UTA has taken a dramatic step to streamline the leadership of its film and TV lit and talent departments to reflect the industry trends of blurring lines between disciplines. As part of the change, agency veteran Matt Rice has been promoted to president of the new UTA Filmed Entertainment unit. In the new structure, UTA’s Allan Haldeman, Blair Kohan, Jay Gassner and Julien Thuan have been elevated to managing partners of Filmed Entertainment.
UTA has named new department heads to lead key segments: Amanda Hymson and Jordan Lonner will lead Motion Picture Literary; Lucinda Moorhead and Mickey Berman will run TV Literary while talent will be steered by Hanley Baxter and John Sacks alongside longstanding talent chief Mike Jelline. Another new wrinkle is the formation of a Filmed Entertainment board that includes agency stalwarts including Jelline, Berman, Moorhead, Jason Burns, Marissa Devins, Dan Erlij, Chris Hart, Jason Heyman, Keya Khayatian, Rich Klubeck, Billy Lazarus, Gregory McKnight, David Park, Theresa Peters, Shani Rosenzweig and Larry Salz. UTA chief executive David Kramer outlined the reasoning for the changes in a memo sent to agency staffers on Thursday morning “UTA has never been a place that waits for change — we anticipate where the industry is going and build for what comes next,” Kramer said.
He’s one of the town’s top representatives of writers, directors and showrunners, including such notables as Phil Lord & Chris Miller, Michael Schur, Alec Berg, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, Will Forte, Justin Halpern & Patrick Schumacker, R. Scott Gemmill, James Gunn, Dan Goor, Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers, Adam Reed, Sebastian Maniscalco and Matt Rife. I’m excited to build upon the work of this exceptional group of leaders and continue to deliver best-in-class representation to our clients,” Rice said.
UTA’s shakeup of its longstanding departmental lines reflects the shifting sands for the content business as well as the business of representing boldface name talent. The growth in audience and influence among the largest social media platforms has revved up the creator economy and birthed a new breed of digital media superstar. All of this has challenged the traditional operations of Hollywood’s largest talent and management firms.
UTA has never been a place that waits for change — we anticipate where the industry is going and build for what comes next. With that in mind, we are announcing a streamlined, future-focused leadership structure for our Filmed Entertainment group which reflects the evolving business of film and television and will enable us to maximize opportunities for clients. By bringing together partners across Motion Picture Literary, Television Literary and Talent, we will continue to deliver unrivaled seamless client representation, sharpen the agency’s competitive edge and increase efficiency and collaboration.
I’m thrilled to announce that Matt Rice has been elevated to President of Filmed Entertainment. Matt is a phenomenal agent and partner who has helped spearhead a transformative expansion of UTA’s television division. In his expanded role, he will lead overall strategy and execution across all areas of Filmed Entertainment.
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