United Talent Agency

UTA President David Kramer spoke at Stanford University’s FAME entertainment conference this week, in a conversation with Stanford University Graduate School of Business's Dario Zarrabian. ? Kramer discussed his career journey, from starting in UTA’s Agent Training Program (aka “the mailroom”) in 1992 to becoming the company’s president and helping expand its global footprint. He also spoke about the agency’s differentiated client service model and shared advice for forging a successful path in entertainment: Prioritize building strong relationships, and be confident in your decisions as a leader.

A new report from Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, authored by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company, illuminates the severe underrepresentation of some of today’s most prevalent health conditions in film and television. ? The study, which UTA Entertainment Marketing helped Lilly commission as its entertainment agency of record, analyzed the 100 most popular movies and the 100 most-watched streaming, broadcast, and cable series of 2023. It assessed every speaking character for five diseases: obesity, cancer, dementia, diabetes, and atopic dermatitis. ? Despite millions of Americans living with these conditions, they remain nearly invisible in entertainment — and when they do appear, portrayals often reinforce stereotypes. Key findings include: ? ?? Only 2.8% of characters had obesity, compared to 37% of the U.S. population. Nearly half were depicted as unlikeable. ?? Less than 1% of characters had cancer or dementia; portrayals often focus on fear and sadness, ignoring survival rates and medical advancements ?? Type 2 diabetes was not represented at all; roughly one in 10 U.S. adults have Type 2 diabetes ? In response, Lilly is committing to change the narrative around common health conditions through more accurate portrayals in entertainment — an effort that’s in line with Lilly's commitment to the health and wellbeing of patient communities and challenging misperceptions around disease. ? This new initiative, which UTA Entertainment Marketing is proud to support, will include partnerships with content creators, production companies like Imagine Entertainment & Television and MACRO, and entertainment organizations, focused on creating depictions that reflect real human experiences with truth and dignity. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gcb3m2Xh

Our clients Britt Lower and John Turturro, co-stars of Apple TV+’s “Severance,” stopped by UTA’s Los Angeles headquarters for a special screening of the second season’s fourth episode. Executive producer and writer Dan Erickson joined them for a Q&A, moderated by Jenelle Riley, to discuss the show’s runaway success: Earlier this month, Apple TV+ announced that the show became its most watched original series to date, based on unique viewership from January 17 to February 17, surpassing “Ted Lasso.” ??: Eric Charbonneau

Publishing Agent Pilar Queen moderated a conversation with Sahil Bloom at our New York office about his latest book, “The Five Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Your Dream Life.” Bloom’s book is a guide to rejecting the default path and instead defining one’s priorities based on what’ll have an instant, positive impact in daily life. In short, how to design the life you actually want. “[It's important to take] the time to ask yourself whether the mountain that you are currently climbing is actually one that you care to be on. Whether the mountain is something that you actually want to reach the top of, and whether you're actually enjoying the climb along the way, or is it just one that you've walked into by default?” Bloom said.

UTA DEI joined La Cena — a multi-city dinner series amplifying the contributions of Latino talent and leaders across industries — as a partner of its annual Los Angeles event, held at NeueHouse in Hollywood. The evening celebrated the transformative power of Latino culture, with artists, filmmakers, creators, and innovators coming together for a night of recognition and storytelling. A number of UTA clients were recognized as Spotlight Honorees for their contributions to elevating Latin representation in entertainment, including Gloria Calderón Kellett (for her play “One of the Good Ones,” the first Latin-run production in The Pasadena’s Playhouse’s 100-year history), Phil Lord (for the film “Los Frikis,” which he produced), Alessandra Lacorazza (for “In the Summers,” which won the 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize), and John Leguizamo (for “American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos,” which he created). Other clients who attended include Mishel Prada, Xolo Maridue?a, Gabriel Luna,? Oz Rodriguez, and JD Pardo. The program also included special previews of UTA client projects including the upcoming film “Rosario,” starring Emeraude Toubia (pictured first), “Grosse Pointe Garden Society” starring Melissa Fumero, and “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip” directed by Marvin Lemus. UTA Agents and Executives who attended include Lindsay W. (Chief Diversity Officer), Mickey Berman (Partner & Agent, TV Lit), Josh HornstocK (Partner & Agent, TV Lit), Jennifer Palacios (Partner & Head of Client Strategy, UTA Entertainment Marketing), Dayna Cobarrubias (Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion), Gina M. Reyes (Agent, TV LIT), and Laura Goodfriend (Agent, MP LIT). ??: Presley Ann/Getty Images

“Severance” — executive produced by Mark Friedman, Adam Scott, and Caroline Baron and starring fellow clients Scott, Britt Lower, Michael Chernus, and John Turturro? — is officially Apple TV+’s number one original series. Now in its second season, the show’s ranking is based on unique viewers from January 17 to February 17, as reported by Apple. Three days following the sophomore season’s premiere, the series was watched for an impressive 589 million minutes in the U.S. across all released episodes, with 28% of that figure from the season two premiere. Additional client involvement includes Adam Countee, Mohamad El Masri and K.C. Perry as co-executive producers, with Alia Shawkat in a recurring role, Sean Fogel as line producer, Jessica Lee Gagne as director of photography, Jeremy Hindle as production designer, Sarah Edwards as costume designer, Katie Pruitt as 1st assistant director, Meera Joshi as financial controller, Andrew Turtletaub as choreographer, and Ben Bornstein as special makeup FX designer.

What does it take to grow a career at UTA? The 1:1 brings together two colleagues — an agent and a mentor who’s impacted their career — to discuss their journeys to success and what they’ve learned from each other. In this clip, Lucinda M. (Partner and TV Lit Agent) and Emily Miller (TV Lit Agent) dive into the principles of building strong relationships in the industry — plus, the kinds of talent who Miller (a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Hollywood and Entertainment) is excited to represent in the next stage of her career. Stay tuned to learn more from our agents in “The 1:1.”

Creative director, designer, and producer Clint Ramos is bringing his talents to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, as its newly appointed Artist-in-Residence. A first-of-its-kind residency for LCPA, artists-in-residence receive foundational support and space to curate distinct series and projects and push the boundaries of their own practices. Ramos will serve a two-year term and work across a number of initiatives including developing a new public art and theater piece to bring together visual artists and global communities, designing costumes for the Metropolitan Opera’s “Tristan und Isolde,” and more.? “One of the things that I dream of is how we can integrate in a meaningful way these forms of popular culture that lead to esthetics and design and have a presence at Lincoln Center,” the Tony winner told Variety. Read more at the link below.?

Our UTA Atlanta office and Entertainment & Culture Marketing team were thrilled to host a launch event for Simply Pop — the first-ever prebiotic soda from The Coca-Cola Company, a UTA client. Congrats to Simply Beverages on launching its latest line of beverages! ? ?? : Chuck Marcus?

Congratulations to our clients who won a Screen Actors Guild Award! Timothée Chalamet won his first SAG Award for his performance as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” Jessica Gunning continued her awards season sweep, winning Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for “Baby Reindeer.” The casts of “Conclave” (featuring Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow), “Only Murders in the Building” (featuring Molly Shannon and Kumail Nanjiani; pictured, and Zach Galifianakis and Eugene Levy; not pictured), and “Shōgun” (featuring Cosmo Jarvis; not pictured) won their respective film and TV categories for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble. UTA Production Arts clients Lauro David Chartrand-Del Valle (“Shōgun”) and Keir Beck (“The Fall Guy”; not pictured) won their respective TV and film categories for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble. ??: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty;Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Matt Sayles/ShutterStock; Frazer Harrison/WireImage