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amfAR raised over $3 million at its inaugural amfAR Las Vegas gala last night. In addition, the foundation will receive a portion of nearly $11 million generated with event partner Rm Sotheby’s in a live auction of rare luxury automobiles.

Diana Ross at amfAR Las Vegas Gala

Credit/Copyright: Getty Images

The exclusive event took place at Wynn Las Vegas during race week.

Renowned comedian Jay Leno hosted the evening, legend Diana Ross brought the audience to their feet with her music and magic. Academy Award-nominated actor, writer, and director Sylvester Stallone and accomplished entrepreneur, philanthropist, and model Jennifer Stallone were honored with amfAR’s Award of Inspiration.

Actress and powerhouse vocalist, Amber Riley, opened the evening, which was presented in partnership with Paramount Global. Guests in attendance included Michael Fassbender, Jodie Turner-Smith, Jeffrey Wright, Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, Keegan-Michael Key, Juno Temple, Tyler Hoechlin, Evan Ross, Ian Bohen, Jonathan Cheban,...

Rounding up the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood, as voted on by hundreds of film executives, The Black List has been a strong resource to clue one in on projects to potentially anticipate, but first, to kickstart Hollywood on bringing them to screen. Today we have this year’s edition, as voted on by more than 375 film executives.

Topping the 2023 edition is Travis Braun’s Bad Boy, which follows a rescue dog who suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer. Other scripts include The Great Pretender, a drama which imagines the kidnapping of Tom Hanks; the Super Bowl-set sniper drama The Nest; the Area 51 thriller 10/24/02; a Hans Christian Andersen meets Charles Dickens fantasy; plus films about Patsy Cline, Didier Drogba, Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan, Ftx’s downfall, and more.

See the list below via Deadline (and Pdf here), ranked from top to bottom by number of votes.

At the close of a particularly fraught year for Hollywood screenwriters, Monday saw the release of the annual Black List – a ranking of the top unproduced scripts in show business.

Voted on by nearly 400 creative executives, this year’s favorite project that has yet to receive a greenlight is “Bad Boy” by Travis Braun, described simply as the tale of a rescue dog who suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer. C2 Motion Picture Group is financing the project and meeting with potential distribution partners imminently.

The list includes 76 titles and covers wide narrative ground. Kirill Baru and Eric Zimmerman’s “The Great Pretender” is the story of America’s sweetheart Tom Hanks getting kidnapped, and the doppelgänger who must step in to save him. Hunter Toro’s “Boy Falls From Sky” tells of an anxious playwright whose world is turned upside down by lies and bone-crushing accidents...

The Black List has revealed its 2023 list of best unproduced screenplays, with scripts that include a biopic of country singer Patsy Cline, the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried crypto empire Ftx, and an action-comedy about Tom Hanks and his doppelganger.

Topping this year’s list is a feature script from Travis Braun titled Bad Boy, with a logline that reads: “A rescue dog suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer.”

Elsewhere on the list is a screenplay about the Broadway playwright behind notorious disaster Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark from writer Hunter Toro, and a script focused on soccer star Didier Drogba from Jackson Kellard.

“This year, the industry was defined by a debate about the value of writers within it, and I think it’s inevitable that this year’s Black List means more than it has in the past,” said Black List founder and CEO Franklin Leonard.

Travis Braun’s screenplay Bad Boy, which follows a rescue dog who suspects that his loving new owner is a serial killer, topped the 2023 Black List today. The 19th edition, which was selected by more than 375 film executives, counts 76 feature screenplays by 80 writers.

Second place went to Justin Piasecki’s Stakehorse which follows a racetrack veterinarian who runs an off-the-books ER for criminals, and finds his practice and life in jeopardy when he’s recruited for his patient’s heist.

“This year, the industry was defined by a debate about the value of writers within it, and I think it’s inevitable that this year’s Black List means more than it has in the past,” said its founder Franklin Leonard. “I’ve been saying that writing is the lifeblood of the industry for almost twenty years now, and I’ll continue saying it until the industry actually starts acting like it.

Exclusive: APA has hired veteran unscripted TV Agent Ryan Wackerman as SVP, Alternative & Factual Programming.

Wackerman, who will report to Hayden Meyer, APA’s head of Alternative and Factual Programming, is the eighth ICM agent/executive APA has brought in from the group that left on the eve of CAA’s acquisition. APA has been the most aggressive pursuing former ICM talent as the agency has ramped up expansion following the 2020 investment by Ron Burkle.

