United Talent Agency’s Post

UTA welcomes singer-songwriter Brandon Lake. The “Praise You Anywhere” hitmaker has signed with us for representation in all areas. He has won five Grammy Awards and most recently wrapped a sold-out 20-city tour across the nation. Later this year, Lake will reunite with Phil Wickham for their second “Summer Worship Nights” run and host a special stripped-down, one-night-only show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on September 30.

Congrats to all the UTA clients who took home a trophy last night at the BET Awards! Tyla* won Best New Artist, as well as Best International Act. Blue Ivy Carter took home the YoungStars Award. J. Cole won Best Collaboration for “ALL MY LIFE.” “Bob Marley: One Love,” executive produced by Richard Hewitt and written by Frank E. Flowers, won Best Movie. * Denotes Shared Representation

Amazin'. Assistants from our NYC office took to Citi Field for the ultimate (and quintessentially New York) team-bonding exercise: Watching the Mets take on the Yankees.

Some of the biggest country artists of our time will come together to honor the late Toby Keith, a longtime UTA client, at a charity benefit concert. Titled “Toby Keith: American Icon,” the event will take place at Bridgestone Arena on July 29 with an NBC special to follow on August 28. UTA agents Curt Motley, who represented Keith for 30 years, and Nick Barnes say the show will celebrate the singer-songwriter’s impact on the music industry; Keith achieved 32 No. 1 singles. UTA client Leanne Morgan is among those who’ll perform. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Ok Kids Korral and Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.

UTA clients Jessica Alba and Clara Lago are dominating Netflix this week. Alba’s film “Trigger Warning,” which is the first she’s executive produced through her new production banner, follows a special forces commando who returns to her hometown after her father’s mysterious, sudden death. Her questions surrounding her father’s demise land her in hot water with a violent gang. The movie claimed the top spot with 25.7 million views.    Lago’s series, “Gangs of Galicia,” tells the story of Ana as she seeks revenge on a Galician drug cartel and becoming close to its leader after her father’s murder reveals a hidden double life. The series quickly climbed the charts and landed at #1 with 2.9 million views in its first weekend of release.

Congratulations to UTA’s Jay Gassner (Partner & Co-Head, MP Talent), Gregory McKnight (Partner & Agent), David Park (Partner & Agent) and Carolyn Sivitz (Partner & Agent), who have all been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. We applaud these four who “have made a significant impact on our filmmaking community.”

A group of assistants from our New York office took a field trip to the 1800s to attend the final dress rehearsal of the hit play “Oh, Mary!,” written by and starring our client Cole Escola. Following an off Broadway run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, “Oh, Mary!” will open on Broadway on July 11. (Previews start June 26.) The Daily Beast is already calling it “Broadway’s hottest summer show.”

Drew Baldridge has signed with UTA for representation in all areas. His most well-known singles include “Dance With Ya” and “She's Somebody's Daughter,” the latter of which is having a resurgence thanks to TikTok. Five years following its release, the track is trending on the app as part of “The Daughter Trend,” racking up 500 million social media impressions and streams. It currently sits at No. 15 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart. Baldridge told People the unexpected success has “taken our career and lifted it to a whole other stratosphere." 

New York Times Best-Selling author Dolly Alderton stopped by UTA’s Los Angeles headquarters to screen the first episode of her acclaimed half-hour series “Everything I Know About Love,” adapted from her 2018 memoir of the same name. The NYT calls the series “ a grand love story” that gives “female friendship the rom-com treatment.”   The screening was followed by a Q&A moderated by fellow UTA client Yvonne Orji. The author said that that novel and show have “enough of my heart, and soul, and brain and life spilled out everywhere.” Jason Richman (Partner & Co-Head of Media Rights), Blair Kohan (Board Member & Agent), Larry Salz (Partner & Agent), Jenny Maryasis (Partner & Agent and Stephen Travierso  (Agent, Talent) were among those in attendance.