He speaks five languages, has three passports, grew up between London, Madrid, Paris and Los Angeles and comes from a long line of entertainment industry executives. David Unger’s rise to the top of Hollywood’s A-list agents list may have been written in the stars. A talent agent for more than two decades, Unger was a vice president and talent agent at ICM for 15 years before branching off to launch Three Six Zero Entertainment in 2015 then Artist International Group in 2017. Unger is known for representing international talent on the global stage, acting as a bridge between Hollywood and the rest of the world. The bridge in question is a two-way street whereby Unger and his team not only transform local language stars into global household names, but also work with Hollywood’s A-list talents to expand their filmographies abroad. With offices in Los Angeles, London, Paris and Hong Kong, Artist International Group represents actors, writers, directors, models and recording artists including Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, Elsa Zylberstein, Christophe Lambert, Said Taghmaoui, Amanda Sthers, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Nastassja Kinski among others and handles media finance, brand advisory and corporate development as well.

His talents are attached to some of the biggest titles with an international edge to date including Mulan, Wonder Woman, Crazy Rich Asians, Slumdog Millionaire, Catch Me If You Can, Training Day and franchises like Iron Man, Star Wars, Mission Impossible and Guardians of the Galaxy. While the agency was founded ahead of the global pandelmic, the seismic shift in the audiovisual landscape has made Unger’s positioning even more strategic. Successful foreign-language platform series like Lupin, Money Heist, Fauda and Squid Game flooded talent onto Hollywood’s radar and global talent have never been more in high demand. Streamers, particularly those struggling for subscribers in an increasingly crowded field, are investing more and more in both local production and in hiring foreign talent for major Hollywood titles to boost their local appeal across borders. Unger is hard at work brokering the deals behind the scenes of this international production potpourri. It helps that he happens to speak five languages fluently – French, English, Spanish, Italian and, he says, “a little Japanese.” His teams are also all “multinational and multilingual,” giving them an edge up in negotiating major international deals. Unger spoke to the Dispatch about his unique perspective, building opportunities for talent on a more global level and rewriting the rules for international production moving forward. 

You’ve been an agent for decades and have really carved out a niche as the go-to agent for international talent or internationally-charged projects – what was the motivation behind launching Artist International Group? 

We’re trying to bring opportunities for talent on a more global level. It’s really exciting to see what is happening with the platforms today. I was an agent for more than 20 years, most of that time at ICM. My upbringing lends itself to such a career – my mother is French, I lived in France, I was born in London, my father and grandfather worked in the industry. I speak five languages and have three passports, so it felt strategic to position myself as “the international”.  

You launched the company even before the pandemic, but the landscape has changed so much even in just the past few years. How has COVID and its audiovisual aftermath affected what you do?

Timing is everything. I didn’t do this knowing the platforms would have such a penchant for international casting. I got very lucky. I was in the right place at the right time. 20 years ago, The Crown would have been a PBS mini-series. 20 years ago, we wouldn’t have seen Money Heist, we wouldn’t have seen the incredible proliferation of international work that exists right now. It’s a very exciting time. Today, people are accustomed to reading subtitles. In Europe, it has always been the case and now global platforms have changed the game. It used to be called foreign ancillary and now it’s just the business. When you see the number of dollars the platforms are dedicating to international expansion, that’s the crux of their growth. Apple launched their platform in Korea with Pachinko, made in 3 different languages and distributed worldwide. It’s an excellent show that has allowed its stars [like Lee Min Ho, represented by Unger’s Artist International Group] to become known outside of their native country. Directors and creators are getting bigger international opportunities. It’s really the moment and I am fortunate to have positioned myself just in time. 

It’s great news for the talents, but does it make contracts and negotiations more complicated? 

Yes, it’s all changing. All the rules are being rewritten as we speak. Streamers have their own way of approaching how they should be compensating talent. The streamers do these buyouts, but it’s not sustainable in the long term. It’s all being rewritten in real time, its’ all being redefined and reorganized. At some point in the US, the unions are going to have to intercede. It’s exciting – it’s the growth of a new technology, a new culture.

