and then
(10:45):
we went right into a pandemic.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Yet they were great partners.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
They provided us with the financial firepower to diversify our business.
Also remind me which this was IVC and PSP, and
they were in for four years through the ups and
downs of what was going on in the business, but
they still exited the business happily.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
They tripled their money. It was good for them.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
It also allowed us to get some liquidity for our
partners and the rest of the people who worked at UTA.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
With a calling card. If in four years tripled their money.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
It was it was a calling absolutely, the fact that
we were able to still build the business to that
extent given some of the challenges of that moment.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
From twenty eighteen to twenty twenty two, it's.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Shutting down of all entertainment as we knew, yes exactly.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
And then we brought in EQT and we went through
the same deliberate process about whether or not they would
be the right partners for us. One of the things
I remember them saying is they were hands on, not
hands in. That always stuck with me because we wanted
the benefit of their expertise being big investors in lots
of different industries, and we've gotten that and in less
(11:55):
than a year of them being in business with us,
back in twenty two we had the double stripe. Once again,
they understood that was out of our control. They were
wildly supportive. We continue to invest regardless of what was
going on with the strike and diversify and acquire more companies.
And they've been with us, they're coming up on about
three years. So it's our experience of private equity has
(12:16):
been nothing but positive. And I know not every company
can claim the same thing, but that's been our experience.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
As you said, you were able to watch, you know,
sort of watch how others navigated. Let me ask you
from a leadership perspective, because obviously you've been a senior
leader before you were CEO, when you first started in
that area. Every you know, every agent, every every person
thinks private equity comes in. An accountant is going to
tell me how, you know, what deal to make for
(12:44):
my client that somebody is going to How did you,
as a leader make people comfortable with the idea that UTA,
which had been very part you know, a totally privately
held company before that. How did you make people comfortable
with the idea that this was not going to radically
change and in effect enhance in the way.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
You see oftentimes with change, people don't think, oh, great,
how is this good for me? They think about how
this is bad for them? And so we kind of
knew that going in, and like you said, some of
the questions around what is private ec what are you
going to do to our experience, our everyday experience, and
are they going to start looking at what to cut?
(13:24):
And so one it was important to us to find
the right partner who wasn't going to do that. And
two it was incumbent upon leadership to get the messaging out,
the real accurate messaging about why we were taking on
a partner, what it was going to do for the business,
and to have patience to see how that unfolded. And
as you saw it unfolded our company, it's only been
(13:46):
beneficial to all the people who work there, and people's
lives haven't changed. We haven't expected them to do things differently.
You know, we want to make sure we can provide
the service not to the clients we represent, but to
the talented agents who represent them. And I think as
time went by, people got more and more comfortable with
these new partners being.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Having a stake in the business.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
But at the same time, I don't know if there's
right way to put it, but it was invisible to
them in terms of their daily life.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
The proof was in the the proof was in the exit.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
We had to show Nutshell, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Let me ask you, how have you adjusted? How has
it been to deal with the end of packaging as
we knew it? You know that the literary Agent's home
run for decades, right how you know that was a
significant source, although a source that that was also changing
and because of the nature of the especially in the
(14:41):
television series area, I don't have to tell you that,
but just how has it been since the end of
that revenue stream.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Yeah, the end of packaging came at an interesting time
when the value of packaging was also starting to diminish.
So one of the things we've seen is the diversification
of our business started to insulate us from some of
the revenue that was created from packaging. You've also seen
(15:09):
a lot of actors who never would venture into television.
Those walls have come down, and you've seen movie stars
go into television, television stars go into movies, and so
I think that's created a lot of financial opportunities for
them and for the for the agencies that, in conjunction
(15:31):
with the diversification into music, comedy, touring, creators, sports, news, speakers, publishing,
et cetera, has been super additive to the agency. And
although hey, it would be nice to have those great
big packages of yesteryear, that's that's over and and so
(15:52):
we figured out ways to build out the foundation of
the company and the and the revenue of the company
with some of the versification.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
And you know, like the UTA and other major agencies
and companies are literally rebuilding the entertainment model in real time.
