Assistants vs. Agents

📞 The Call Log: Blair Kohan, Board Member, Partner, Literary & Talent Agent at UTA.

Blair Kohan is a distinguished Board Member, Partner, Literary & Talent Agent and powerhouse dealmaker at United Talent Agency, representing an exceptional roster of talent that includes Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Paul Rudd, Mike Mills, Lizzo, Ali Wong, Gisele Bündchen, Colleen Hoover, Adam Scott, Cynthia Erivo, Nick Kroll, Gloria Sanchez Productions, Lorene Scafaria, Josh Greenbaum, John Boyega, Jessica Biel, Jesse Peretz, Nathan Fielder, John Gatins, Karlie Kloss, Cooper Koch, Daisy Edgar Jones, Autumn de Wilde, Rosalia and Julia Garner, among many others. As one of the few women in the industry to serve on a talent agency's Board, Kohan is a vital member of UTA’s leadership team and is widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s true tastemaker agents. 

Our conversation is below:

AvA: What was your first job in Entertainment? What was that experience like? 

Kohan: My first exposure to the entertainment business was a PA job on the television series ALF. I was still in college and had been studying creative writing and accepting that I likely didn’t have a future as a professional writer. During that Summer job, it became abundantly clear to me that I needed to sort out a plan to get back to LA after graduation to secure a job in the movie or tv business. 

My first job out of college was as an assistant to a literary agent at Bauer/Benedek. Watching agents pitch and advocate for their brilliant clients was not just exciting but clarifying for me. I fell hard for the idea that I could discover great storytellers, protect their vision and fight relentlessly alongside them to bring their stories to screens.

AvA: Looking back on your career so far, what’s one moment that you consider to be a milestone or turning point for you? What did you learn from that experience that you still carry with you today?

Kohan: There is something so deeply soulful and gratifying about supporting a client’s path to success, in whatever form that takes. Celebrating new projects – a film or television release, a book publishing, a theater premiere, a standup tour or special, it continues to inspire and motivate and never gets old. 

An early realization was to resist the temptation to take the first offer or deal that comes your way. This career has really taught me the gift of patience and the power of No and the benefit of being proactive versus reactive. I think as I have matured, I have learned that slowing the roll and listening to my gut usually yields a better result. 

AvA: What are some of the biggest opportunities today at UTA and other agencies that young professionals should be thinking about?

Kohan: I have long held the belief that each client is an entrepreneur and, as their advocates, we need to think entrepreneurially on their behalf. A multi-hyphenate client requires a multi-hyphenate agent. It’s exciting to represent storytellers who tell their stories on every available platform as it gives the agent an opportunity to become fluent in different areas of the business. The ever changing landscape forces us out of our comfort zones very regularly and challenges us to stay ahead of the transitions to best advise our clients. 

AvA: What are 3 of the most important qualities you see in your peers who have risen through the ranks quickly in their professional roles? 

Kohan: The willingness to take a risk and fail.

Possession of a strong, relentless, and passionate point of view.

Commitment and diligent work ethic. 

AvA: What is one piece of advice you have for someone just starting out in their careers?

Kohan: Run your own race. Put your head down, do the work, and don’t compare yourself to others. 

AvA: If money was no object, what would your job/career be (outside of the Entertainment Industry)?

Kohan: Definitely something in the world of fashion and design.

AvA: What are you binging on TV right now? 

Kohan: Mid-century Modern & The Studio.

AvA: Book or podcast recommendation?  

Kohan: Reading ‘When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines’ by Graydon Carter 

Listening to ‘The Telepathy Tapes’ podcast (slowly but surely)

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

YouTube celebrated it’s 20th anniversary yesterday.

• The platform now has over 20 billion uploads, which averages out to about 2.5 videos uploaded per every single person on earth.

• 2.7 billion MAUs (monthly active users). That’s 33% of the earth’s population using the platform.

• The average American YouTube user spends nearly 1.5 hours per day scrolling videos.

• YouTube is more popular than Apple and Spotify for podcast listening.

• YouTube trails only TikTok when it comes to how much time Americans spend on the app each day.

• In 2024, YouTube users averaged more than 100 million comments per day.

• It has also become the most watched streaming platform on TV beating out the “big dogs” like Netflix, Hulu, Prime and Quibi (too soon).

• 300 music videos that have joined the 1 Billion Views Club, with Adele’s “Hello” hitting that mark the quickest (88 days).

Coachella & Stagecoach’s impact on my work performance the following Monday is pretty remarkable (according to my boss).. but we have some even more impactful stats on its economic impact on the local economy:

Warner Music sued… Crumbl Cookies? For $2 billion? Not because they are massively overrated, but instead the lawsuit comes as a response to “massive scale copyright infringement” in TikTok posts. This is not the first time we have seen major labels make moves like this in recent times. (Sony Music did a similar thing with USC earlier this year.)

The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees will be announced on American Idol this Sunday. The news will be coming from host Ryan Seacrest (who has to have made a lifetime blood pact with the show at this point), and former Rock Hall inductee James Taylor will also be a mentor for this episode only. More on that here.

Europe slapped Meta and Apple with $790 million in collective antitrust fines, or the equivalent price of adding extra protein at Chipotle for most of us. at The fines are for ‘violating the EU’s Digital Markets Act.’ There are a lot of layers for this one, which you can read more about here.

Snoop Dogg signed a new film and TV deal with NBCUniversal. A Snoop biopic is already in the works with Universal, and it was just confirmed that he will be returning as a judge on NBC’s ‘The Voice.’

Green Day are set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. To celebrate the occasion, Serena Williams and Ryan Reynolds are set to speak at the ceremony. Add this to the constantly expanding list of unexpected cross overs ✅

Fyre Festival 2 has officially been cancelled, and the brand is now up for sale. The decision comes after founder Billy McFarland tried to ‘run it back’ after serving time in prison for fraud from the last one, and he says that his reasoning to sell is that it’s ‘time to pass to the torch.’ Not much fyre on that torch, and there is only one man who can save it now:

👋 See you back here on Tuesday for a brand new selection of Entertainment jobs.

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This newsletter is written by Warner Bailey and edited by Riley Furey

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