Zimmer: Hollywood studios seemingly colluded to eliminate first-dollar gross backend
Jeremy Zimmer · Hollywood CEO: How to Look Powerful in Any Room | Jeremy Zimmer · Apr 9, 2026 · at 39:01
Jeremy Zimmer, co-founder of United Talent Agency (UTA), explains how the sudden disappearance of backend profit participation for Hollywood stars and creators mirrored coordinated industry collusion.
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“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 became much harder to achieve.”
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