But I know, another big move for UTA recently was
the acquisition of Curtis Brown. It's a big agency in
the UK. Tell me what motivated that and what you
hope that is going to do for the company.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, Curtis Brown's been a great acquisition for us. We
were looking at different ways to expand internationally, the UK
being you know, one of the most important markets there
is in the entertainment media space. So what we looked
at was how could UTA be in the UK, but
(16:43):
be there in an authentic way, be there in a
way where we would have a right to win. So
we looked at Curtis Brown Agency. It's the biggest and oldest,
it's one hundred and twenty five year old company. They
have a pristine brand and so we started talking to them.
We made that acquisition and in the summer of twenty
twenty two, which last week was our three year anniversary.
(17:05):
It's been you know, it's given us this amazing foothold
in a very important market. One of the significant pieces
of their business and how the company started one hundred
and twenty five years ago was on the publishing side.
It's about twenty five to thirty percent of their business.
We had our own publishing initiative. So their publishing group,
you know, working with our publishing group, has created i
(17:27):
think the biggest publishing division of any of the agencies
at this point. And we've started to see ways where
we can be additive to them with some of the
pieces that we have that they they don't have. We're
learning a lot from them because of their their UK history.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So much going on, I mean all roads right now
in production seem to lead through.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
There's sore at least. Yeah, there's so much going on.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
And at the same time, they're operating in a way
where if we if it doesn't make sense for us
to stick, you know, our nose to it, we don't.
And we have an incredible partnership. Johnny Geller's the CEO
of that company, has been for many years, and he's
like me, he's been at that company for thirty thirty years,
started at the beginning. So there's a certain kinship you
(18:11):
certainly understand. And the intention is to keep the Curtis
Brown name. You will keep that extant. The Curtis Brown
name has tremendous brand value, not just in the UK,
but you know, around all of Europe.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I have to admit I did not appreciate how large
an agency and how kind of full service they are.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Yeah, it's about a two hundred and fifty person company,
and so we've gotten tremendous value out of that.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Let me button us up here today, David. You grew
up in Tallahassee. You went to the Uga. Let me
ask you, how did a boy from Tallahassee who went
to school in Georgia, how did you get to Hollywood.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
So I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, but I always
had a love of the movie and television business, not
knowing at all that what that really meant.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
But I was a movie lover. I got a credit
my mother for that. She was a movie lover and
Ted Turner.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Ted Turner who had the superstation TBS, and he would
play all the old movies.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I think the.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Story was he was kind of, you know, frugal, and
so he would just license all these old movies. My
movie education came from Ted Turner and my mother watching
movies on the weekend, non NonStop.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I went to university.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
I went to the University of Georgia, and that was
a great experience for me. I got to work on
a movie between my junior and senior year. It was
the only movie, a TV movie shooting in Atlanta that year.
So it just shows you how things have changed so much,
and then.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
It shows you that you found it.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
That's right there you go.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
So and then I applied and somehow shockingly got into
USC Film school, and so that got me out to California.
I went to the Peter Stark Motion Picture Producing program
and then, by by nothing but a stroke luck, ended
up in the mailroom at what to use your term,
a startup boutique literary agency UTA, and for me, I
(19:56):
have been so fortunate to be there, to be part
of its growth, to watch it go from only representing
writers and directors and actors and movies and television to
representing talent that spans all the different pieces of the
entertainment media, sports business in a way that none of
us could have predicted. So I feel so lucky to
(20:19):
have grown up with it, and I'm excited about the future.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
All that hustling in the mailroom paid off. All right,
Thank you so much, David. This has been fun.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Be sure to leave us a review at Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Or Amazon Music.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
We love to hear from listeners.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Please go to Variety dot com and sign up for
the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and don't forget to
tune in next week for another episode of Strictly Business.