Who is benefitting the most from this new wave of international production?

Frankly it is the countries with rich cinematic history and infrastructure who will benefit. Korea for example. France should be a big part of this conversation. I believe the French will have an equally large contribution because of their long history with cinema and an infrastructure supported by the state.

How do you quantify what a talent is worth on the international stage?

It’s really a question of the market value. It’s a sellers market now because there such a demand for the talent. Our clients have never worked more. At some point, there will be a new deal-making structure that it isn’t there right now. The platforms are just offering buyouts because are no residuals. If David Fincher had stock in Netflix, he would be a billionaire. House of Cards put Netflix on the map. At some point, the worth with either be tied to subscriber growth or tied to stock growth. We’re still in the infancy of this moment. We haven’t really seen what the big players are going to be doing – like Amazon or YouTube. Giant tech companies are going to be major forces in this conversation. It’s all evolving and quickly.

Your clients are working more and more, but can the influx of content also be detrimental to the industry? Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? For example, if shows don’t perform straight away, they are cancelled. Look at Canal+ - Netflix show On the Verge or Netflix’s Standing Up for example. No second seasons.

I think they’re going to have to curate eventually. The tragedy is they don’t have the patience because there is so much churn. They can’t get the viewer invested and then bail on the show - they shouldn’t do that. What I think will happen is something similar to the HBO model. They essentially put themselves in a conversation where they build an audience and they create the want to see factor. Binging may not be the model. And many other streamers are not using the binge model. But the fact that there is more investment in local production means that it’s giving new creative people the same level once established by American players. Before, you had to be a famous American showrunner to get a show on the air and now you can be Israeli or Korean. 

Are these local talents being paid differently in their local markets compared to shows on platforms with international reach? How are you negotiating these deals on your end?

So two areas still need to be honed and perfected. 1 - How one is compensated when a series or film is airing on a global platform and 2- at what point does the talent have ownership in that content? How does the talent carve out a meaningful participation rather than a buyout? In the old days in Hollywood, many talents opted for a low salary and a big back end, but that doesn’t exist now. For George Lucas, he really benefited from the back end of Star Wars. Nobody expected the movie to be what it was. That same seismic pivot is going to happen - it is inevitable. That’s just the natural cycle. When talent start to withhold content until they get a meaningful stake, that is when it’s really going to tip and it’s going to be a bonanza. History repeats itself. The streamers are doing exactly what the studios did.

What does Artist International Group offer that other agencies don’t?

I pride myself on thinking of suggestions they wouldn’t think of. If a role is not written international, I may suggest an international person. For example, with Last Christmas, Michelle Yeoh’s role wasn’t written for an international talent, but Paul Fieg tailored the role to her. The world is asking for this. There’s a mandate for true diversity and so now these suggestions that at one time were unorthodox, are now perfectly acceptable and desired. There are written for men cast with women or roles with one ethnicity cast by another ethnicities. It’s the new normal. Again, all the rules are being rewritten.

How do salaries for talent compare locally vs on an international scale? 

Clearly the American rates are higher. With a show like Money Heist, the actors were getting paid essentially Spanish rates and by the end of the series, they were getting paid American rates because the show was so successful and played to the world. The agents negotiate that. Shows like Squid Game and Money Heist were the canary in the coal mine. They tested the model and now that the model has been proven, talent realize they can appeal to global audiences. Social media plays into it too. We represent international talent in the American method meaning American rates, American protections, American deal-making. They’re not being cast as local talent, they’re being cast as international talent. So it’s only fair that they are paid international rates. 

Even after major success on the world’s stage, do you still advise your talents to continue to work in local markets?

Yes, they always, always have to remain authentic in their local market. The best advice you can give to people seeking an international career is to do both. The more they present themselves in their home country, the better. I’m selling their prominence in their local territory so, for example, box office, but also their social media following, their filmography. I aim to show that they are a major force in their local market, but they also have to want to leave their local market. The fact that they have an ambition to break out of that local market and aren’t limited to one language or one territory. What’s interesting is that big stars in local markets don’t always want to leave local markets. They earn what they earn and speak the language they speak and they have a very nice life. It’s the outliers that I’m looking for. 

