This is unusual for the talent agency land, which usually prefers to be in the background: Veoh, the online video sharing site backed by Michael Eisner’s new fund, has tied up with talent agency UTA, where UTA will launch a video channel on Veoh, to showcase video from its roster of stars, as well as use it to get new talent.
On the channel, users submit unsolicited material to vie for a shot at being represented by the agency.
The deal was brokered by Eisner, the company said.
CAA did a deal with rival service Revver last year, but it wasn’t as explicitly talent-agency branded as this one.
FT: In an unusual move, UTA has bucked the industry trend of discouraging unsolicited material from aspirant actors, writers and directors and instead has actively encouraged people to submit material to the site. The group recently formed a broadband division and has already received thousands of submissions.