Michael Kassan and Jeremy Zimmer on the Upheaval in Media

Following Michael Kassan's acrimonious exit from MediaLink, which involves him suing owner United Talent Agency (UTA)—which has issued its own lawsuit in response—we look back on conversations with the influential business executive. CANNES, France—Eighteen months into the marriage, things are good between UTA and MediaLink. Jeremy Zimmer's talent agency acquired Michael Kassan's media consultancy in late 2021, giving each access to the other's clients and opening new lines of business. "We have probably 100 colleagues who are connecting across different brands and opportunities and looking for ways that we can deepen the connectivity," said Zimmer, CEO of UTA. Added Kassan, "It's always dangerous to say this, but nobody else can bring all of that together. If you're looking at brands, if you're looking at talent, if you're looking at platforms, if you're looking at distributors, if you're looking at creators, we found a way to bring them all together and find different touch points." Leaders From GroupM, MediaLink and More Discuss Using AI to Better Understand and Engage Customers Zimmer and Kassan sat down with Adweek on Monday morning at Cannes Lions to talk influencers, AI, the writers strike, CNN, Linda Yaccarino's move to Twitter and more. Adweek: Talking about the progression of who comes here, it was first about celebrating creativity, then marketers started coming, then ad tech, now it's the creator economy and influencers. Jeremy, how are you looking at influencers as a piece of the UTA business? Zimmer: We started our digital talent agency probably way too early. We actually got involved in representing digital talent artists in 2006. And there wasn't much to be taken seriously at the time. But it certainly gave us the language and understanding of connectivity with everyone who is in that space. We've made deep investments. We bought a company a few years ago, the leading influencer agency in beauty and fashion called DBA, we represent some of the biggest stars in that space. The Ongoing Writers Strike Could Take Upfront Negotiations Off Script AI will be a big topic of conversation this week, but what are some of the other trends you're looking for this year? Kassan: There's no conversation that hasn't had AI. But there's still so much interest in how advertising and streaming are coming together. That is still a story. Last year, it was Netflix. This year, in a more stealth fashion, you've got Apple here. Retail media, just look around the beach here, Walmart Connect, Instacart, Albertsons, Amazon. That's the business Amazon is here for. The projection is $112 billion revenue for retail media. Where that ties back to UTA is there's a strong belief that you rarely hear the word 'commerce' now not modified by the word 'content.' Jeremy, I want to ask you about AI, but first, the writers strike. What are your clients saying about it? What's UTA's position? Zimmer: UTA's position is we support the writers. We've been representing writers since our beginning 32 years ago. The economics of streaming have changed tremendously to the detriment of writers, for the most part. So we're very supportive of their position. I think it's unfortunate that it's going to take as long as it may take because I think there's a deal to be made. How long will it take, do you think? Zimmer: It will certainly take through the summer. So, we've got to see what happens with the actors, that'll be a big piece of the puzzle. Exclusive: Tubi’s Satirical B-to-B Campaign Brings Comedy to Cannes That leads to the AI piece of this. It's affecting our industry, the advertising industry, on the content production side. What do you hear in Hollywood about the challenges ahead? Zimmer: Some writers have used AI just as a creative tool, some of them are finding it very useful. Some are finding it very concerning like, 'Wait a minute, am I plagiarizing?' They don't even know where the line between their own creativity and the research or the implementation of utilizing the tool is becoming plagiarism. So I think there are a lot of concerns that are very reasonable. I don't think it's an existential threat to the uniquely powerful creatives that have always stood above. But I think there's an existential threat to a lot of working artists. Kassan: The other side of your question on content production. This is going to be, you know, mana from heaven in terms of efficiency. And the impact on mar tech and ad tech, it's a great positive. Jeremy, what do you see from the studios and all the challenges they are facing? Zimmer: Disney has a bunch of different challenges. The big question is what's going to happen to Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom. I imagine that we'll see some more consolidation, I imagine you'll see four, maybe five, powerful global streamers. And they're all going to be buying content from everybody around the world and, hopefully, those ecosystems are powerful enough to really support a great content ecosystem of producers and creators, and things will come back to a sort of a slightly more normalized place. But, what we know is, there's never an end state. The U.S. election is next year. It's going to be bumpy. UTA has a lot of TV news clients, including CNN. What are you hearing from them? Are they concerned, relieved about the leadership changes? Zimmer: They're relieved about the leadership changes. They're concerned about the broader, 'What's happening here? Who's in charge? And when can we get back to doing really good journalism and thoughtful journalism?' So it's pretty nerve-racking. Talking about leadership changes and executive changes, how is Twitter going to be under Linda Yaccarino? Kassan: Rarely does one get a second chance to make a first impression. I think Linda's opportunity for Twitter 2.0 is to actually get a second chance at a first impression. The marketplace wants it. The Linda factor matters because she does have the trust and respect of the industry. And they'll give her that chance. From a personal side, I couldn't be happier for her. I'm so proud of her. She went for it, she got it. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Cannes Lions

A Conversation With Former MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan and UTA's Jeremy Zimmer

The pair discussed the impact of AI on the entertainment industry

Chris Ariens

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Chris Ariens