• by Ross Fadner , January 12, 2005

United Talent Agency, one of Hollywood's largest agencies representing actors, writers, producers and artists in the entertainment industry, plans to open a Silicon Valley office catering to clients looking to market to video gamers. The new San Francisco office will be led by Jonathan Epstein, a 20-year industry veteran who was founding CEO of video game portal GameSpot.com, and former president of GameSpy, which he helped merge with IGN Entertainment this past summer.

"I could not be more excited about this opportunity," said Epstein, who together with agent Brent Wenstein and others will make up the agency's video game and interactive practice.

Epstein said the expanded operation will focus on negotiating branded sponsorships and takeovers for clients with online industry trade publishers, game publishers' Web sites, and online retailers such as EB.com. "I hope to work with all the media players in the market," Epstein said, which incidentally includes both GameSpot and IGN Entertainment-companies he previously worked for. "Online sites are a great way to reach gamers," he said--particularly the coveted 18-34 male demographic.

United Talent also will focus on game sponsorship. "I'm a big believer that games are a conduit for brands," Epstein said, adding that the agency plans to negotiate licensing deals for its big-name clients in the console, PC, and mobile games arenas as well as content sponsorships through Internet and advergaming.

Epstein said he's "less impressed" with the so-called measurable in-game ad units game publishers have started selling, because they reach far smaller audiences. "Game marketing deals have always been driven by big game sponsorships," he said.

United Talent already has established relationships with video game publishers, having recently negotiated deals for Midway and Activision. The agency represents clients before publishers in negotiations over game licensing and sponsorship as well as acting opportunities in games.

Epstein emphasized that United Talent is not an advertising agency. He said the company does not handle media buying. Rather, it packages deals and presents them to Web and game publishers on behalf of clients. He said the agency currently is meeting with national brands--in sectors ranging from consumer package goods to fashion to consumer electronics.

"The video gaming industry and the entertainment industry have amazing synergies which seem obvious but have yet to be fully realized," stated Jeremy Zimmer, a United Talent board member. "Our strategy in adding Jon to the agency and establishing UTA [United Talent Agency] in the geographic heart of the video gaming industry is to build a deeper, more effective relationship between the games industry, Hollywood, and brands who are seeking innovative marketing solutions."