UTA Promotes 65 Employees Across 20 Departments

Jennifer Coolidge is taking over Australia!

Manchester United have reportedly reignited their interest in Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez.

Naman Ramachandran Toronto-based content development and production company Cream Productions has promoted three key executives. Taking on the role of general manager is Patrick Cameron, who previously served as the company’s senior VP of production. Cameron brings over 20 years of experience in the filmmaking industry, with close to a decade at Cream Productions. Projects he has worked on include “All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs,” “Stuff The British Stole,” “Beautiful Scars,” “History of the Sitcom” and “Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan.” In his new capacity, Cameron will primarily focus on corporate strategy, personnel management and system operations.

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins has signed with UTA.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is undertaking a “strategic realignment” of its podcast division, laying off about 200 staffers. Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify’s VP, head of podcast business, announced the job cuts in a memo to employees Monday that was shared publicly. The 200 employees represents about 2% of the audio streamer’s worldwide workforce. The layoffs come after Spotify cut 6% of its total headcount earlier this year and saw the exit of Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising business officer, who had previously headed Spotify’s podcast business “We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator,” Elhabashi wrote. “This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better. However, doing so requires adapting; over the past few months, our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organization for this next chapter. As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce.”

Footwear News this week that she’s not a big fan of the hybrid work schedule, a model where employers split up the days when employees are required to come into the office versus working from home.“You can’t possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely,” Stewart told the outlet.“Look at the success of France with their stupid … you know, off for August, blah blah blah,” she continued. “That’s not a very thriving country.

EXCLUSIVE: Gaumont, the production company behind Netflix’s Narcos and Apple TV+’s Stillwater, is making changes to its animation, kids and family division.

BreAnna Bell Tomorrow Studios has announced the promotion and hiring of Alissa Bachner and Josh Bratman. After joining the company in 2016, Bachner has been elevated to EVP of development where she will continue to oversee the production of the company’s slate of TV dramas and comedies. Bratman joins Tomorrow Studios as its new head of features. “As we continue our acquisition and development of unparalleled IP, and our work with the leading creatives in Hollywood, we want to maximize our storytelling ability for all formats and produce each project for the format that best tells its story, including opportunities for feature run/streamer double play,” said Tomorrow Studios CEO/Partner Marty Adelstein and President/Partner Becky Clements. “Josh brings a keen eye for developing feature films to the team, and Alissa’s instincts for television are consistently unmatched. We are excited for the greatness to come from them.”

EXCLUSIVE: Sofia Vergara’s Latin World Entertainment has upped Tatiana Castro to VP of Content & Partnerships, Deadline has learned.

The Writers Guild strike goes on, but there’s peace on one labor front in the entertainment industry.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney reached its 7,000 layoffs goal, handing out notices to the remaining employees impacted in its third round of job cuts last Friday ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, Variety has confirmed. The Mouse House’s target was to conclude these companywide layoffs, which focused most heavily on the media divisions and left the parks largely untouched, ahead of the summer. The company still has plans to eliminate more roles internationally over a period of time, according to a source close to the situation, but Disney has now concluded the benchmark it set in February, soon after Iger’s return as CEO upon the ousting of Bob Chapek.

EXCLUSIVE: Just a couple of months out from his Academy Award win for his memorable supporting role in A24‘s Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan has taken on new agency representation, signing with UTA in all areas.

Amazon has offered employees at its huge Manchester warehouse who are parents, grandparents and guardians of school-age children the chance to work term-time only.

This is so scary. A two-year-old boy was hit in the head by a stray bullet while playing outside at daycare!

Police departments in Utah, Ohio and Pennsylvania aided by assistance from agents from Federal Bureau of Investigation Field Offices in Ohio and Utah are investigating threats made by email to local media referencing the retail chain Target’s LGBTQ merchandise collections celebrating Pride Month.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Brady Torgeson and Alex Chaykin have both been named partners at APA, Variety has learned exclusively. Torgeon first joined APA’s physical production department in 2013, while Chaykin has been with the agency’s music department since 2012. According to sources, both are known for their versatility in working across multiple departments. “We are proud to have one of the top Physical Production Department’s in the industry led by an accomplished group of dedicated agents and Brady has distinguished himself among the best in the industry,” said Jim Gosnell and Jim Osborne, respectively APA’s CEO and president. “He is the rare agent that represents artists and craftspeople across almost every aspect of production, making him an expert in the field and a tremendous asset to APA. We could not be prouder to welcome him as a partner of the agency.”

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content has elevated four senior executives at the company including three within AC Studios, the premium independent film and TV production studio that sits inside Anonymous Content as well as a longtime executive in their Brand division.

UTA on Tuesday morning announced 65 promotions across 20 departments, including MP Literary, Music, Unscripted Television, Klutch Sports Group, Production Arts, UTA Entertainment & Culture Marketing, Media Rights, MediaLink, Endorsements & Voiceover, IQ, Brand Studio, Business Affairs, Corporate Strategy, Culture & Leadership, Finance & Accounting, Fine Arts, Information Technology, People, Theatre, and UTA Speakers. 

EXCLUSIVE: Religion of Sports, the Emmy-winning sports media company founded by Gotham Chopra, Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, has today named Pietro Moro to the hybrid role of COO/CFO, also spotlighting the expansion of its production team with two promotions and four hirings.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Greene’s talent agency Greene Talent has elevated agents Azeem Chiba, Ethan Salter and Kiernan Mc Caffrey to shareholding partners.