News

Verve, the literary and talent agency, is the latest Hollywood company to undergo belt-tightening as the industry weathers what’s shaping up to be a year of economizing.

Verve agents and employees who have earnings that hit a certain threshold will now see salary adjustments on a temporary basis, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Additionally, the agency is cutting overtime expenses for assistants, who are hourly workers that generally work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts.

The measures arrive amid a new wave of cost-cutting across the entertainment industry in response to studios’ content spending pullback on feature films and television series. Namely, episode counts on series that have gone into production have fallen steeply over the last few years as big broadcast-style orders have given way to streaming era shorter season runs.

The number of television episodes produced fell from 13,300 episodes in 2023 to 11,069 last year, a nearly 17 percent decline,...

Exclusive: Paradigm has a new TV literary agent.

Adam Van Dusen has joined the company from Gersh after spending over a decade there.

Van Dusen is bringing over a number of his clients including Sylvia Alcalá (A Man On The Inside), Jeffrey Wang (Silo), Brooke Roberts (The Terminal List), Alex Maggio (FBI), Ben Dubash (Shantaram) and Tiffany Shaw Ho (The Night Agent).

Others joining include Lauren Barnett (The Flash), Ashley Skidmore (Glamorous), Samantha McIntyre (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), Jessica Lamour (Minx), Maggie Bandur (Community), Michael Gemballa (S.W.A.T.), Anya Meksin (High Potential), Taylor Santiago-Berger (Twisted Metal), Dan Liu (For All Mankind), and Ayoka Chenzira (A League Of Their Own).

Van Dusen is the latest lit agent to join the company.

Last year, Jonny Gutman, who was VP of Original Series for Idw Entertainment, joined as a TV lit agent, while former Verve CEO Bill Weinstein and his former Verve colleague Devon Schiff...

Exclusive: Former Verve TV lit agent Matthew Doyle is transitioning to management and joining Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment. Starting this week, he will be working out as a of the company’s Los Angeles office.

Doyle brings with him a roster of clients that include writer/director Haley Z Boston (Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen), Ashley Cardiff (Under the Bridge), Keith Foglesong (Star Trek: Lower Decks), Tony Saltzman (Dexter: New Blood), writer/director Casper Kelly, Louisa Hill (Evil), Kristi Korzec (Superman & Lois), Jonathan Ceniceroz (Interview with the Vampire), and producers Zoë Kent & Foster Driver.

“We have long admired Matthew’s passionate dedication to his clients,” the Kpe Partners said in a statement. “We jumped at the opportunity to add him to our team and are thrilled he has chosen Kpe as his new home.”

Doyle started his career as a trainee at WME before...

John Orloff, the co-creator of Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air, has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

The move comes after Orloff signed with Verve for representation in January, the same month his high profile and high priced war drama launched. However, in February, the agency became embroiled in an internal battle amongst partners, resulting in the ousting of founding partner Bill Weinstein. Several lit clients were caught up in the churn. Brian K. Vaughan, the comics author and screenwriter, also switched agencies and signed with UTA in March.

Orloff adapted the acclaimed memoir by Mariane Pearl, A Mighty Heart, into a 2007 drama that starred Angelina Jolie and counted Brad Pitt as among its producers. He earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best first screenplay for his script.

Orloff also co-wrote the screenplay for Zack Snyder’s animated 2010 feature Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,...

After leaving Verve last month, Bill Weinstein and Devon Schiff are joining Paradigm in the literary content department, the agency has announced.

“In this business, whether collaborating or going head-to-head, there is no denying the creativity, intelligence and passion that Bill and Devon bring to their work. This relentless advocacy on behalf of clients is a great fit with the artist-led approach that remains the core value of Paradigm,” said Paradigm Talent Agency managing partner Andrew Ruf.

The hirings come after nearly a month of rumors and jockeying for Weinstein, who in February was ousted as the CEO of Verve, the agency he co-founded with Bryan Besser and Adam Levine. Shortly after he ouster, it was reported that Weinstein would be starting his own operation, taking three Verve agents — Schiff, Matthew Doyle and Jake Dillman — with him.

Weinstein later filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court that claimed that...

As Deadline revealed last night, former Verve CEO Bill Weinstein has joined Paradigm along with former Verve colleague Devon Schiff. Both join as agents in the Literary Content department and will be working out of Paradigm’s Los Angeles office.

