EXCLUSIVE:Julian Jacobsrides the subway.
Whats more, theUTAexecutive can give directions.
She sort of looked at me for a moment, taking it in.
UTA’s Head of New York Julian Jacobs, center, and some of the company’s many East Coast sectors and clients.Emilio Madrid; Will Lanzoni/CNN; Bre Johnson/BFA.com for UTA; Marion Curtis/StarPix for UTA; Nicole Scherzinger; Pete Shapiro
Jacobs remained Co-Head of UTA Marketing and took the additional title of Partner and Head of New York.
(Who evenreflectsanymore??)
Jacobs says his upbringing helped shape his career approach.
A series of cold calls and hustle as an intern landed him a spot in the UTA mailroom.
The interview has been condensed for clarity and length.
DEADLINE:I guess the natural place to start is, how is the new gig going?
JULIAN JACOBS:Honestly, its unbelievable.
I came to the company thinking I wanted to be a motion picture lit agent.
The office was above Nike Town on Wilshire Boulevard.
DEADLINE:What came after the mailroom?
JACOBS:The motion picture lit department.
DEADLINE:I imagine you were out here a lot given your marketing work?
We have the top publishing business, theatre business, news business.
A huge part of our brand business is based here.
A big part of our music business is based here.
Even in the last year and a half alone, weve had three.
Because the New York office is no longer just a satellite office for UTA.
DEADLINE:Can you expand on that a bit, about the fit with L.A.?
I mean, every week in New York theres live entertainment.
I mean, we represent, like, half the cast ofSNL.
DEADLINE:Sounds like a lot to keep track of.
We have clients like Timbaland, Busta Rhymes performing.
I have Rashida Jones here.
We have Sheng Wang coming.
We have Sebastian Maniscalco for five sold-out nights at MSG.
Theres so much going on here.
DEADLINE:The worlds of entertainment and brands are also continuing to come together.
Chick Fil-A even has its own streaming service.
JACOBS:Brands have always been a part of telling stories on the big screen.
Mattel, Lego, these kinds of organizations.
Seeing Chick Fil-A do what they did is exciting.
I think a lot of people have questions about it.
DEADLINE:Its a commitment, at least.
How do you approach guiding clients in this space, given factors like social media?
Ryan Hayden and Marc Paskin, who are new co-heads of the News & Broadcast business, are incredible.
DEADLINE: We obviously cant overlook theater when we talk about New York.
UTA had a strong Tony season and you just promoted Patrick Herold and Rachel Viola co-head the department.
So many of our biggest talent clients, actors care about the performing arts and come out here.
If we look at an example likeOh, Mary!and Cole.
DEADLINE: Wickedshould be another example of that this November.
JACOBS:We have Cynthia Erivo in that, and our client Jon Chu is directing it.
The biggest portion of people that work with brands at the company are based in New York.
I think we have almost 100 executives working out of the New York area who are working with brands.
DEADLINE:The economics of that business are quite a bit different than representation.
We have a huge presence in that business based in New York.
And lets not forget our publishing business, right?
I mean, thats not the traditional talent agency business.
DEADLINE:You mentioned MediaLink.
Whats the state of MediaLink as we sit here today?
JACOBS:Heres what I can say.
DEADLINE:You have mentioned some of the M&A deals that UTA has done.
Do you feel that more will be necessary in order for you to compete with WME and CAA?
Will you should probably raise more money?
What do you think the choices are going to be on the strategic front?
JACOBS:Trying to think about my answer here.
UTA, as an organization, has always been very vocal about its focus on artist representation.
