Latest in Rena Ronson

What kind of market will a pandemic-slimmed virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival bring? There are half as many films as last year, with lower than usual star wattage. The two most titles most often mentioned that could spark eight-figure deals are Passing — the Rebecca Hall-directed adaptation of the Nella Larsen…

Jim Meenaghan will join Rena Ronson as co-head of UTA Independent Film Group. Meenaghan is a nine-year agency vet who currently heads the Motion Picture Business Affairs Group, which is overseen by UTA co-president David Kramer. Meenaghan continues those duties but will also help Ronson expand its global film finance…

When the major talent agencies—CAA, WMA & Endeavor (now WME) and UTA—started indie film departments, the idea was to help big clients get their passion—some called them vanity—projects made. That seems like a million years ago. These departments have become such prolific generators that they have become the life blood…

Women in Film, the non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women, has just elected new members to its Board of Directors as Cathy Schulman enters her third term as Board President. The newly elected are: Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, DreamWorks Animation’s Terry Curtin, Transparent…

UTA today promoted eight agents to partner status. The agents are Marissa Devins, Nancy Gates, Peter Goldberg, Ramses IsHak, Rena Ronson, Leslie Schuster, Michael Sheresky and Brent Weinstein. UTA managing directors David Kramer, Jay Sures and CEO Jeremy Zimmer made the promotions. This brings the total number of UTA…

EXCLUSIVE: Open Road, the upstart distribution company formed by theater chains AMC and Regal, is making its second big acquisition. Tom Ortenberg’s company is acquiring domestic distribution rights to The Host, the Andrew Niccol-directed adaptation of Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer’s novel. I’m told that the…

The JC Chandor-directed drama Margin Call sold to Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate after an all night bargaining session. The film stars Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell and Stanley Tucci. That cast alone had buyers circling the modestly-budgeted…