Appointed as CEO of Verve last January, Weinstein co-founded the agency in 2010 alongside Bryan Besser and Adam Levine. He was previously a motion picture literary agent at WME, and at Endeavor prior to its merger. He began his career in the mailroom at Endeavor.

As Partner and Head of Packaging & Crossover at Verve, Schiff had been focused on representing independent studios, production companies, and multi-hyphenate filmmakers. Previously, she was an executive at Intermedia Films, and an independent producer with a deal at Disney. She began her career in the mailroom at William Morris, and as an assistant at Endeavor.

News of the hirings comes amid a period of growth at Paradigm,...

Exclusive: Following his stunning ouster from Verve, the agency he co-founded in 2010, where he’d most recently served as CEO, veteran agent Bill Weinstein looks to have found his next destination, as multiple sources tell Deadline that he’s in talks to join Paradigm.

Paradigm declined comment, and Weinstein couldn’t be reached, but we’ll update this story with his statement if and when it comes in.

As we were first to report, it had previously been speculated that Weinstein would be setting up his own shop named Novo, and bring the Verve trio of Devon Schiff, Matthew Doyle and Jake Dillman with him following their own departures from the agency. Whether any or all of them will be joining him at Paradigm isn’t yet clear.

We also hear that Weinstein’s own deal isn’t yet done. But he’s expected to bring with him a strong...

Exclusive: Following a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed after he departed the agency, former CEO Bill Weinstein and Verve have agreed on a settlement.

Details are unknown, but the attorney for Verve co-founders Bryan Besser and Adam Levine released a statement Monday. “The parties have amicably resolved their dispute, and have reached a confidential settlement in principle,” Julie Gerchik at Glaser Weil said.

Weinstein filed the suit last month in Los Angeles Superior Court, stating he was kicked out of the company “without any notice, reason, cause or an opportunity to cure.” (Read the complaint here). The settlement means the suit will not move forward.

Weinstein could not be reached for comment.

While not confirmed, sources say Weinstein will be setting up a new shop called Novo and bringing with him his clients along with former Verve agents Devon Schiff, Matthew Doyle and Jake Dillman.

The settlement closes the loop and story...

Updated Below: The lawsuit and the application for a restraining order have been dismissed.

Former Verve CEO Bill Weinstein has filed for a temporary restraining order against his former company.

In the filing obtained by Variety, Weinstein requests that his employment be provisionally restored in order to require the company and co-founders Bryan Besser and Adam Levine “to engage in the contractually required dispute resolution procedure to which all parties agreed during the formation of the company.”

Filed Thursday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the documents continue, “This is not the Wild West; the parties’ must abide by their contractual duties.”

The filing alleges that, despite being the top revenue generator at the company, Weinstein “consistently had a far lower ratio of compensation to revenue generated than the other members,” and that higher-paid members “balked at Mr. Weinstein’s proposals” to align compensation packages “more fairly.”

The restraining order...

Bill Weinstein has sued Verve talent agency stemming from his exit after a little more than a year as chief executive, accusing the firm’s leadership of conspiring to oust him in a move to sell the company without cutting him in on the deal.

Weinstein, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claimed that agency co-founders Bryan Besser and Adam Levine terminated him following his attempts to resolve a deadlock on personnel and administrative matters such as board of director composition and officer compensation. He says he was fired for unspecified “cause,” which allowed Verve to purchase his equity interest at a substantial discount.

The complaint, which also names Levine and Besser, brings a claim for breach of contract. He seeks a temporary restraining order blocking Verve from terminating his employment until arbitration proceedings are resolved.

“This is not the Wild West; the parties’ must abide by their contractual duties,...

In 2010, Endeavor lit agents Bill Weinstein, Adam Levine and Bryan Besser left in the wake of the Wma merger to launch a new agency built on a different, client-first approach to representation and a different culture from the corporate-minded big firms.

Fourteen years later, Weinstein, who was announced as Verve CEO a year ago, exited abruptly Monday, sending shockwaves through the talent representation community.

At the time of his ouster, the agency’s leadership did not comment on the reasons beyond thanking him “for his 14 years of service.” Verve yesterday raised the curtain a bit in a statement confirming the departures of lit agents Devon Schiff, Matthew Doyle and Jake Dillman, who are expected to join Weinstein at a new agency he is believed to be launching.

In a surprisingly pointed wording, the agency noted that “Since [Weinstein’s] departure Monday, we have let go of a few additional employees whose visions...

Days after it was announced that Bill Weinstein would be leaving Verve, the agency that he helped found and where he served as CEO, The Hollywood Reporter is now hearing that the agent will be starting his own outfit with several Verve agents following him.

