International Insider: CAA rates UK

Get dizzy, jingle-horse, put your feet up… because the Insider holiday season is here. Jesse Whittock with you as we approach the holiday season. This will be the last Insider of the year, but we’ll be back on Friday, January 9, 2026. For the last time this year, here we go. Subscribe to the newsletter here.

CAA gains momentum in the UK

Almighty creators: For several years, Los Angeles super-agency CAA has been evaluating what it wants to do in the United Kingdom, where the language is shared but business is done very differently. Following UTA’s purchase of Curtis Brown, senior executives carefully considered a similar move, but it never saw the light of day and the company instead focused on signings for CAA Sports Media, which represents the likes of Jolie Sharpe, and profiling British stars such as Amelia Dimoldenberg and KSI in the United States. This week, Max revealed that Brent Weinstein, CAA’s head of digital media, was in London a few weeks ago to meet with managers and representatives of several talented creators. Additionally, the mergers and acquisitions game could resume: the agency is considering whether to hire a small number of agents in the British capital or acquire a small British agent business. The former seems much more likely in the near term, with a focus on signing more star creators as the influencer space continues to provide new opportunities for traditional TV and film companies. Glenn Miller leads the CAA’s work in the UK, and it appears his stock is on the rise. “Growing the team around Glenn in London is absolutely a priority and one we are heavily focused on for FY26,” Weinstein told Deadline. With around 500 employees already working at CAA in the UK in various roles and with more potentially joining, London’s busy agent scene looks set to become even more crowded.

Prime Video’s YA phase continues

Web novel approach: On Tuesday, we learned that Prime Video’s latest YA title, Follow my voice (Follow my voice), would launch on January 2, 2026. I spoke with María Contreras of Amazon MGM Studios Spain about the announcement and Prime Video’s close association with the young adult genre. “We’ve seen how hungry viewers are for content in this space – the answer to Guilty Or The summer I became pretty proved it,” she said. The film, which we revealed the news more than two years ago, will follow a young woman (Berta Castañé), who begins to wonder if she is in love with the voice she constantly listens to on the radio. Executives from Webtoon Productions were on hand to explain how the story, originally a webnovel of Through writer Ariana Godoy, was made into a film and why Wattpad continues to be a major source provider for companies like Netflix and Amazon. “It’s coming from creators around the world with such unique voices who don’t listen to the traditional mandates from Hollywood, CAA, or HarperCollins about what works and what doesn’t,” Jason Goldberg, Webtoon Productions’ global president of cinema, told me. For more on the world of webnovels, you can also check out this interview from last week with Wattpad rival Manta.

Ted’s French connection

French televisions: It was glitz and glamor in Paris this week, where pay-TV giant Canal+ held a showcase to showcase its latest films in theaters (Les Miserables And Asterix titles among them) and television shows (e.g. Apollo has fallen And Lembe shark) with stars like Tewfik Jallab, Nomzamo Mbatha and Tahar Rahim. The most notable moment was undoubtedly when Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos took the stage for an interview with Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada. The two men – in fact the two companies – have been on good terms for many years, and Saada made a surprising statement when he said: “you convinced the French to pay” for television. Before Netflix made its debut in 2014, Saada recalled that pay-TV penetration in this country known for its culture and cinema was only 30%, but that the attractive offer of high-quality original series and American studio fare available at the press of a button had changed his mind. Sarandos – in town for Emilie in Paris​​​​​​​ Season 5 Premiere – graciously accepted the compliment and said Netflix was aware it “had to make TV” worth paying for. Speaking of paying for things, Sarandos used the impromptu conversation to reiterate that Netflix would honor theatrical windows and release Warner Bros. films. if and when he finalizes his $83 billion buyout of the studio…and speaking of studios, Sarandos was back in Burbank later in the week to tour the Warner Bros. lot. Well, they had to get to know their potential new digs at some point, didn’t they?

The Essentials

🌶️ Hot : WickedAriana Grande and Jonathan Bailey are set to reunite in a revival of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical. Sunday at the park with Georgeaccording to the one and only Breaking Baz.

🌶️ Another : Sky has secured UK and Ireland rights to period hockey drama Passionate rivalry days after revealing that the series had gotten a second season.

🔫 Starting gun: The first stages of the next charter renewal negotiations are approaching at the BBC, which began the week by being officially sued for $10 billion by President Donald Trump.

🤖 Column: Jake’s Rendering column explored what animators think about Disney’s shocking OpenAI deal.

✊ The power of the people: Equity members have voted overwhelmingly to say they would refuse to be digitized in a historic indicative ballot held by the UK Performers’ Union.

🗣️ The big interview: I sat down with Sam Barnett, Managing Director of CME, to discuss European broadcasting, streaming and making friends with Czech celebrities.

🪲 Be careful, they don’t bite: The Cinémathèque française, one of France’s most prestigious film institutions, will reopen its cinemas on January 2, after five weeks of closure to deal with a bedbug infestation.

👋 Separation paths: Indian talent house Dharma Cornerstone Agency has split after five years, with Karan Johar relaunching his part of the business as Dharma Collabs Artists Agency.

⬇️ Resignation: Rowan Woods, after two years as creative director of the Edinburgh Television Festival.

⛺ Line up: For the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2026, with Charlotte Glynn The gymnast among the titles in competition.

🍿 Ticketing: Global BO is estimated to reach $35 billion in 2026, according to Nancy’s account from Gower Street projections.

🕯️ RIP: Susie Figgis, the popular casting director who has worked on everything from Gandhi has The killing fieldsAnd The full Monty has Harry Potter. She died at the age of 77.

🎄 Happy Holidays from the International Insider team. We will return on January 9, 2026. 🎄