United Talent Agency (UTA) is undergoing a massive internal transformation, signaling a shift in how major talent agencies are adapting to an entertainment landscape where the traditional boundaries between film and television continue to evaporate. In a memo distributed to staff on Thursday, UTA president David Kramer announced a comprehensive overhaul of the agency’s Filmed Entertainment group, creating a more integrated, “future-focused” hierarchy designed to capture cross-platform opportunities for its roster of A-list talent.
## A Unified Vision for a Converging Media Landscape
The core of this restructuring is the appointment of veteran agent Matt Rice as the president of filmed entertainment. Rice, who previously spearheaded the agency’s television division, has been a key architect of UTA’s growth, representing industry powerhouses like Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, and James Gunn. Under the new model, he will oversee the strategic direction of the Motion Picture Literary, TV Literary, and Talent departments as a single, cohesive entity.
This move mirrors broader trends seen across the media and technology sectors, where companies are increasingly forced to prioritize platform-agnostic workflows. Just as Google has pushed to unify its ecosystem—integrating AI-driven insights across its Search, Workspace, and Android platforms—UTA is breaking down departmental silos. By merging these divisions, the agency aims to ensure that its agents can navigate a market where clients frequently jump between feature films, streaming series, and commercial brand deals without friction.
## Strategic Leadership and the New Board
Beyond Rice’s elevation, the agency has named Allan Haldeman, Blair Kohan, Jay Gassner, and Julien Thuan as managing partners within the group. To ensure that these decisions remain grounded in deep industry expertise, UTA is establishing a “Filmed Entertainment Board” comprised of 16 senior partners. This board will focus on identifying emerging market trends and aggressively pursuing new business initiatives.
The agency’s leadership transition also includes a significant refresh of department heads. Amanda Hymson and Jordan Lonner will take the reins of Motion Picture Literary, while Lucinda Moorhead and Mickey Berman assume leadership of TV Literary. In the Talent department, Hanley Baxter and John Sacks will join incumbent Mike Jelline, further bolstering the agency’s capacity to manage its diverse and high-profile client roster.
## Technology, AI, and the Future of Agency Work
For the entertainment industry, this organizational shift is not merely administrative; it is a defensive and proactive play in an era where data and technology dictate success. As talent agencies look toward the future, the integration of AI-driven analytics and data-processing tools has become essential for tracking audience behavior across various streaming platforms.
By streamlining its leadership, UTA is positioning itself to better utilize the tech-forward strategies that define the modern agency. Much like how software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies update their internal structures to better facilitate AI-powered workflows, UTA is betting that a flatter, more collaborative leadership team will allow them to act faster on behalf of their clients.
Kramer emphasized that the agency is not waiting for industry trends to settle, but is actively building the infrastructure required for what comes next. “We anticipate where the industry is going and build for what comes next,” Kramer stated in his memo. As film and television continue to converge into a singular, digitised pipeline, this new structural framework serves as a blueprint for an agency that is clearly focused on maintaining its competitive edge in a fast-paced, tech-influenced marketplace.
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