Wackerman comes to APA after an 11-year run at ICM Partners, where he worked with non-scripted and documentary production companies, showrunners, directors, producers, and on-camera talent in broadcast, cable, streaming, and syndication, including 3 Ball Productions (Bar Rescue), Big Coat Media (Love It Or List It), Frank (Delicious Miss Brown), Grandma’s House Entertainment (Misery Index), Workaholic Productions (True Terror with Robert Englund), and ZnakTV (Ultimate Tag) as well as executive producers on series such as American Idol,...

Exclusive: Veteran non-fiction agent Andy Stabile is joining Verve as Partner and Head of Unscripted, bringing the number of partners at the agency to ten. Stabile spent the last six years at ICM Partners, which he left in the aftermath of the agency’s acquisition by CAA. Before that, he was at CAA for 14 years. His start date at Verve is Tbd.

Bill Thompson, who had served as Head of Unscripted at Verve since joining four years ago when the agency set off to expand into the space, will stay on.

“Andy will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Verve and we’re excited to have him join the agency and the Partnership,” the Verve partners said in a statement. “His addition will not only bolster our existing Unscripted business but will allow us to expand our ability to bring advocacy to a broader spectrum of creators.”

It...

Exclusive: Michael J. Kagan, who was a partner and head of International Television and Media at ICM Partners, has joined Range Media Partners as Partner and Head of International Non-Scripted and Co-Head of Domestic Non-Scripted. A 19-year ICM veteran, Kagan was part of the final group of ICM agents who departed on the eve of CAA’s acquisition of ICM. At the new company, Kagan will go as Michael J. Kagan to differentiate him from Michael Kagan, a lit manager at Range.

In addition to running international non-scripted, Michael J. Kagan will co-head domestic non-scripted with Range partner Denise Draper who came from ICM in May. He also will work closely with Range’s studio arm, led by President of Scripted Television Heather Kadin and President of Unscripted Mark Herwick, on generating global TV properties.

Kagan was a homegrown ICM talent. He started in the agency’s mailroom in 2003 and...

With the dust settled and CAA finally closing its 750 million deal to acquire ICM Partners on Tuesday after a wait of nearly 10 months, a picture is becoming clear of just how much CAA is gaining from its acquisition — and how much of ICM is being left behind. Entire ICM departments will be significantly shaved or eliminated as part of the acquisition, including branding, independent film, unscripted TV and a solid chunk of the music department — with a total of 105 staffers expected to be pink-slipped, all from ICM. Exiting agents include the head of ICM’s unscripted TV department Michael Kagan and independent and international film head Jessica Lacy, insiders said. The branding department in particular had roughly 15 to 18 agents at the beginning of the acquisition, an individual with knowledge of the inner workings of the talent agent industry said, but now only three or four remain in the building after...

Almost nine months to the day after the surprise Deadline scoop that CAA would acquire ICM Partners, the deal finally got government approval and closed. This creates a mega agency in the biggest linkup in the space since the Wma-Endeavor merger. Sources close to the situation said the Department of Justice finally approved the deal late last night or this morning, and it closed. It is valued around 750 million, and a combined enterprise value around 5 billion. The merged company’s leadership is expected to address staff at a town hall Thursday, with the newly combined departments set to begin their integration process with get-togethers on July 11, we hear.

First, though, comes the pain.

Around 105 positions will be eliminated, all from ICM, and coming from all areas. There will be 425 ICM agents and staffers from the agency joining CAA, meaning around 80 will be retained by CAA. These conversations will happen quickly.

ICM Partners has promoted 14 agents today, including seven from 2020 and seven newly-minted agents in 2021.

The promotions come from multiple divisions across the agency in both Los Angeles and New York, including the theater, concerts, TV production, literary, branded entertainment, non-scripted, talent, podcasts and publications departments.

“Today we celebrate the right of passage from coordinator to agent for 14 hardworking ambitious, and intellectually curious women and men, who have earned their promotions,” said Kevin Crotty and Sloan Harris, Co-Presidents of ICM Partners, in a statement. “We have so many homegrown success stories at ICM Partners, and we are confident that among this new group of agents, many will follow in those successful footsteps.” These promotions are effective immediately.

The promotions come on the heels of an eventful 2020 for the Hollywood talent agencies, one that for ICM included the signing of a franchise agreement with the Writers Guild of America and the acquisition...

Range Media Partners has made two new hires in motion picture literature and a promotion in business development and TV lit.