And this goes both ways. You are also representing U.S. talent who want to work abroad.

There are plenty of Hollywood stars who don’t want to work in Hollywood. Everyone wants to work elsewhere. It’s a great fantasy to make a movie with a great French or Italian director. The pandemic has taught us is that we’re perfectly ok reading subtitles. Europeans and other cultures were raised on reading subtitles. Americans were not Suddenly, they were forced to read them because the best shows on platforms were subtitled and… they lived. They survived. It’s acceptable. There’s a new world order in that respect. So much so that if you look at social media platforms today, there are subtitles. Younger audiences are used to this.

Is language a crucial factor in exporting local talent? Do they all need to speak English for example? And does it help if Hollywood talent speak other languages? 

Its always helpful when they speak the language, but it’s not a prerequisite and people are getting very creative about language. People are watching Hand of God in Italian or Fauda in Hebrew or Pachinko in 3 languages. Apple had the courage to make it in Korean, Japanese and English which would have been unthinkable in a TV network landscape. There’s no longer an issue. 

So how exactly do your talent end up signing on to these projects? Are producers or directors or platforms coming to you or are you out there pursuing them?

Either they contact me or I pursue them. It’s a business of relationships and referrals. The idea is to be smart about choice. I want to curate our client list with this ambition. My relationships are on the line and my reputation. Directors, producers and casting directors rely on the information I provide so I have to be selective. It forces me to get really granular and understand the market every day – it’s an ongoing quest. Each market is completely different. There are different societal norms, different social morays, different storytelling, different archetypes. It’s not a one size fits all strategy by any means. Everything needs to be in tune with the specific market and the particular talent. My team is better suited for this because everyone is multinational and multilingual. That part of it is enormously important because we can’t just go in as arrogant Americans and say I know everything. 

You work with several French talents. What exactly does your work entail?

Its always important to identify the French talent that have the ambition to work elsewhere. Some don’t, so were pick our partners wisely, i.e. local agents, producers, casting directors, studios. Generally, they rely on us – they’ll come and say ‘do you have ideas for us?’ Or, it can be the other way around. I’ll say ‘we signed so and so so let’s think about doing something with this person.’ Casting directors are instrumental. They’re the people on the front lines. They know the actors better than anyone. The overarching theme in how we work with our French colleagues is respect. We have to fully embrace the fact that the French film industry is a mature industry, a professional industry and we’re not here to take anything away – we’re here to supplement an already thriving industry and offer them a bridge to the rest of the world. 

Have you come across issues involving cultural differences between the US and France? Has anything been “lost in translation”?

We don’t have lost in translation issues. Our antenna is more finely attuned. I know other people have had trouble, but we understand the French market and speak the language. Look at some of these great French stars - the minute they have their moment in France, they get snapped up and sign with American agents, but then nothing happens. Why is that? In my opinion, Gerard Depardieu could have had a bigger international career and Jean Dujardin too. The big French breakout will happen. We’re already seeing it a bit with someone like Omar Sy.

There are several French people who have carved out successful careers abroad, but end up being more well known overseas than at home – like Julie Delpy for example.

Julie Delpy has done such amazing things, breaking beyond what was available to her as an actor. She didn’t just present herself as the ingenue – she came across as someone incredibly ambitious, talented and spirited with an incredible ability to transform herself as a writer and director and Oscar nominee. She is a real pioneer as it relates to French talent abroad. She hasn’t let the business relegate her to a certain box, it’s largely based on her own ability as an independent woman. 

Are there any French or other European talents you have signed recently you are excited about?

We just signed French comedian Kev Adams. He speaks English perfectly, he’s a writer, a director, a producer and a performer. Work ethic is the overarching principle. That is what I am really looking for because they need that ambition, that point of view, that desire. We’re also working with Filippo Scotti, the lead in The Hand of God. He can be the next Timothée Chalamet.