UTA Agent Jason Burns Praises Animation Ahead of Annecy Festival

In 2025, animation features ruled the box-office, from long-awaited sequels (“Zootopia 2”) to original streaming megahits (“KPop Demon Hunters“). Behind the scenes, the success of those seasoned directors and newfound talents reveals an ongoing audience appetite for daring artistic selections, compelling narratives and, most significantly, the animated medium. 

Empowering these creators is the every day job of United Talent Agency (UTA) teams. The one major talent agency with a dedicated animation division, UTA has the biggest and most robust roster of animation clients, including Academy Award winners Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”, “Ray Gunn”), Maggie Kang (“KPop Demon Hunters”), Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”, “Zootopia 2”) and plenty of more. 

In accordance with the agency, movies directed by UTA animation clients have grossed greater than $25 billion within the worldwide box office, with success stories corresponding to Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s “Spider-Verse” franchise now hailed as game-changers by all the entertainment industry. 

Jason Burns, partner and co-head of MP Lit, who leads the department and personally represents Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, together with author Matthew Fogel (“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”) and plenty of more, has been following the rise of animation at UTA for a few years. 

Ahead of Annecy, Variety spoke exclusively with Burns about these tides, and the worldwide push of original animation starting from surprise Academy Award Winner “Flow” to the now billion-dollar franchise that has grow to be “KPop Demon Hunters”. 

2025 was a watershed moment for animation worldwide, each when it comes to recognition and box office revenues. How does UTA fit on this evolution, and the way do you discuss this type of shifting landscape along with your clients?

Jason Burns: I feel it’s a improbable time for animation. At the middle of this shift is the filmmaker, who now has far more authority and a stronger voice. This is applicable not only to original storytelling, but additionally on how filmmakers are positioned inside the animation medium, and the way deals are structured.

From our perspective, we see that a variety of that is driven by a more vibrant, competitive marketplace. 

For years, the industry was dominated solely by Disney, then Pixar and later Dreamworks Animation. Today, virtually every major studio needs a dedicated animation practice. This healthier ecosystem allows talent to act as free agents reasonably than locked-in studio employees, driving up their leverage in deals and bringing a level of reverence to animation filmmakers that has historically only been seen in live-action. And for me, it’s great to look at this alteration occur and to be an element of it.

You mentioned a shift in status for animation directors, one which has been made very clear by the recent announcement of Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ recent, exclusive multi-year writing-directing cope with Netflix across animation. Could you share other concrete examples of how deal-making is becoming more filmmaker-driven on this industry?

The normal animation deal historically treated you want a typical worker. Back then, you weren’t even paid through a loan-out corporation and the mindset was very much that the studio made the movie, reasonably than individual creators.

Because the landscape has grown more competitive, some changes have actually been driven by the studios’ live-action divisions. To lure top talent away, they’ve needed to adopt live-action practices because that’s what filmmakers are used to. As an alternative of ordinary employment contracts, we at the moment are seeing big overall deals, first-look deals, and multi-movie deals corresponding to the one UTA helped secure for the “KPop Demon Hunters” creators.

This environment allows filmmakers to decide on the perfect place to work based on their connection to the fabric, while agents ensure they get the perfect possible financial package.

Beyond that, you furthermore mght have to have a look at the metrics. On average, animated features are inclined to perform higher than live-action movies. They heavily drive crucial secondary businesses like consumer products and theme parks, and we’re also seeing an enormous trend where animated IP becomes the inspiration for highly successful live-action remakes. First at Disney, and now at DreamWorks and other studios. IPs which have grow to be incredibly worthwhile. And for this reason high success ratio, animation is one in all the few mediums where studios still feel comfortable launching original stories on an enormous budget. It’s a primary engine for generating lasting IP.

Circling back to original stories, you’ve represented Phil Lord & Chris Miller personally for a few years, helping them construct a hybrid profession between live-action hits and trailblazing, globally revered animated features. How did this experience influence your approach as an agent, and the way did it influence UTA’s strategy regarding animation feature filmmakers?

I learned an immense amount from representing them, starting once we got them the chance to write down and direct “Cloudy with a Likelihood of Meatballs.” It’s during that point that I fell in love with the animation community and the entire technique of storyboarding. It made me realize that these creators have a definite, authoritative voice and need to be represented with the identical weight as high-profile live-action directors.

Phil and Chris all the time desired to work in each mediums, because they never viewed animation as only a stepping stone to live-action. While they were working on the live-action film “21 Jump Street,” “The Lego Movie” was presented to them. 