Payne Cowley joins Range as a manager in the literary department under co-founder Rich Cook, and Caroline Marques has been named executive and producer in motion picture lit at the firm. Michael Kagan has been promoted to manager in business development and television literature.

Cowley and Marques come to Range from the WME London office, where they worked for Cook as coordinators. Crowley will return to Los Angeles, while Marques will stay in London.

“It’s been a joy to watch Payne and Caroline grow and we’re thrilled to welcome them to Range. They have an incredible eye for talent, an insatiable appetite for material and a work ethic that will have us all working for them one day,” Cook said. “Payne will bring tremendous value to our Motion Picture Literary business stateside.

Range Media Partners has made two new hires in motion picture literature and a promotion in business affairs and TV lit.

The motion picture hires come from the London office of WME. Payne Cowley, who served at the latter as a coordinator in motion pictures, joins Range as a manager under co-founder Rich Cook. Cowley will return to the United States as part of the gig.

Caroline Marques, also a coordinator at WME, has been named executive and producer in motion picture lit at Range and will remain in London on behalf of the firm — which is comprised of high-profile agents who defected from the big four talent houses only months ago.

“It’s been a joy to watch Payne and Caroline grow and we’re thrilled to welcome them to Range. They have an incredible eye for talent, an insatiable appetite for material and a work ethic that will...

Channel 4 is to test the resolve of meat-eaters by asking them to live with the animals they usually serve up for dinner, in a new format from Spun Gold and Rise Films.

The British broadcaster has commissioned Meat the Family (working title), a three-part series in which four families look after animals including pigs, chickens, and cows.

At the end of their time with the livestock, and having learned about their intelligence and the realities of farming at scale, they must decide whether to send their new friends to the slaughterhouse or the sanctuary.

The format has an unusual backstory. It was devised by Kate Morey at Rise Films, the production company behind Netflix documentary Icarus, but she left before it came to fruition.

Rise allowed Morey to develop the format further at Spun Gold, in exchange for taking a chunk of the rights and the production fee. Morey...

Alexander Skarsgård, Pharrell Williams, Heidi Klum, Kyle Maclachlan, and Michelle Yeoh were among those who gathered at the fifth annual amfAR Gala Hong Kong at the newly opened Rosewood Hong Kong to honor renowned entrepreneur and change-maker Adrian Cheng for his exceptional contributions to the global struggle against HIV/AIDS.

Nicole Scherzinger Performs at amfAR Hong Kong Gala

Credit/Copyright: Ryan Emberley

Pansy Ho, a leading supporter of the gala since its inception in 2015 and an influential figure in the Hong Kong and international business community, served as Honorary Chair of this year’s event. Presented by Apm Monaco and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, the gala raised over $2.75 million for amfAR’s life-saving AIDS research programs. American Express, Champagne Perrier-Jouët and Absolut Elyx were Signature Sponsors. Wines were provided courtesy of Boroli.

Other guests in attendance included Choi Jin Hyuk, Ha Ji-Won, Paulo Pong and Sonia Cheng, Martin and Cathy Lee,...

Russell Kagan, a veteran executive and producer in the world of international television distribution, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a short battle with cancer, ICM Partners announced. He was 65.

His son, Michael Kagan, is a partner and head of international television and media at ICM.

Russell Kagan produced the 1999 CBS miniseries Jesus and executive produced Caesar, a 2002 miniseries for TNT — both starred Jeremy Sisto — and helped package the $120 million miniseries The Bible, which aired over 10 installments on History Channel in 2013.

He also worked on TNT’s Joseph, the Emmy winner for best miniseries in ...

Exclusive: ICM Partners has hired veteran agent Seth Lawrence to join the agency’s International Television and Media (reality programming) department. He arrives after spending the past three years at UTA, where his focus was repping nonscripted showrunners, producers, directors and production companies along with on-camera talent.

He will report to department head Michael Kagan and brings with him clients including VH1’s Basketball Wives showrunners/executive producers Sean Rankine and Mark G. Seliga and their Devil Cat Media; Roberto Cardenas’ 90 Miles Productions, which produces NatGeo’s Building Wild and Die Trying; and Mandt Bros Productions, which created Syfy’s Destination Truth.

Before UTA, Lawrence worked at Rebel Entertainment Partners, where he spent 13 years as an agent in the alternative television department, rising to Svp. There, he helped package or co-package series including Bravo’s Untying the Knot.

“Seth is a stellar agent with an exceptional eye on talent in the unscripted space,...

