UTA Signs Comedian, Writer & Actor Fortune Feimster

EXCLUSIVE: Actress Susan Park has signed with Prototype Talent Agency for theatrical representation.

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based creator, comedian, actor, writer Kyle Gordon has signed wtih CAA for representation.

Selena Kuznikov UTA has announced its newest class of partners, consisting of 24 employees. The new partners come from a wide range of practices and business areas from across the company including talent, music, publishing, comedy touring, executive search, endorsements and voiceover, MediaLink and Klutch Sports Group.

EXCLUSIVE: Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow has left UTA, ending one of the most tenured relationships with a major filmmaker and a major agency.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Swedish screenwriter, series creator and showrunner Lisa Ambjörn (Young Royals) for representation in all areas.

EXCLUSIVE: CAA has signed Matt Mathews, a stand-up comedian, social media star, multi-award-winning boudoir photographer, and author based in Birmingham, Alabama.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Prime Video has assembled a buzzy cast for a heist thriller housed at Drama Republic, the UK production company behind Netflix hit One Day.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed filmmakers Ryan J. Sloan & Ariella Mastroianni for representation in all areas, with UTA Independent Film Group coming aboard to handle domestic sales for Sloan’s feature directorial debut, Gazer, which is set to premiere as part of Directors’ Fortnight and compete for the Camera d’Or at Cannes.

Former The X Factor sensation Diana Vickers is set to take on the role of Gwyneth Paltrow in a new musical based on the Hollywood star's ski trial, which made headlines last year. The production called, Wish You Well, will dramatise the events of Gwyneth's 2023 legal battle that stemmed from a skiing incident at Utah's Deer Valley Resort in 2016. Gwyneth, 51, found herself in court after retired optometrist Terry Sanderson accused her of crashing into him on the slopes, causing serious injuries including broken ribs and sought $300,000 in compensation.The A-lister, however, filed a symbolic counterclaim for a single dollar, insisting it was Sanderson who crashed into her, ruining a family ski day.The case, which was closely watched by the public on live television, ultimately saw Gwyneth exonerated.

Thania Garcia Kobalt has signed singer-songwriter Imani “Mocha” Lewis, co-writer of Tyla’s Grammy winning “Water,” and eight other tracks on the South African singer’s self-titled debut album. “Mocha is a phenomenally gifted and versatile songwriter whose power to create lyrics and melody are only just now being recognized in the creative community,” said Genevieve Jackson Huguely, creative manager at Kobalt.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Global talent, entertainment, sports and advisory company UTA has signed composer Laura Karpman for representation in all areas. The signing comes on the heels of her Oscar-nominated score for best picture nominee “American Fiction.” In a statement, Karpman who has won five Emmys said, “While I’m at my core a musician and composer, there are so many things that spark me creatively.

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award nominated writer Samy Burch has signed with WME. Burch is the writer behind May December, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, in addition to WGA and Critics Choice Awards nominations. Burch won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay.

EXCLUSIVE: Chinese-Kiwi actor Yoson An has signed with Sovereign Talent Group. Sovereign will rep An’s writing and directing work. 

EXCLUSIVE: Director Haifaa Al Mansour is returning to her native Saudi Arabia for the shoot of crime feature Unidentified, exploring the reality of women amid the current period of immense social change in the country.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Shanghai and Los Angeles-based production, distribution and investment company Fundamental Films for representation.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based international sales and production company Totem Films has revealed its production slate, with projects by Nastia Korkia, Vytautas Katkus, Ernst de Geer and Anna Roller. Totem brought together the directors and writers of the projects they are developing to take part in a Script Circle in Berlin, led by consultants Françoise von Roy and Franz Rodenkirchen. Totem partners Bérénice Vincent and Laure Parleani said that the production companies they are working with, Garagefilm, TamTam and Kalekone, were “enthusiastic about this collaborative idea, so were the directors and scriptwriters.” They added: “It is very nurturing to have a mix of different personalities, countries and backgrounds.

EXCLUSIVE: Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) and Abbie Cornish (Three Billboards) have come aboard to star opposite Kal Penn in Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, a new film from writer-director Thane Economou (The Wedding Party) that will launch sales at the Cannes Market.

Former UTA Partner, Co-Head of Independent Film and Head of Motion Picture Business Affairs Jim Meenaghan has joined Stampede Ventures as Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, founder and CEO Greg Silverman announced on Wednesday.

Selome Hailu Ahead of the Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival beginning on Wednesday in Los Angeles, Netflix has announced new stand-up specials from seven comics: Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Ali Wong, Jo Koy, Bert “The Machine” Kreischer, Deon Cole, Fortune Feimster and Michelle Buteau. Iglesias has set two new specials, with one taping at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla. this July and another with details yet to come.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Walter Woodman, Patrick Cederberg, Matthew Hornick and Sidney Leeder, the filmmakers behind the creative collective shy kids, for representation in all areas.