BEVERLY HILLS, CA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — UTA Online, the broadband division of United Talent Agency, has partnered with Veoh Networks, Inc. to create a branded UTAO channel on Veoh dedicated to identifying new talent and showcasing content produced by current UTAO clients. This marks the first distribution partnership between a talent agency and an online network. The deal was brokered by Michael Eisner, a Veoh board member, and Jeremy Zimmer, a UTA board member.
Slated to launch in February, the new channel will provide UTAO a single site to aggregate the high volume of talent and filmmaker submissions it has received since opening its doors October 2006. UTAO has openly encouraged aspiring digital artists to submit their work for representation consideration, bucking the common agency practice of prohibiting unsolicited submissions. The channel will be open and available to all Veoh users to submit, view and share content.
UTAO executives and the UTAO web portal, in development, will direct potential clients to the Veoh channel as the exclusive mechanism for submitting unsolicited video materials to UTAO. Additionally, the UTAO channel, which will be supported by both banner and integrated advertisements, will also feature content produced by already-existing UTAO clients.
“We have received thousands of submissions since UTAO was announced,” said Brent Weinstein, head of Digital Media at United Talent Agency, who oversees the UTAO division. “This partnership with Veoh enables us to create a structured, standardized and legally sound mechanism for aggregating and reviewing unsolicited submissions, in a peer-to-peer video environment that can support the high resolution, television-quality content that many aspiring artists produce.”
“With UTAO’s expertise in spotting and nurturing entertainment talent and Veoh’s mission to encourage, empower and enable the best independent, creative content producers online, this channel will become the new gateway for talent discovery in Hollywood,” said Dmitry Shapiro, CEO of Veoh Networks. “By partnering with UTAO and making this process available to the public, we are bringing the newest and brightest creative minds to the new, more flexible medium of Internet TV.” –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
