Apr 9, 2026 · 1h 17m · bigdeal
Hollywood CEO: How to Look Powerful in Any Room | Jeremy Zimmer
0:00 / 0:00
▶ Watch on YouTube →
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In an in-depth interview with Codie Sanchez, United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer unpacks the evolution of Hollywood dealmaking, agency enterprise building, and the principles of decisive corporate leadership. Drawing on decades of industry experience, Zimmer provides candid insights on evaluating artistic talent, managing high-profile rivalries, and adapting to technological disruption.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Codie holds 35.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Codie as informed peer 2.2 Guest teaching 3.8 Guest disagreement 1.2 Codie pushing back 0.3
speaking balance: gold is Codie, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 24:02 Correcting the ICM 'Raping and Pillaging' Quote
Zimmer immediately and bluntly interrupts Codie to reject her assertion that agents exploited talent, clarifying that rival agencies were aggressively poaching each other's clients.
Hardest push from Codie ▶ 1:07:35 Pushing Back on Union Resistance to AICodie challenges Hollywood union opposition to AI, asserting from her tech background that internet creators and streamers will eat the studios' lunch if traditional Hollywood resists technological adaptation.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 38:35 The Mechanics of Studio Backend ErosionZimmer delivers an exhaustive breakdown of film finance, explaining the precise mathematical shifts from first dollar gross and cash break zero to imputed fees and streamer buyout structures.
Codie holds their own ▶ 1:07:35 Deploying Tech and AI Investing ExpertiseCodie demonstrates sharp industry knowledge by detailing her DOD commercial AI investment background and analyzing 50 Cent's studio deal structure in Shreveport.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Codie as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Codie pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surviving a Stabbing and Early Life Before Hollywood | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Codie introduces Zimmer's researched background and flunking out of BU. Zimmer elaborates on being casually stabbed while managing parking lot receipts at age 19. | |
| Starting in the Mailroom and the Chair Fix Strategy | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Codie asks about mailroom lore, and Zimmer explains the rarity of top talent agents and how repairing a broken chair secured his first assistant desk. | |
| Evaluating Ambition and Respecting the Artist Journey | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Codie cites SAG union data showing most actors cannot afford health insurance. Zimmer reflects on why respecting an artist's insane journey and genuine passion for the medium is essential. | |
| Recognizing Screenplay Genius and Structuring Agency Teams | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Codie inquires about spotting writing talent and agency risk. Zimmer describes reading undeniable scripts like Good Will Hunting and explains how junior agents hunt while senior agents service. | |
| The Multi Hyphenate Era and Team Representation Models | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Zimmer pushes back on Codie's comparison of talent agents to solo real estate agents, explaining modern representation relies on cross-disciplinary agency teams. | |
| Navigating Setbacks Pain and Disaster Averted in M and A | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | Zimmer counters Codie's anxiety about making a single fatal mistake as a founder, explaining that resilient companies absorb shocks and recounting a near-disastrous pre-pandemic music acquisition. | |
| Taking a Stand and Denouncing Harvey Weinstein Early | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Codie quotes Zimmer's 2017 internal company memo regarding Harvey Weinstein. Zimmer discusses executive moral responsibility and contrasts authentic stands with corporate virtue signaling. | |
| Sponsor Message from Newsletter Platform Beehiiv | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | Following a sponsor read for Beehiiv, Zimmer corrects Codie's premise regarding his infamous trade quote, clarifying agents were raiding rival agencies rather than exploiting talent. | |
| Demystifying Entourage and Mediating Art with Commerce | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Zimmer dismisses TV portrayals like Entourage as exaggerated caricatures and explains how real agents mediate tension between artistic dreams and commercial realities. | |
| Agency Wars Michael Ovitz and the Real Competition | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | Zimmer details agency history from Ovitz to Ari Emanuel, reframing the true competitive threat away from rival agencies toward consolidating tech streaming buyers. | |
| Nineteen Acquisitions and the Death of Backend Equity | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | Zimmer gives a masterclass on how studio backend profit models deteriorated from first dollar gross to streamer buyouts, explaining why UTA executed 19 acquisitions to diversify. | |