And since Warner Bros. didn’t have an entrenched, rigid animation infrastructure on the time, we were capable of structure a really non-traditional deal. It gave them the pliability to rent a co-director of their selection (one other client of mine, Chris McKay) and allowed for a versatile production schedule. Due to that, they were capable of pull off a truncated schedule making “21 Jump Street”, “The Lego Movie, and “22 Jump Street” almost back-to-back.

Representing them also taught me the importance of intentional IP and original storytelling. They intentionally produced “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” to champion a brand new filmmaker (Academy Award Nominee Mike Rianda) and to present the studio confidence in original concepts. Even once they tackle existing IP or sequels, they undergo a deliberate creative process by asking: Why are we telling this story, what do we’ve got to say, and why now? When done right, those projects feel like original movies since the creative approach is totally fresh.

Which leads us back to ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ an enormous breakout hit last yr. Are you able to walk us through how UTA handled that success?

It comes right down to the identical principle. Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans delivered a movie that resonated on the very best level – whether you have a look at its streaming metrics, theatrical release, or its music performance on Spotify. They birthed a culture-moving film and deserved to be recognized at the very best financial tier for that achievement.

While you push for deals like that, you regularly run into traditional studio precedents and historical boundaries. It takes committed clients and a really specific, strategic agency approach to interrupt through those ceilings. To the credit of Netflix and Sony, they stepped up and met the market value.

At the identical time last yr, sequels like ‘Zootopia 2’ were also huge hits. How do you discover balance between these two different paths, and the way do you push on your clients’ original, heartfelt stories even when coping with franchises?

Every project requires a bespoke strategy regarding budget, audience, and finding the proper distribution partner. Relating to sequels, it circles back to what I learned from Lord and Miller: there needs to be a definitive “why now?”

At UTA, we also represent Andrew Stanton. After I have a look at what they’re doing with the “Toy Story 5” concept, it’s an incredibly resonant, massive idea to re-approach that beloved franchise today. That form of creative swing makes a sequel feel like an original film. You get the comfort of characters you already care about, but you’re at the identical time delivering a totally fresh narrative perspective. For those who can find that unique angle, it’s all the time value doing.

recent and upcoming projects, like Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’ by Daniel Chong and Brad Bird’s upcoming ‘Ray Gunn,’ how do you’re feeling concerning the way forward for the animation industry right away?

I feel great concerning the business because the flicks are connecting with audiences. There may be currently a healthy cadence between original movies and purposeful sequels, and I’m incredibly excited for Brad Bird’s “Ray Gunn”. 

I also have a look at Daniel Chong’s work on “Hoppers” as an incredible success story. Pixar has a beautiful, self-contained creative ecosystem, but it surely is historically very rare for an outdoor creator to walk into that studio with an original pitch and see it through to fruition. It’s an enormous testament to Daniel’s talent and Pixar’s openness to great storytelling, regardless of the source. 

As for Ray Gunn, it’s a deeply personal project Brad Bird has cared about for a very long time. Just taking a look at the artwork, it’s distinct, visually stunning, and will only come from his mind. Each of those projects are improbable examples of auteur-driven filmmaking thriving inside the studio system.

Looking back at your individual profession, what’s a particular success story or milestone that stands out to you?

To me, securing the film “Project Hail Mary” for Lord and Miller is certainly a serious milestone. Regardless that it relies on a best-selling novel by Andy Weir, from a filmmaking perspective, it represents an enormous, brave creative swing. For those who describe the plot out loud, it’s an idea that may scare a variety of traditional buyers. It represents an attractive maturation of Phil and Chris’s live-action filmmaking on the very best level.

The opposite proud milestone is launching the Spider-Verse franchise and winning an Academy Award for it. I represent most of the incredibly talented individuals who worked on those movies, and I’m incredibly happy with how those movies completely redefined the visual style, look, and feel of what a serious studio animated movie may very well be. It fundamentally modified the industry’s conversation around visual aesthetic and auteur point-of-view.

To wrap up, increased market competition is clearly improving financial economics for each diversity and filmmakers. Are you able to elaborate on how UTA’s approach to deals has evolved to facilitate this?

While I can’t share specific internal figures, sophisticated representation has made a monumental impact on ensuring animation filmmakers are finally paid what the marketplace demands.

A part of that leverage comes from having a multi-buyer marketplace reasonably than having only one or two buyers. But it surely also comes right down to sophisticated deal-making that forces studio business affairs to acknowledge just how critical animation is to their bottom line. These movies drive entire studio ecosystems, and the filmmakers behind them need to be rewarded at the very best tier of talent, especially once they deliver hits. 

Due to that aggressive representation, we’ve got successfully moved the decimal point on these deals –doubling, tripling, and completely transforming what these creators are earning historically.