Jim Berkus is an American entertainment industry executive who is co-founder and chairman of United Talent Agency (UTA). [1] [2] [3] Prior to forming UTA, Berkus was a partner at Leading Artists Agency. [4] His clients include the Coen brothers, Barbra Streisand, and Owen Wilson. He often hosts UTA's annual Oscar parties at his home. [5] [6]
In 2023, Jim Berkus stepped aside from being UTA Chairman to allow Paul Wachter to lead the board into the next chapter of the growth and expansion for UTA. [7]
As of 2025, Jim remains very actively involved at UTA as a Senior Partner and Advisor and continues representing his longtime clients Joel and Ethan Coen, Harrison Ford, Owen Wilson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wes Anderson, Michael Douglas, Liev Schreiber amongst others.
Berkus is married to Ria Berkus, and his son, Jordan Berkus, is also an agent at UTA.
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and comedian. He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)—the latter received a nomination for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. He has also appeared in Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The French Dispatch (2021). Wilson also starred in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Midnight in Paris (2011) as disenchanted screenwriter Gil Pender, a role which received a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2014, he appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice and Peter Bogdanovich's She's Funny That Way.
Creative Artists Agency, LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients.
ICM Partners was a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., and London. The company represented clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publishing, live performance, branded entertainment and new media. Its corporate headquarters were in Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles. In 2022, ICM became part of Creative Artists Agency.
The Hollywood Reporter (THR) is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large-format print magazine with a revamped website. As of 2020, the day-to-day operations of the company are handled by Penske Media Corporation through a joint venture with Eldridge Industries. The magazine also sponsors and hosts major industry events.
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sports businesses. In addition, an agent defends, supports and promotes the interest of their clients. Talent agencies specialize, either by creating departments within the agency or developing entire agencies that primarily or wholly represent one specialty. For example, there are modeling agencies, commercial talent agencies, literary agencies, voice-over agencies, broadcast journalist agencies, sports agencies, music agencies and many more.
Dan Halsted is an American film producer and talent manager, best known for producing such films as Garden State, Any Given Sunday and The Virgin Suicides.
United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. As of 2021, the company has more than 1,400 global employees. UTA has divisions focused on film, television, music, sports, digital, books, video games, branding and licensing, speaking, marketing, fine arts, news, and broadcasting, among others. The agency also operates the non-profit UTA Foundation.
The Endeavor Talent Agency was a Beverly Hills-based talent agency founded by Ari Emanuel, Rick Rosen, Tom Strickler, and David Greenblatt. It was launched in March 1995 and went on to represent a wide variety of acclaimed film and television stars. In April 2009, Emanuel and Endeavor executive Patrick Whitesell orchestrated a merger with the William Morris Agency, resulting in William Morris Endeavor. William Morris Endeavor was renamed Endeavor in October 2017.
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in April 2009 after the merger of the William Morris Agency and Endeavor Talent Agency. Endeavor represents artists in film, television, music, theater, digital media, and publishing. It also represents the NFL and NHL. Endeavor is majority owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) through TKO Group. In collegiate athletics Endeavor-Learfield IMG represents The American, A10, Big 12, Conference USA, Horizon League, MAC, MEAC, OVC, SEC and WCC.
The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent agency in show business".
David Linde has served as the CEO of Participant, chairman of Universal Pictures, co-founder of Focus Features, partner in the New York production company Good Machine, and owner of Lava Bear Films, where he produced the multi-Oscar nominated film Arrival. Films released during his tenures collectively earned more than $15 billion globally, with 204 Oscar nominations and 46 wins.
Gavin Polone is an American film and television producer. He began producing films in the late 1990s and television in the 2000s. He has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, of which six were for "Outstanding Comedy Series" for Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. His production company is Pariah.
Rich Paul is an American sports agent and the founder and chief executive officer of Klutch Sports Group. His most notable client is basketball player LeBron James, with whom he has been a longtime friend. Paul is also co-head of the Sports division at United Talent Agency.
John Huttner Lesher is an American film producer, best known for winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for the 2014 film Birdman.
Paul David Wachter is an American businessman and investment adviser whose clients include Arnold Schwarzenegger, LeBron James, U2 frontman Bono, Beats by Dre co-founder Jimmy Iovine, Drake, Billie Eilish and Tom Werner, Chairman of the Boston Red Sox and the Liverpool Football Club. He has played a leading role in high-profile investment deals including the 2002 acquisition of the Boston Red Sox by New England Sports Ventures, an ownership group he became partner to in 2021. Wachter was also a founding member of the board of Beats Electronics since 2008 and led the negotiation of the Beats sale to Apple. Along with LeBron James, he was among the executive producers of the Starz scripted series, Survivor's Remorse, and HBO’s What’s My Name, a documentary on Muhammad Ali, and is the executive producer of the 2023 Netflix series Arnold. He is now Chairman of the Board of United Talent Agency (UTA).
Daniel Aaron Aloni or Dan Aloni is an American talent agent and Managing Partner at William Morris Endeavor (WME). He was previously a partner at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and United Talent Agency (UTA), where he was Co-Head of Motion Picture Literary department.
David Kramer is an American entertainment industry executive and talent agent, and president of United Talent Agency.
Jay Sures is an American entertainment industry executive and talent agent, and vice chairman of United Talent Agency.
Leslee Dart is an American publicist and entrepreneur. She is the founder and co-CEO of the Dart Group, now known as 42West, which prior to its 2017 acquisition was the largest independently-owned public relations firm in the entertainment industry.
Rick Nicita is an American entertainment executive, talent agent, and motion picture/TV producer. Nicita is a former co-chairman and managing partner of Creative Artists Agency.