Agents Devon Schiff, Matthew Doyle and Jake Dillman are set to leave the agency, according to sources, joining Weinstein at his new company.

Said Verve in a statement, “We are aware that Bill may be trying to create his own agency and we wish him the best. Since his departure Monday, we have let go of a few additional employees whose visions do not align with the culture and the future of Verve.”

It was announced on Monday that Weinstein would be leaving Verve, where he was appointed CEO in January 2023. He was a founding partner with Bryan Besser and Adam Levine, the trio having...

Exclusive: Days after CEO Bill Weinstein separated ties with Verve, lit agents Devon Schiff, Matthew Doyle and Jake Dillman are also leaving the agency, sources tell Deadline. While not confirmed, sources believe the three agents will be joining Weinstein at a new shop he is planning to open up. No details have been disclosed about the potential new agency. Verve leadership had this to say in a statement:

“We are aware that Bill may be trying to create his own agency and we wish him the best. Since his departure Monday, we have let go of a few additional employees whose visions do not align with the culture and the future of Verve.”

Weinstein could not be reached for comment.

The news of Weinstein parting ways with the company on Monday night sent shockwaves through the industry, given that he co-founded Verve in 2010 along with Bryan Besser and Adam Levine.

Bill Weinstein has exited Verve talent agency after a little more than a year as CEO and 14 years after he helped launch the literary boutique on the heels of Endeavor’s takeover of the William Morris Agency.

The parting was confirmed late Monday by Verve in a statement.

“We thank Bill as a co-founder and for his 14 years of service and wish him nothing but success in his future,” read a statement attributed to “Verve leadership.” The agency also confirmed that Weinstein’s role as CEO would not be filled but rather “shared by the founders and managing partner.”

Weinstein could not immediately be reached for comment.

The news is a major shift for Verve as Weinstein had been a driving force for the agency since it began operations in 2010. Weinstein and co-founders Bryan Besser and Adam Levine worked their way up together from the mailroom at Endeavor to junior...

Literary agency Verve has parted ways with CEO Bill Weinstein.

“We thank Bill as a co-founder and for his 14 years of service and wish him nothing but success in his future,” Verve leadership said in a statement Monday.

No reason was given by the agency, although the decision “was made after thoughtful deliberation by Verve’s leadership and approved by Verve’s board and owners,” according to the email announcing the ouster. Some sources have said the move could be financial; the agency, with a strong focus on the literary, was hit hard during the strikes last year. That, coupled with a contraction in television, is hitting many companies and the agency may be no exception. The company rebuffed acquisition overtures from Gersh last summer.

Verve will not be naming a new CEO. The responsibilities of that role will be shared by the founders and managing partner, Liz Parker.

Weinstein...

Here is some news sure to stir the agency world as Deadline has learned Verve CEO Bill Weinstein has separated from the company.

The decision was made after deliberation by Verve’s leadership and approved by Verve’s board and owners .

“We thank Bill as a co-founder and for his 14 years of service and wish him nothing but success in his future “ Verve leadership said in a statement.

Weinstein was named CEO last January after helping co-found the company in 2010.

Verve will not be naming a new CEO – the responsibilities of that role will be shared by the founders and managing partner.

More to come.

Exclusive: Verve has grown its partner roster.

The agency has promoted Parker Davis and Tyler Reynolds to partners.

Davis has been Co-Head of the Motion Picture Literary since 2022, while Reynolds is Head of Television Directing.

The move is the latest internal move at the agency, which hired Jenni Ferrari-Adler to its media rights team earlier this year.

Davis was employee number five at the company and was promoted to agent in 2012. His clients include Arkasha Stevenson (The First Omen), Emily Carmichael (Jurassic World: Dominion), James Morosini (I Love My Dad), Richard Wong (The Valet), Derek Connolly (The Legend of Zelda), Bragi Schut (Samaritan) and Sarah Streicher (The Wilds).

Reynolds joined Verve in 2021 through the acquisition of New Deal Mfg. Co. He has a big list of television directors including Fred Berner and Amy Durning, who produced Maestro, Arthur Forney and Anastasia Puglisi, who work with Wolf Entertainment, Allen Coulter (Tulsa...

Verve, the talent and literary agency, is on the move in Los Angeles.

