Cristina Garza has joined United Talent Agency (UTA) in its Independent Film Group as an agent, the agency announced on Thursday.
Garza will help structure finance and sales strategies for independent film and tv packages, working out of the agency’s New York office.
“Cristina has extensive development, sales and packaging experience and a history of bridge-building between international creators and the US industry,” Rena Ronson, partner and head of UTA’s Independent Film Group, said in a statement. “Her arrival reinforces our commitment to expanding our global presence in both independent film and the growing international television co-production business.”
Most recently, Garza served as SVP of TV development and production at Fifth Season, where she led the development, production and sales of the company’s film and premium TV content and managed numerous producer pod deals. Previously, she was an agent in Media Finance at CAA, as well as head of Latino Content at Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios.
She first worked with Ford at IM Global where she ran Mundial, the Latin American film sales arm of the company. Before founding Mundial, Cristina ran distribution for CANANA, the Mexico City-based production and distribution company founded by Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna and Pablo Cruz.
The Independent Film Group has numerous film packages and sales, including Jason Segel and James Ponsoldt’s “Sponsor” and “Way of the Warrior Kid” with Chris Pratt. Under Ronson’s leadership, she and her team have worked on notable films like “Longlegs,” “May December,” “The Big Sick,” “I, Tonya,” “Hidden Figures” and “Room,” as well as directorial debuts like, Greta Gerwig’s “Ladybird,” Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman,” Marielle Heller’s “Diary of a Teenage Girl,” Haifaa al-Mansour’s “Wadjda,” and most recently Daniel Roher’s “Tuner” and Kate Beecroft’s “East of Wall.”