Exclusive: Former Bunim/Murray co-president Jeff Jenkins is teaming with 3 Ball Entertainment to launch Jeff Jenkins Productions, a full-service content and production company aiming to create unscripted docuseries and formats, including celebrity-based projects, for linear and digital platforms.

Jenkins will run the company with 3 Ball’s co-ceo Ross Weintraub in the team-up of unscripted biggies whose credits between them range from Keeping Up With the Kardashians and The Simple Life (Jenkins) to The Biggest Loser and Bar Rescue (3 Ball). 3 Ball will co-produce the projects stemming from the new venture, with Jenkins set to operate from 3 Ball’s Redondo Beach production facility.

Jeff Jenkins Prods already has several projects in development, which are mostly under wraps but include talent from music and sports, along with faces and families that will be new to the genre.

“I am very excited to partner with 3 Ball Entertainment on this joint venture, and...

“Inside the Actors Studio” is on the move.

Ovation TV and the Actors Studio have partnered to produce and air future episodes of the award-winning interview series about the art of acting, which has aired on Bravo since its launch in 1994. As part of the agreement, Ovation will also curate content from the series’ extensive library for additional episodes.

Ovation will premiere the new episodes in the Fall of 2019. James Lipton, the series’ creator, original host and executive producer, will turn the microphone over to a number of rotating guest hosts, who are in consideration now by the network and The Actors Studio.

“It’s very gratifying to see the legacy of ‘Inside The Actors Studio’ being carried forward for a new generation to appreciate and enjoy,” said Lipton. “I made a vow early on that we would not deal in gossip — only in craft, and Ovation, as a network dedicated to the arts,...

ICM Partners has promoted Shade Grant and Courtny Catzel to Co-Heads of New York Non-Scripted Programming. In the newly created leadership positions, the duo will continue to report to Los Angeles-based Michael Kagan, Partner and Head of International Television and Media at ICM Partners.

Grant and Catzel jointly represent a number of clients and production companies in unscripted, including InventTV (Bravo’s Southern Charm New Orleans), Original Productions (Discovery’s Emmy-winning Deadliest Catch), Spring Films (Oscar- and Emmy-nominated The Look of Silence), and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s Karamo Brown.

Grant’s clients include Big Coat Media (Hgtv’s Love It or List It), Glass Entertainment Group, Park Slope (Discovery’s Alaskan Bush People), Our House Media (Bravo’s upcoming Welcome to Waverly) and Znak & Co (Fox’s upcoming Meghan Markle: An American...

ICM Partners has hired UK-based television agent Ian Moffitt and promoted Arielle Lever and Michael Charny to agent in New York and Los Angeles, respectively. Moffitt is a senior agent working in international scripted and unscripted television based in ICM Partners’ London office. He will report jointly to Kevin Crotty, Board Member and Partner in Television Literary, and Michael Kagan, Partner and Head of International Television & Media. "Ian is an immensely respected…...

Denise Draper has joined ICM Partners as an agent in the International Television and Media Department headed by Michael Kagan. Draper comes from Rebel Entertainment, where she served as an agent representing producers, showrunners, production companies and talent in the unscripted space. Her clients include Danielle Medina and her production company Mad Fusion (Bravo’s First Family of Hip Hop), Lucky Dog Films (Nat Geo Wild’s Dr. Oakley), and Michelle Schiefen…...

ICM Partners has named partner Mark Gordon to the newly created role of Head of International Scripted Television, the company announced Monday. Gordon will relocate to London for his new position, where he will manage the agency’s international scripted television business, working closely with Pippa Lambert and the team of agents currently based in the London office, as well as with Michael Kagan, who will continue to lead all aspects of the agency’s domestic and international nonscripted business. Also Read: Fall TV Preview: 126 New and Returning Shows Premiere Dates “With the growing importance and complexity of the international marketplace,...

ICM Partners is beefing up its TV presence in the U.K. in a major way, promoting partner Mark Gordon to head of International Scripted Television. He is relocating to the agency’s London office where, starting tomorrow, he will manage ICM's international scripted television business. Gordon will be working with Los Angeles-based partner Michael Kagan, recently upped to head of International Television, who will continue to lead all aspects of the agency's domestic and…...

A month into his new role as head of ICM Partners’ International Television and Media Department, Michael Kagan has made an agent hire, bringing in veteran unscripted rep Andy Stabile. Stabile, who has focused on representing on-camera personalities and non-scripted producers and production companies, comes from Kaplan Stahler Agency, which he joined in March as Partner and Head of Alternative after a 13-year tenure in the Alternative Television department at CAA. Among…...

