Talent Agency YMU Group Launches U.S. Literary Division Under Aram Fox (EXCLUSIVE)
Transatlantic talent management company YMU Group has launched a U.S. literary division under the leadership of Aram Fox.
The launch of a U.S. literary agency aims to replicate the ambitions of YMU’s U.K. books division, which was launched by Amanda Harris, global managing director for literary, and has grown exponentially over the last two years. Reporting into Harris, Fox will be signing new clients to his division, and will be representing the North American interests of YMU’s roster.
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YMU has offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, as well as London and Manchester in the U.K. The company has clients in music, sports, publishing, entertainment and the arts, and social, among other areas. Global clients include Steve Aoki, The Rolling Stones, Nick Cave, Pentatonix, Amelia Dimoldenberg, Francis Bourgeois, Graham Norton and Tyler Adams.
Aram joins YMU from Aram Fox Literary Scouting, an agency he created at 26, and which has grown to represent international publishers and U.S. film companies including HarperCollins U.K., Disney Channel, Happy Madison Productions, and key imprints of Bonnier Media Deutschland and Vivendi/Editis, among others.
As the founder and president, Fox guided the company’s clients to acquire such writers as Brit Bennett, Susan Cain, Emma Cline, Harlan Coben, Anthony Doerr, Glennon Doyle, Angela Duckworth, Lena Dunham, Billie Eilish, Gillian Flynn, Hannah Gadsby, Bill Gates, Malcolm Gladwell and Dave Grohl.
Aram will be based in New York.
“The opportunity to start something, build something and join something all at once is a dream scenario. And from my first conversations with Amanda and Mary Bekhait, this has been a seamless meeting of the minds,” said Fox.
“YMU and I are passionate about supporting a diverse and creative community of writers and creators, ambitious about building new pathways between writers and readers, serious about engaging with the complexities of the entertainment landscape, and obsessive about bringing a bespoke approach to representing our clients. I’m so excited to join Amanda’s team, launch YMU’s U.S. literary agency and work closely with my new colleagues in the music, entertainment, sport, social, arts and business management groups.”
The U.S. literary venture represents YMU’s commitment to further grow and invest in the U.S. market and replicate its operations in the U.K., just as many U.S. agencies begin to cross the pond themselves. UTA bought talent and literary agency Curtis Brown in June in a major deal.
Mary Bekhait, group CEO for YMU, said: “Aram’s appointment in the U.S. demonstrates further our continued commitment to building a first class integrated management business in North America. I am thrilled we have been able to attract someone of his calibre and cannot wait to see YMU Literary soar further as a result of this appointment. Amanda and Aram are a compelling, dynamic, and ambitious leadership team who place our clients at the heart of all they do — the sky is the limit.”
Harris added: “[Aram’s] reputation for identifying global bestsellers is legendary, as is his granular knowledge of the U.S. and global markets. Aram’s expert insights coupled with the client-first values of YMU make our representational offering a compelling one, and our offices in London and New York will present clients with a unified primary agent experience. I’m excited to work with Aram to extend YMU’s bestselling reputation beyond the U.K., help our U.K.-based literary clients, as well as our global talent clients, develop their literary careers in the U.S., and discover new authorial talent in genres ranging from prize-calibre fiction to pop culture and thrillers, from deeply researched history and politics to the explainers who make sense of the world we’re living in at this very moment.”
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