Hello again, Strictly Business listeners. I'm Cynthia Littleton, co editor
in chief of Variety and host of this podcast. I
told you in my last episode that we were incredibly
busy at the can Lyon Festival of Creativity earlier this month.
We had so many deep conversations about the future of
media and entertainment. So here is a bonus Strictly Business
(00:29):
Live from can Lyon episode featuring newly appointed UTA CEO
David Kramer. We recorded this in a conference room in
the enormous two story installation that UTA and its Media
Link Advertising Consulting arm erect every year on the beach
for can Lyon. The hugeness of the place makes it
(00:52):
a buzzy hub of activity and a natural meeting spot.
Kramer is new to the top job, but he's been
with UTA for more than thirty years. He's a proverbial
mailroom success story. In our conversation, Kramer shares his perspective
on how the ten percentary business is changing, and he
(01:13):
talks about what all the activity at can Lion means
for the talent that UTA represents. That's all coming up
after this break, and we're back with a conversation with
(01:33):
UTA CEO David Kramer. David Kramer, CEO of UTA, thank
you so much for having me here. We are literally
on the beach in can at can Lion and UTA
and Media Link have the two story installation erected here
on the beach to all to facilitate conversations about marketing
(01:54):
and advertising big businesses.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
That you all are invested in. I know you have
us army here of about one hundred and twenty people.
What is the focus for you this year at Canline.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Thank you so much for being here and having me.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
You know, what we have realized over the past several
years that we got into the brand business when we
started our entertainment, culture and marketing team and then with
the acquisition of Media Link back in twenty twenty one,
is that the brands want to get closer to all
the different various parts of the business clients that we
that we represent, that we touch and whether that's film
(02:29):
and television, whether that's comedy, music creators, athletes, musicians, et cetera.
The brands want to get closer to all those things
that we have built out over the past thirty years
of being an agency, and so we've made a big
investment in being the bridge between brands that we represent
and don't represent, and of course all the different clients
(02:51):
and the different business lines that we have on our platform.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It's kind of I mean, it's just canline brings together
people that cross so many different roads these days, from
social media creators to brand deals. We all know how
important that is to that space and social media creators.
Everybody here is talking about social media creators and AI
and I know the creators representing that kind of new
breed of auteur has been a real focus for you.
(03:17):
Are there like significant conversations happening here this week that
will impact clients down the road.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
Absolutely. You know, we invested in starting the creator space.
We don't even call it creator space. We called it
the digital space eighteen nineteen years ago when we started
our division.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And then on top of that.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
We were the first agency to start an audio space,
the podcast space. And so what we've seen at cam
Lyon in general is the makeup of who is here,
not just the many brands that are here, but the
kinds of people clients that we work with, and whether
it be creators, whether it be athletes, whether it be musicians.
(04:00):
We have fifteen different musical acts here performing this week.
So the brands wanting to get closer into to all
those different people we've seen only grow exponentially over the
past several years. They really want to get close to
those creators who have such a direct relationship to their audience,
(04:22):
to their consumers, if you will. And so we have
a number of our biggest creators here in town meeting
with all these different brands. Some they already have partnerships
with and some who we will create new relationships with.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It's being here, it's just it's such an expression of
the power of brands and marketing and advertising. And it's
not just entertainment, which is what gives it such scale.
Is it's sports. It's you know, the biggest corporate bands,
brands showing up in a big way, and there are
a lot of perks and a lot of great performances.
(04:55):
Congratulations are in order. You were recently promoted to CEO,
but you are certainly no stranger to Enterprise, having rose
through the ranks since nineteen ninety two. Media Link the
advertising business that you t acquired a couple of years ago.
How has Media Link in the activity that you're involved with?
