Why this top Hollywood agent thinks streaming deals fall short and a strike may be looming

LOS ANGELES — Jeremy Zimmer is on a mission.

The chief executive of Hollywood's third largest talent agency, UTA, wants to see a new deal with streaming services.

Studios are in crisis mode, slashing costs, yanking shows and laying off hundreds of workers in a desperate effort to boost profits and justify massive investments in streaming. Meanwhile, writers, directors and actors are increasingly agitated about dramatic changes in how they are being compensated and the lack of transparency from streaming platforms.

Zimmer believes the time is now to reexamine how talent is compensated, whether that means sharing in ad revenue or getting a share of back-end profits when shows become hits and make money in secondary markets.

"For the last year, there's been a lot of people across the industry understandably really concerned," Zimmer said. "Now we're at a place where we can start having conversations around what are the solutions to get out of this? Cost cutting is rarely a solution that leads to growth."

In a wide-ranging interview, Zimmer discussed the challenges facing the streaming industry, the strong likelihood of a writers' strike and how a head-on collision might