A transatlantic talent management company The YMU group created a literary department in the USA under the leadership of v Aram Fox.
The opening of the US literary agency aims to echo the ambitions of YMU’s British book department, which was founded by Amanda Harris, global managing director of literature, and has grown dramatically over the past two years. The venture also shows the company’s desire to continue to grow and invest in the US market and replicate its operations in the UK, just as many US agencies are beginning to cross the pond themselves.
Reporting to Harris, Fox will sign new clients to his department and represent North America’s interests on the YMU roster.
YMU has offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., as well as London and Manchester in the UK. The company has clients in the music, sports, publishing, entertainment, arts and social industries, among others. Global clients include Steve Aoki, The Rolling Stones, Nick Cave, Pentatonix, Amelia Diemoldenberg, Francis Bourgeois, Graham Norton and Tyler Adams.
Aram joins YMU from Aram Fox Literary Scouting, an agency he founded at age 26 that has gone on to represent elite international publishers and US film companies, including HarperCollins UK, Disney Channel, Happy Madison Productions and key imprints Bonnier Media Deutschland and Vivendi / Ediths, by the way.
As founder and president, Fox led the company’s clients to acquire writers such as Britt 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 Beckheit, it was a seamless meeting of the minds,” Fox said.
“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 obsessed with bringing a personalized approach to representing our clients. I am very excited to be joining Amanda’s team, establishing YMU’s American Literary Agency, and working closely with my new colleagues across the Music, Entertainment, Sports, Social, Arts and Business Administration groups.”
Mary Beheit, YMU Group CEO, added: “Aram’s appointment to the US further demonstrates our continued commitment to building a first-class integrated management business in North America. I am thrilled that we have been able to attract someone of this caliber and can’t wait to see YMU’s literature department grow further as a result of this appointment. Amanda and Aram are a compelling, dynamic and ambitious leadership team that puts our clients at the heart of everything they do – the sky’s the limit.”
Harris added: “[Aram’s] his reputation for identifying global bestsellers is legendary, as is his detailed knowledge of the US and global markets. Aram’s expert insight, combined with YMU’s client values, makes our representation proposition compelling, with our offices in London and New York offering clients a single principal agent experience. I’m delighted to be working with Aram to expand YMU’s bestselling reputation beyond the UK, help our UK-based literary clients as well as our global talent develop their literary careers in the US and discover new writing talent across genres: high fantasy level to pop culture and thrillers, from deeply researched history and politics to explainers that make sense of the world we live in at this very moment.”
