Ex-UTA Head Forms Agency

Former United Talent Agency President and Bauer Benedek Agency founder Martin Bauer has formed his own talent management/production company, Bauer Co. The announcement came five months after Bauer stepped down as president of UTA and served as a consultant to the agency until earlier this month.

Bauer co-founded UTA in 1990, when Bauer Benedek merged with the Leading Artists agency. Bauer said he will represent clients who include actor Alan Alda, director Tony Kaye and writer Chris Crowe at his Beverly Hills-based shop.

Bauer is the latest executive to leave the relatively young but high-profile agency, known for jump-starting the careers of Jim Carrey and Sandra Bullock. Amid UTA’s growing pains, agents such as Gavin Polone and Robert Stein have left.

Bauer’s new venture follows the model of a handful of other management/production companies, including Brillstein/Grey Entertainment and Three Arts Entertainment. Bauer said he’d never been involved in production but had “achieved all I felt I could achieve as an agent. . . . I think I can be much more involved in my clients’ creative lives this way.”