She held the positions Executive Vice President of Marketing at 20th Century Fox and co-president and co-chairman of Searchlight Pictures.
[4] Utley originally desired to pursue journalism as a career, but cites an undergraduate advertising class as sparking a curiosity in the business of marketing.
[4] Utley cites Bob Harper, former vice chairman of 20th Century Fox, as a key mentor from her days at the company.
[7] Utley joined Fox’s Searchlight branch in 1999, and she served in leadership capacities for over 20 years, from 1999 until her retirement from the company in 2021.
[2] Notable films released under Utley’s tenure at Searchlight include Jojo Rabbit, The Favourite, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Grand Budapest Hotel, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Napoleon Dynamite, Boys Don’t Cry, Black Swan, Sideways, The Tree of Life, Nightmare Alley, Slumdog Millionaire, The Shape of Water, 12 Years a Slave, and Nomadland.
[14] Six months after retiring from Searchlight, in October 2021, Utley launched a production company called Lake Ellyn Entertainment.
[1] Utley is a producer on Rez Ball, an upcoming Netflix original movie about a Native American high school basketball team set in New Mexico.
[17] The Gold Initiative is a summer internship and mentorship program that works to serve film industry career hopefuls from underrepresented communities.
Utley is the sister of Tim Derk, the creator and original performer of the San Antonio Spurs Coyote Mascot.