| Sponsor Message from Eight Sleep Temperature Mattress Cover | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Following an Eight Sleep ad read, Zimmer explains why clients are deliberately kept out of deal rooms to preserve their future creative relationships with studio executives. | |
| Pre Deal Alignment and Outgrowing Screaming Tactics | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Zimmer rejects tactical deal room tricks in favor of pre-deal expectation alignment, reflecting on outgrowing his younger days of screaming and threatening studio heads. | |
| Ari Emanuel Comebacks and Letting Go of Grudges | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Codie brings up Zimmer's sharp public rebuttal to Ari Emanuel regarding UTA's profitability. Zimmer shares his perspective on letting go of past grievances. | |
| Supporting M Night Shyamalan and Accountability in Hiring | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Zimmer recounts standing by M. Night Shyamalan through creative slumps before being amicably fired, and reflects on the hubris of thinking one can change problematic employees. | |
| Evaluating Human Nature and Debunking Industry Stereotypes | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Codie asks for strict red flags in vetting talent. Zimmer resists rigid frameworks, warning against lazy generalizations about professions or temperaments. | |
| Agency Dress Codes Divas and Protecting Company Culture | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Zimmer discusses moving past his strict suit mandate and explains why repeatedly firing high-earning toxic performers protected UTA's core culture. | |
| Canceling the Oscar Party for an Iranian Client | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Zimmer explains his decision to cancel UTA's traditional Oscar party to host a rally supporting an Iranian client barred from the United States under the travel ban. | |
| The Future of Hollywood AI and Talent Landlords | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Codie shares AI commercial investing experience and details 50 Cent's Shreveport studio financing deal. Zimmer explains how talent is increasingly acting as landlord infrastructure. | |
| Iconic Career Memories From Coachella to LeBron James | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Zimmer shares iconic career memories, including headlining Guns N' Roses at Coachella and getting a courtside hug from LeBron James after closing brand deals with Rich Paul. | |
| Advice for Aspiring Creators and Essential Book Recommendations | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Zimmer recommends aspiring creators cultivate objective taste by reading serious literature rather than generic self-help, suggesting Lonesome Dove and Wally Lamb's novel. |
Statements from this episode (24)
Zimmer: Only 30 truly great talent agents exist in the world
“Maybe in the world there are 30, Really great talent agents, right? In the whole, in the galaxy, as far as we know.”
Zimmer: Talent agency work cannot be learned anywhere outside an agency
“There's very few agents. So there's no place to go and learn how to be one other than in an agency.”
Zimmer: Pursuing an artistic career is an act of insanity
“Waking up and say, I want to be an actor or a director or a musician or a fine artist or a poet or an author is an act of insanity. You know, the odds of being successful are extremely small. So you have to, I, to me, respecting that journey is really, really …”
Sanchez: The average union actor cannot afford union health insurance
“The average what is that? The average actor who is in a union... Cannot actually afford the insurance payments That are required as a member of the union.”
Zimmer: How UTA helped sell Matt Damon's Good Will Hunting script
“I mean, Good Will Hunting, we, UTA represented Matt and Ben, and their agent was primarily a talent agent, and he asked me to help out with Selling Good Will Hunting.”
Zimmer: Modern agencies grew by building teams around multi-hyphenate talent
“It's, you know, the modern agency, the modern bigger agencies, it's not really that way because what you do is you build teams around your clients so that there's several people working for a client, and you rely on your other agents to be out in the marketpla…”
Zimmer: UTA narrowly avoided a disastrous music agency acquisition before COVID-19
“Particularly right before the pandemic, we were trying to buy a very big agency, primarily because of its music business, and at the last minute, the seller couldn't control his colleagues, and the deal fell apart, and I was like, oh my god, I'm so embarrassed…”
Zimmer: CEOs Spoke Out During MeToo for Virtue Signaling, Now Stay Silent
“During, you know, Black Lives Matter and Me Too, you know, every, you know, every corporate CEO couldn't wait for, To say something, because it was the virtue signaling that was key to the time, and now we're all, you know, everyone's either so afraid or so am…”
Zimmer: Jeff Berg fired me from ICM over 'rape and pillage' remarks
“And so what happened is I got called into Jeff Berg's office and he says You know, I can't believe you said this. I can't take it anymore. You know, get your shit and get out of here. I was like, really? Yeah, I'm done. I'm done. Get your shit, get out of here…”
Zimmer: CAA poached Michael J. Fox and Sandra Bullock from early UTA
“And they took Michael J. Fox. They took Sandy Bullock. They took, they just went.”
