UTA has signed IDW Entertainment, the studio division of comic company IDW Publishing, for representation in all areas.
The agency will help IDW Entertainment in developing the company’s production, distribution and media rights infrastructure, and will also “be a connector between IDW and collaborators across UTA’s network and beyond.”
IDW Entertainment develops and produces series, features and interactive experiences based on the publishers library of characters and content. The company has three series streaming at Netflix: Locke & Key, October Faction and V-Wars, each based on comic book franchises released by IDW. It also produced Syfy’s Wynonna Earp, BBC America’s Dirk Gently.
The company says it has a robust slate of scripted projects in development as well.
“We are thrilled to be working with IDW Entertainment to help bring their tremendous catalog of content to life on screen,” said UTA’s Jason Burns, partner & co-head of motion picture literary, in a statement. “They have been a force in entertainment for over a decade, with over two decades as a leader in comic book publishing, and we look forward to helping IDW Entertainment reach an even higher potential through this new partnership.”
“IDW is delighted to work with UTA to bring incredible comics across genres to life in new mediums.” added IDW Entertainment’s senior VP of film & TV, Daniel Stellan Kendrick, “Through this partnership, we will leverage IDW’s robust library of comic books across both emerging and existing platforms. We look forward to building great stories together.”
Comic books have long served as a ripe source of material for film and TV projects, and IDW has a robust library of IP. While the comic book publisher produces some comics under license (like titles from Star Trek and Sonic the Hedgehog), it also has original titles like Kill More and The Hunger and the Dusk, among others.