The Bill Weinstein-run representation firm has inked a deal to move its main headquarters from 6310 San Vicente Blvd eastward toward the Hollywood Media District at the BA/Se creative campus on 6555 Barton and 959 Seward. The new location is in a complex that also houses audio postproduction company Formosa Group and is a short walk to the historic Sunset Las Palmas Studios.

Verve staffers are expected to be packing up and moving to the new office in September. It’ll be the first move for the talent agency’s Los Angeles office since it settled into its current Miracle Mile space in 2012, when it had just 17 employees. The firm, founded in 2010 by former WME agents Bryan Besser, Adam Levine and Weinstein, had earlier occupied a Culver City office space.

The agency will now set up in a...

On May 1, the Gersh agency took on an equity partner for the first time since its founding in 1949, selling a 45 percent stake to a New York-based financier, Crestview Partners, for an undisclosed sum. Now it’s figuring out what to do with that cash. Up first? Trying to buy a rival.

The Beverly Hills-based talent firm, run by co-presidents David and Bob Gersh and Leslie Siebert, is said to have approached literary agency Verve with an overture to talk, but was rebuffed, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Gersh insiders say that no meetings were had, or offers made, to Verve. A rep for Verve stated: “Gersh reached out a month ago to get together which we politely declined and there has been no further interaction or communication.”

Verve, led by CEO Bill Weinstein since his promotion early this year, has looked to reach beyond its roots as a boutique literary agency.

Exclusive: Verve has told the troops it will conduct a strategic series of employee layoffs as the WGA-amptp strike continues. The layoffs so far pertain mostly to support staff. Agency leaders and agents will also see reduced salaries and expenses as part of the cost-saving measures that are being taken to ensure Verve maintains its position as an independently owned talent agency.

Agency layoffs, which were widespread during the pandemic, have been expected as the percenteries brace for the impact of the strike. Verve becomes the first to acknowledge it.

“The decision to implement employee layoffs was an incredibly difficult one, but it is necessary in the current climate for Verve to remain a strong and effective partner to our colleagues and our clients. As the largest independent agency, we do not have outside investors, and we do not have financing independent of our client’s revenue. When they fly,...

Verve has upped coordinators Olivia Ghersen and Isaiah Williams to Agents in the Television Literary and Motion Picture Literary teams, respectively.

The agency continued its long-running tradition of surprising staff with promotions by enlisting Ghersen and Williams to run the all-company meeting on Monday morning and, when the time came for their usual reporting section, the team heads – Felicia Prinz, Chris Noriega (TV Lit), Liz Parker, Parker Davis (MP Lit), and Melissa Darman who created and oversees the Agent Trainee program, ran through their accomplishments and professional highlights.

Ghersen previously worked at 20th Television and Mainstay Entertainment before joining Verve from Discovery Communications. She has worked on both the scripted and unscripted sides of television, but has always had an affinity towards comedy, starting when she cold-emailed producers at Saturday Night Live to ask for informational interviews. At Verve she focuses on comedy writers and multi-hyphenates, and in her spare...

Exclusive: Veteran TV lit agent Amy Retzinger is departing Verve where she has been a partner for more than 11 years. She just confirmed her exit in a company email with the subject “New Adventures…”

In it, Retzinger revealed that she is leaving agenting and plans to focus her efforts on a plastics reclamation startup, acting on her passion about eliminating single-use plastics. She also may pursue career opportunities in hospitality, I hear. This coming summer, Retzinger and her family will be moving to Portugal where their children have been enrolled in school for next fall.

Retzinger was the first agent outside Verve’s founding trio of Bryan Besser, Adam Levine, and Bill Weinstein to join the partnership two years after the agency was launched. She added TV lit experience to Verve, whose founding partners all hailed from the feature side of lit representation, and spearheaded the agency’s television strategy.

The closing of CAA’s closely watched megadeal for rival ICM last June and the reverberations of the Writers Guild’s years-long standoff with agencies over packaging fees and affiliate productions have reshaped Hollywood’s representation landscape. With only three majors left — CAA, UTA and Endeavor-owned WME — there’s now a race among midsize firms to become the de facto No. 4.

One of the firms eyeing an expansion is A3 Artists Agency, which had its outside counsel send letters of purchase inquiry to three of its rivals — Verve, APA and an undisclosed agency — in mid-January. A3 chairman Adam Bold says the Bill Weinstein-led Verve dismissed the offer to open discussions (Verve had no comment), while APA president Jim Osbourne tells The Hollywood Reporter that “a sale to anyone, much less A3, was never entertained and simply not true.”