Media Link. How has that changed the complexion for UTA
(05:17):
or opened up opportunities for UTA clients.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Well, the thesis behind the acquisition of media Liink holds
true today than even when we thought about it back in.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Those many years ago, four years.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Ago, Yes, exactly, And as we see the brands wanting
to get closer, getting more support from a company like
media Link that specializes in brand advisory work, brand consulting work,
media reviews, relationship building, et cetera. That coupled with the
marketing division that we already had in our ECM team
(05:53):
and being able to utilize the rest of the platform
in terms of all the different businesses that were in
the different people we represent.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
What you were just saying, everybody wants to get closer
to the.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Talent exactly, That's exactly right. And so having Media Link,
having our ECM team come together as brand representatives, brand
liaisons and then marry that with the rest of the
UTA platform, we couldn't be more excited about our brand
advisory work, which which is growing and you see it
(06:26):
when you walk around here, you know, just on the
first day of can Lion, to see the integration between
our teams, the integration between our clients and those those
brands that are scattered across Media Link Beach.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Today it's I mean, you can hear listeners, the noise
behind us, that this place is humming with activity. And
as you walk around, the media Link offers space for
some of the brands you represent, seeing you know, seeing
grocery store brands and that that to me really strikes me,
is that that is a real big expansion of your business. David,
you came up the ranks through the literary department through
(07:04):
motion pictures, yes, writers and directors. Now that you are
CEO of the whole enterprise, what would you say your
background coming up through the mail room and now up
through the literary business, working with writers and directors, how
did that prepare you for the role you have now? Well?
Speaker 4 (07:24):
I think when I started at ut in nineteen ninety two,
the company was only one year, one years old. We
had about eighteen agents, fifty total employees. I met everybody.
I met everyone at the company by the end of
the first week. It's very different today. As I like
to say, we did three things back then, we do
fifty three things now. We represented writers and directors and
(07:46):
actors from movies intelligence. That's really the extent of it. However,
because we were a new company and we were a
small company, we had to be in the discovery business.
We had to be in the development business, We had
to be in the collaboration business with one another other
to compete with other agencies at that time. As we've
diversified the business, the great thing is that discovery, that development,
(08:10):
that collaboration, that client centric approach has been imbued across
the DNA of all the different areas that we've either
built out ourselves or the businesses we've acquired, and making
sure that that philosophy holds to this day as we
whether we've moved into music, comedy, touring, orts has been
(08:32):
a big one, Clutch sports has been a big one
for sure. And so what's what's I think what's exciting
about what we're doing today is that it is so
vastly different from from where we started, but so many
of the tenants that made UTA uta hold true. And
I'm but I think that the playground has expanded in
(08:54):
so many different ways. That allows our people who work
at UTA to try different things, be challenged in a
different way, be ready for these crazy shifts we've seen
in our business, and more importantly, allows our clients, who
are more ambitious and more excited about trying different things
than ever before, to work with a group of agents
(09:17):
who who are excited by all those opportunities and ambitions
as well.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more from
UTA CEO David Kramer, And we're back with more from
our conversation with UTA chief David Kramer.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Another new thing for UTA, for the agency in the
last decade or so has been the arrival of new investors,
some private equity, some people taking strategic stakes. How would
you say you've navigated that and what would you say
has been the impact that you've seen so far?
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Yeah, we got the We had the benefit of seeing
what other companies did with their private equity partnerships.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
So when we.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Approached or were approached by private equity back you know,
several years ago, we were really thoughtful and delivered about
who would be the right partner for us, because the
last thing we wanted was to get into business with
a company that was going to disrupt how how we
did our business, because we hold very sacred the style
(10:25):
and the philosophy about representation and about how we do
it and we think we do it in a very
unique way. So going through that process, going through that
dating process of private private equity. We found a very
good partner back in twenty eighteen, and there were challenges.
It was when the WGAATA dispute was happening and then
(10:45):
we went right into a pandemic.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Yet they were great partners.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
They provided us with the financial firepower to diversify our business.
