Joshua Roth takes United Talent Agency into the Art world

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Melena Ryzik

Joshua Roth, at Paramount Studios, leads United Talent Agency’s fine arts division, which was created in February. Credit J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times

CALIFORNIA---United Talent hired Mr. Roth, a legal adviser to local art stars like Sterling Ruby and the son of Steven F. Roth, a founder of the rival Creative Artists Agency, to lead its new fine arts division and mine a new market. Seven months later, United Talent may allay some concerns with its first project: “Maurizio Cattelan: The Movie,” a documentary about that Italian artist by the filmmaker Maura Axelrod. For Mr. Roth, the documentary is the start of what he hopes will be a fruitful cross-pollination. The agency does not intend to sell paintings or sculpture; rather, it wants to broker deals like the one that resulted in a nine-minute Kanye West-Steve McQueen video screened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in July. [link]