Andy Stabile has joined ICM Partners as an agent in the International Television and Media Department, the company announced Tuesday. The division, led by Michael Kagan, handles reality TV packaging, format adaptations, new media projects, books and other literary source materials adapted for television. Stabile most recently served as Partner and Head of Alternative for Kaplan Stahler Agency. Prior to that, he worked within the Alternative Television Department at CAA. He has also served as a production executive at Big Ticket Television. Also read: ICM Promotes Michael Kagan to Lead International TV and Media Among his clients are Band of Outsiders,...

Michael Kagan has been promoted head of international TV and media at ICM Partners. In his new role, Kagan will run unscripted and international television for the agency. He will focus on scripted and reality television packaging, format adaptations and new media projects, as well as books and other literary material to be adapted for TV. Kagan started in the mailroom at ICM in 2003. He was named partner in 2003. His promotion follows the departure in Greg Lipstone, who left the agency last week to become CEO of All3Media, an ICM client. Also Read: Talent Agent Meredith Wechter Jumps to Wme.

Michael Kagan has been promoted to head of international television at ICM Partners. He will succeed veteran Greg Lipstone, who left last week to become CEO of longtime client All3Media America. Kagan has been a rising star at ICM since joining the agency in 2003 when he started in the mailroom before being promoted to agent in International Television and Media. He was named a partner after the 2012 management buyout and is getting the promotion to head of international…...

This is the first elevation of agents to the partner level since ICM Partners completed its management buyout in 2012 and brings the number of partners to 38. The promotions come from both coasts and represent the departments of talent, motion picture literary, television, publishing, theater, concerts, global branded entertainment, and motion picture production. The new partners are co-head of motion picture literary Doug MacLaren, publishing agents Kris Dahl and Jennifer Joel, Hildy Gottlieb and Brian Mann from the agency’s talent department, theater head Patrick Herold, concerts’ Mark Siegel and Chris Smith, head of global branded entertainment Carol Goll, motion picture production’s Dan Baime, and international television and media’s Lori York. “Since the formation of our partnership, we have made significant and strategic changes that have elevated our business to the benefit of our partners, associates and clients”, the agency said in a statement. “The culture of professionalism, collegiality...

Directed by: Andrew Disney

Written by: Andrew Disney

Featuring: Jason Dohring, Minka Kelly, Masi Oka, Nick Kocher, Brian McElhaney, Michael Kagan, Michael Hogan, Clarke Peters

Been to your high school reunion lately? I haven't. I was there for my fifth but, for the tenth and the fifteenth, I politely declined. It wasn't that I intensely disliked anyone from that period of my life (anymore…) or was worried about my status. I just decided that I didn't have any unfinished business, and if I did, well, I just hate the parking situation in that area, okay?

Elliot Knight (Jason Dohring, Moonlight and Veronica Mars), the protagonist of writer/director Andrew Disney's feature-length debut, Searching For Sonny, has plenty of unfinished business. When he gets a postcard about his tenth reunion, seemingly containing a message from his former high school pal Sonny Bosco (Masi Oka, Heroes and Hawaii Five-0), he decides to head home,...

ICM completed its buyout of private equity company Rizvi Traverse and Chairman Jeff Berg, establishing a partnership of approximately 29 agents who will oversee the agency. It will now be known as ICM Partners, with a group of co-owners that spans every department. Berg is notably absent from the list of partners, which goes as follows: Lorrie Bartlett, Bonnie Bernstein, Robert Broder, John Burnham, Ted Chervin, Nicole Clemens, Carter Cohn, Harley Copen, Kevin Crotty, Dan Donahue, Emile Gladstone, Mark Gordon, Sloan Harris, Paul Hook, Toni Howard, Chuck James, Michael Kagan, Steve Levine, Richard...

Kevin Pollak has been tapped to host Fox's new competition series "Our Little Genius."

The actor and comedian will serve as host for the upcoming Mark Burnett game show, which gives child prodigies the chance to prove their knowledge and win money for their families.

Pollak has appeared in more than 50 films such as "The Usual Suspects," "Casino" and "A Few Good Men."

"I've been a fan of Kevin Pollak's work for many years," Burnett said. "His incredible humor, intelligence and quick wit are all perfect additions to an incredibly dynamic format. He instinctively knows when to add seriousness and when to add humor. I am so glad he has joined the our team."

"Genius" is premiering out of "American Idol" on Jan. 13 and will regularly air on Tuesday nights. "Genius" effectively takes the place of Fox/Burnett's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader," which has entered syndication...