Also remind me which this was IVC and PSP, and
they were in for four years through the ups and
downs of what was going on in the business, but
they still exited the business happily.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
They tripled their money. It was good for them.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
It also allowed us to get some liquidity for our
partners and the rest of the people who worked at UTA.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
With a calling card. If in four years tripled their money.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
It was it was a calling absolutely, the fact that
we were able to still build the business to that
extent given some of the challenges of that moment.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
From twenty eighteen to twenty twenty two, it's.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Shutting down of all entertainment as we knew, yes exactly.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
And then we brought in EQT and we went through
the same deliberate process about whether or not they would
be the right partners for us. One of the things
I remember them saying is they were hands on, not
hands in. That always stuck with me because we wanted
the benefit of their expertise being big investors in lots
of different industries, and we've gotten that and in less
(11:55):
than a year of them being in business with us,
back in twenty two we had the double stripe. Once again,
they understood that was out of our control. They were
wildly supportive. We continue to invest regardless of what was
going on with the strike and diversify and acquire more companies.
And they've been with us, they're coming up on about
three years. So it's our experience of private equity has
(12:16):
been nothing but positive. And I know not every company
can claim the same thing, but that's been our experience.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
As you said, you were able to watch, you know,
sort of watch how others navigated. Let me ask you
from a leadership perspective, because obviously you've been a senior
leader before you were CEO, when you first started in
that area. Every you know, every agent, every every person
thinks private equity comes in. An accountant is going to
tell me how, you know, what deal to make for
(12:44):
my client that somebody is going to How did you,
as a leader make people comfortable with the idea that UTA,
which had been very part you know, a totally privately
held company before that. How did you make people comfortable
with the idea that this was not going to radically
change and in effect enhance in the way.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
You see oftentimes with change, people don't think, oh, great,
how is this good for me? They think about how
this is bad for them? And so we kind of
knew that going in, and like you said, some of
the questions around what is private ec what are you
going to do to our experience, our everyday experience, and
are they going to start looking at what to cut?
(13:24):
And so one it was important to us to find
the right partner who wasn't going to do that. And
two it was incumbent upon leadership to get the messaging out,
the real accurate messaging about why we were taking on
a partner, what it was going to do for the business,
and to have patience to see how that unfolded. And
as you saw it unfolded our company, it's only been
(13:46):
beneficial to all the people who work there, and people's
lives haven't changed. We haven't expected them to do things differently.
You know, we want to make sure we can provide
the service not to the clients we represent, but to
the talented agents who represent them. And I think as
time went by, people got more and more comfortable with
these new partners being.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Having a stake in the business.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
But at the same time, I don't know if there's
right way to put it, but it was invisible to
them in terms of their daily life.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
The proof was in the the proof was in the exit.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
We had to show Nutshell, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Let me ask you, how have you adjusted? How has
it been to deal with the end of packaging as
we knew it? You know that the literary Agent's home
run for decades, right how you know that was a
significant source, although a source that that was also changing
and because of the nature of the especially in the
(14:41):
television series area, I don't have to tell you that,
but just how has it been since the end of
that revenue stream.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Yeah, the end of packaging came at an interesting time
when the value of packaging was also starting to diminish.
So one of the things we've seen is the diversification
of our business started to insulate us from some of
the revenue that was created from packaging. You've also seen
(15:09):
a lot of actors who never would venture into television.
Those walls have come down, and you've seen movie stars
go into television, television stars go into movies, and so
I think that's created a lot of financial opportunities for
them and for the for the agencies that, in conjunction
(15:31):
with the diversification into music, comedy, touring, creators, sports, news, speakers, publishing,
et cetera, has been super additive to the agency. And
although hey, it would be nice to have those great
big packages of yesteryear, that's that's over and and so
(15:52):
we figured out ways to build out the foundation of
the company and the and the revenue of the company
with some of the versification.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
And you know, like the UTA and other major agencies
and companies are literally rebuilding the entertainment model in real time.
