UTA has made a move to become not just a new literary powerhouse in Hollywood but to supersize itself as a more global agency.
The agency, considered to be behind CAA and WME in terms of scale, is acquiring Curtis Brown Group, the UK’s largest literary agency that is home to authors such as Margaret Atwood and John le Carre. It also represents some of the biggest acting names with its talent subsidiary, Tavis Stockwood, Lily James and Alicia Vikander, among them.
According to the companies, the deal will see London-based Curtis Brown continue to operate under its current name and management, including CEO Jonny Geller. This will allow both UTA and Curtis Brown continue their fruitful and longstanding relationships with other agency partners in the UK and US.
The deal does, however, make the British agency the biggest representation firm to join a major Hollywood agency and gives UTA a major hold in the literary space as well as the British market, on top of giving the agency an infusion of acting talent.
The union is driven by a shared desire to ensure greater opportunities for clients across an increasingly global entertainment and culture landscape, in which traditional buyers and distributors such as studios and streaming services are expanding far beyond their home markets. The alliance provides Curtis Brown Group with resources to continue to build out its business, and the benefit of UTA’s expertise across a wide range of capabilities in such areas as brands, podcasts, digital talent, endorsements, media rights, data analytics and more.