Zimmer: Consolidation among streaming platforms constricts opportunities for artists
“And now the power of the platforms is so consolidated and the way they make deals and the way they think about our clients. Has really constricted the opportunity for artists.”
Zimmer: Netflix or Paramount acquiring Warner Bros. would devastate Hollywood
“You know, this whole, like, who's gonna get net, you know, who's gonna get Warner Brothers? Netflix is gonna get it, or Paramount's gonna get it. You know, in a weird way, either one of them getting it is terrible for our business. It's terrible for the city o…”
Zimmer: Hollywood studios seemingly colluded to eliminate first-dollar gross backend
“I'm not an antitrust attorney, and I'm certainly not someone to threaten, you know ... Collusion. But it sure felt a lot like it. It all happened very quickly, all around the same time, and suddenly there was no first dollar gross to be had, and back ends beca…”
Zimmer: ICM received a $1M Star Wars royalty check from Lucas deal
“Jeff Berg at ICM made a deal for George Lucas on the original Star Wars movie. He made a deal for the original creator of Mission Impossible, and I remember being at ICM and, you know, someone in accounting opened a check, and there was a check for a million d…”
Zimmer: Artists avoid negotiations so agents can absorb the conflict
“Usually when you're sitting in a room doing a deal, those people aren't in the room. They don't want to be in the room when you're doing their deal. They want to be out of the room being an artist and they want you in the room, you know, hurting and killing pe…”
Zimmer: I used to be sarcastic, hostile, and aggressive in deal negotiations
“I used to really get too riled up, you know, and I used to be, you know, I'd be tough on my colleagues and I'd be tough on the buyers and so, and I was just so, you know, I was sarcastic and nasty and like, you know, people would call and say, oh, we have this…”
Zimmer: Ari Emanuel and I alternately ignore each other at golf
“I mean, he does his thing. I do my thing. We see both members of the same golf course. We see each other there all the time. Sometimes we say hello to each other. Sometimes we ignore each other. I don't know what the reasoning is for when we ignore and when we…”
Zimmer: M. Night Shyamalan fired me after an incredible working relationship
“And by the way, I stood up for night and we had an incredible relationship. He made some great movies while we were together. He made one or two that weren't great. He fired me.”
Zimmer: Firing toxic top performers always makes the organization stronger
“Very successful, very toxic personalities, and every time we ultimately made the decision to get rid of those toxic personalities, we got better. Now there was always a period of insecurity where we were concerned, like, oh my God, we're gonna lose all these c…”
Zimmer: UTA canceled Oscar party to protest Trump travel ban
“We represented this, ah, boy, I'm embarrassed, I can't remember his name, a fantastic Iranian director who directed a movie called The Separation. And we represented him, and he was nominated for Academy Award, and this is in the first Trump presidency where h…”
Zimmer: Big tech ad revenue completely dwarfs legacy Hollywood studio profits
“When you look at ad revenue from YouTube or Meta or Google or Amazon, you know, which is anywhere from, you know, forty billion to two hundred and ninety five billion, as compared to ad revenue for
You know, Warners or Comcast or whatever, which is like eight …”
Zimmer: Talk of Hollywood union unrest is damaging and misplaced
“I think that, you know, the talk about it more, you know union unrest, I think is really, really damaging and really, really misplaced right now.
And I'm really hopeful that we don't have another couple of strikes cause that would just be devastating.”
Zimmer: Greedy Hollywood studios pocketed profits and enabled Netflix's disruption
“While we were investing in diversification, the studios weren't.
They were making movies, making television, making huge profits, putting it in all the executive pockets, and they were not investing.
And the fact that Netflix was built outside of our industry …”