But I know, another big move for UTA recently was
the acquisition of Curtis Brown. It's a big agency in
the UK. Tell me what motivated that and what you
hope that is going to do for the company.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, Curtis Brown's been a great acquisition for us. We
were looking at different ways to expand internationally, the UK
being you know, one of the most important markets there
is in the entertainment media space. So what we looked
at was how could UTA be in the UK, but
(16:43):
be there in an authentic way, be there in a
way where we would have a right to win. So
we looked at Curtis Brown Agency. It's the biggest and oldest,
it's one hundred and twenty five year old company. They
have a pristine brand and so we started talking to them.
We made that acquisition and in the summer of twenty
twenty two, which last week was our three year anniversary.
(17:05):
It's been you know, it's given us this amazing foothold
in a very important market. One of the significant pieces
of their business and how the company started one hundred
and twenty five years ago was on the publishing side.
It's about twenty five to thirty percent of their business.
We had our own publishing initiative. So their publishing group,
you know, working with our publishing group, has created i
(17:27):
think the biggest publishing division of any of the agencies
at this point. And we've started to see ways where
we can be additive to them with some of the
pieces that we have that they they don't have. We're
learning a lot from them because of their their UK history.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So much going on, I mean all roads right now
in production seem to lead through.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
There's sore at least. Yeah, there's so much going on.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
And at the same time, they're operating in a way
where if we if it doesn't make sense for us
to stick, you know, our nose to it, we don't.
And we have an incredible partnership. Johnny Geller's the CEO
of that company, has been for many years, and he's
like me, he's been at that company for thirty thirty years,
started at the beginning. So there's a certain kinship you
(18:11):
certainly understand. And the intention is to keep the Curtis
Brown name. You will keep that extant. The Curtis Brown
name has tremendous brand value, not just in the UK,
but you know, around all of Europe.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I have to admit I did not appreciate how large
an agency and how kind of full service they are.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Yeah, it's about a two hundred and fifty person company,
and so we've gotten tremendous value out of that.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Let me button us up here today, David. You grew
up in Tallahassee. You went to the Uga. Let me
ask you, how did a boy from Tallahassee who went
to school in Georgia, how did you get to Hollywood.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
So I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, but I always
had a love of the movie and television business, not
knowing at all that what that really meant.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
But I was a movie lover. I got a credit
my mother for that. She was a movie lover and
Ted Turner.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Ted Turner who had the superstation TBS, and he would
play all the old movies.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I think the.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Story was he was kind of, you know, frugal, and
so he would just license all these old movies. My
movie education came from Ted Turner and my mother watching
movies on the weekend, non NonStop.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I went to university.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
I went to the University of Georgia, and that was
a great experience for me. I got to work on
a movie between my junior and senior year. It was
the only movie, a TV movie shooting in Atlanta that year.
So it just shows you how things have changed so much,
and then.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
It shows you that you found it.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
That's right there you go.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
So and then I applied and somehow shockingly got into
USC Film school, and so that got me out to California.
I went to the Peter Stark Motion Picture Producing program
and then, by by nothing but a stroke luck, ended
up in the mailroom at what to use your term,
a startup boutique literary agency UTA, and for me, I
(19:56):
have been so fortunate to be there, to be part
of its growth, to watch it go from only representing
writers and directors and actors and movies and television to
representing talent that spans all the different pieces of the
entertainment media, sports business in a way that none of
us could have predicted. So I feel so lucky to
(20:19):
have grown up with it, and I'm excited about the future.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
All that hustling in the mailroom paid off. All right,
Thank you so much, David. This has been fun.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Be sure to leave us a review at Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Or Amazon Music.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
We love to hear from listeners.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Please go to Variety dot com and sign up for
the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and don't forget to
tune in next week for another episode of Strictly Business.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com