FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS
Molly Wansell
UK
42 mollywansell@42mp.com
Clients include Stacy Martin, Miles Jupp, Hera Hilmar, Coral Amiga
“Ever since I was a child my parents said I should try becoming an agent,” says 42’s Molly Wansell. After a brief stint working at an academic institution, she joined the ranks at UK agency Tavistock Wood and worked there for six years before joining the nascent 42 in late 2014. “An agent-client relationship is more co-dependent than a marriage so you need to make sure you really understand the person you want to work with — and believe they have talent of course,” she says. “All my clients are different and have different skills but if you put them all
Jonathan Weinstein
in a room together they would get on. I like to refer to them as my team.” Her clients includes UK comedy actor Miles Jupp of BBC series Rev and Radio 4 comedy show The News Quiz and rising star Stacy Martin, the model-turned-actress whose credits include Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, Brady Corbet’s The Childhood Of A Leader, Nicolas Saada’s Taj Mahal and Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales. Among the emerging talents on Wansell’s roster are Icelandic actress Hera Hilmar, who stars in local box-office smash Life In A Fish Bowl and alongside Baltasar Kormakur in the directoractor’s upcoming The Oath (she also has a recurring role in Starz TV fantasy drama Da Vinci’s Demons); and Rome actress Coral Amiga, who recently wrapped thriller Kill The Czar opposite James Franco. Former Screen Star of Tomorrow Rose Wicksteed is among Wansell’s casting agent clients.
US
UTA steinl@unitedtalent.com
Clients include Nicholas Braun, Joanne Froggatt, Tony Hale, Amber Tamblyn
After graduating from Brandeis University with a degree in politics and English literature, Weinstein moved from the east coast to Los Angeles and joined the UTA agent training programme in 2007. “Since my first day, I have prided myself in doing the job the best I could, never saying no, and always trusting my instinct and taste,” says Weinstein, who made agent in 2012. Trawling though festivals such as Sundance and Toronto enables him to hear about the most in-demand actors, writers and directors. And working with a broad range of talent allows him to improve his own performance. Similarly, in these competitive times, Weinstein expects an open-mindedness from his clients once he has secured them an audition or a foot in the door. He tells them: “Only take a job for the right reasons, to make sure it’s a character he or she really wants to play and will be excited about showing up for every day on set. “I’m not the one who’s going to be living and breathing the character, and the reasons I might think the job or the character are worthwhile can be wholly different from theirs.” Once an offer comes in, the rewarding part of Weinstein’s job kicks in. “There is no greater feeling than calling a client to tell them they got the part they’ve worked so hard for and wanted so badly.”
Ashley Zhang
CHINA
CAA (Beijing) ashley.zhang@caa.com
Clients include John Woo, Pang Ho Cheung, Wu Bai, John H Lee, Lu Chuan, Wendy Li, Yuan Yuan, Yan Geling
An agent in CAA’s Beijing office, Ashley Zhang works with writers such as Yuan Yuan (Go Away Mr Tumor), emerging directors including Wu Bai (The Old Cinderella) and established film-makers including Pang Ho Cheung (Love In The Buff) and John H Lee (Operation Chromite). She also works with her CAA colleagues in the US repping international talents such as John Woo. Zhang joined CAA after studying at Beijing Film Academy and London School of Economics, first working as an assistant to Jonah Greenberg, then being promoted to agent after two years. She has become the leading agent in China working with bilingual writers, such as novelist-screenwriter Yan Geling (Coming Home) and screenwriter Wendy Li (Bridge Forever). “Many of my clients are bilingual and understand both local and Western audiences’ culture and tastes,” says Zhang. “Others are local talent who have already delivered a successful or popular movie or TV series or young film-makers with great potential. I’m also very active in helping our US clients work in China or in co-productions.” Zhang says she finds clients through recommendations of colleagues, former schoolmates and industry friends. “I also pay close attention to high-quality short films and young filmmakers whose work is shown at film festivals.” She says one of the biggest challenges of her job is bridging the US and Chinese film industries. “They’re in different phases of development, so the demands and expectations of financiers and audiences, rules of the game and business strategies are dissimilar. But my CAA colleagues in the US are as committed as my colleagues in Beijing to creating opportunities for Chis nese clients in the global marketplace.” ■
62 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016
Camilla Young UK Curtis Brown camilla.young@ curtisbrown.co.uk Clients include Brock Norman Brock, Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel, Geir Henning Hopland (all co-repped with Nick Marston)
Young started out as assistant to Curtis Brown agent and Cuba Pictures CEO Nick Marston for two years, before being promoted to co-agent Marston’s stellar list and to build her own. Bronson co-writer Brock Norman Brock is among Young’s biggest names while up-andcoming writing duo Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel are two of the UK’s hottest new writing talents. The duo’s 2016 Jesse Owens biopic Race has prompted a flood of interest from Hollywood and they have projects in the works with Doug Liman, Christopher McQuarrie, Catherine Hardwicke and Stephen Hopkins. Another client, Norwegian director Geir Henning Hopland, has directed multiple episodes of Netflix crime drama Lilyhammer and gone on to direct the pilot and first four episodes of hit Norwegian TV series Acquitted. “I work within a great department in a fantastic agency,” says Young. “We share information, have access to exciting material and I like to introduce clients to each other so they can develop work together. “I love the fact that no day is the same and I’m constantly meeting new people. Also when you have a part to play in your client getting their dream job, it makes all the hard work worth it.” Among her career highlights so far is working on the screen-rights deal to Matt Haig ’s children’s book A Boy Called Christmas, which was sold to Studiocanal and Blueprint Pictures.
www.screendaily.com