Bold says he’s in early talks with a third agency.

In its next move to broaden its focus, Verve, the talent and literary agency, is expanding into the endorsements arena as it looks for ways to grow its representation business.

The agency, led by newly promoted CEO Bill Weinstein, said on Monday it hired ICM, Gersh and CAA veteran Max Nagler to oversee partnerships, and will eventually look to add positions to the newly created Commercial Endorsement and Strategic Innovation unit.

Verve, which now counts 120-plus employees and 52 agents, and has offices in Los Angeles and New York, has aimed to reach beyond its literary agency focus to compete with full-service majors like UTA, WME and CAA for film, TV, audio and publishing clients.

Nagler most recently ran his own firm, titled the Union Agency, that focused on commercial endorsements and made deals with T-Mobile, Twitch, Discord, Balenciaga, Unilever, Crocs, Toms and Armani Beauty.

He began his agency run in...

Verve, the talent and literary agency, has appointed a new CEO as it expands its representation ambitions.

Bill Weinstein was named to the top job by the Los Angeles-based agency’s 11 partners, the firm said on Jan. 18. “I am incredibly grateful and humbled to be selected for this position by my fellow Partners and peers,” Weinstein stated.

Weinstein, previously a motion picture literary agent with WME, was part of the trio — along with Bryan Besser and Adam Levine — who left the Endeavor-owned agency to form their own firm, which became Verve in 2010.

As founding partner, Weinstein engaged in negotiations with the Writers Guild when talks over packaging fees and affiliate production were hotly debated in 2019, and the agency broke ranks to sign the writers’ code of conduct before the majors made deals.

The past several years have marked a growth period for Verve, as it branched out into talent representation...

Verve has appointed founding partner Bill Weinstein to the position of CEO, the first in the agency’s 13-year history.

In his newly created position, Weinstein’s responsibilities will “continue to evolve,” though he will remain working in his capacity representing clients, “an indication of Verve’s continued commitment to its core tenet of advocating for creative talent across all levels of the company,” per the agency.

Weinstein’s clients include J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay (“Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”), Sara Hess (“House of the Dragon”), Jac Schaeffer, Michael Arndt (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Mike Jones, Adele Lim (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Meg LeFauve (“Inside Out”), John August (“Aladdin”), Allison Schroeder (“Hidden Figures”), Brian K Vaughan (“Paper Girls”), James Schamus and Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”).

The decision to appoint Weinstein to Verve’s first-ever CEO was announced internally last week by fellow founding Verve partners Adam Levine and Bryan Besser in an all-company meeting.

On the eve of its anniversary, Verve has tapped founding Partner Bill Weinstein as the first CEO in the agency’s thirteen years. The decision was made by the Partnership and announced by his fellow Founding Partners Adam Levine and Bryan Besser in an all-company meeting with a grateful and excited Weinstein thanking each member of the Verve community for their support and belief.

In the heartfelt speech from Besser and Levine, they highlighted the need to provide additional structure as the independent agency adds resources to its core film and television business while continuing to expand into new areas of client representation.

“As we continue to evolve, we recognize the need to formalize the managerial organization of our business to bring greater accountability, efficiency, and excellence to our core mission of advocating on behalf of creative talent,” Said Besser on behalf of the Partnership.

The appointment comes on the...

Verve has promoted Melissa Darman to partner.

Darman, who joined Verve in 2014, started her career at ICM before pivoting to the studio system to work in comedy development at ABC Network. She then moved onto Lionsgate before joining Verve, where she has continued to focus on comedy during her time as an agent on the TV literary team.

“Working at Verve continues to be rewarding on a daily basis,” Darman said in a statement. “I could not be more proud to be a part of such a forward-thinking company that cares equally about the well-being and success of both its employees and clients. I’m thrilled to be a part of the leadership that grows and strengthens the company, and our industry, every day.”

With the elevation of Darman, that brings the total number of partners at Verve to 11. Darman joins founders Bryan Besser, Adam Levine and Bill Weinstein, and...

Editor’s Note: Deadline closely covered the seismic impact that disruption, and the pandemic had on every segment of film, TV and stage, and the companies that make and distribute them. This will start a series of occasional features on how they’ve emerged from the darkness of the past two plus years.

Verve is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Two years after the agency hit the decade mark.

When the agency started by former Endeavor lit agents Bill Weinstein, Adam Levine and Bryan Besser hit the 10-year milestone, grand celebrations of any kind would have been unseemly. While Verve mustered through without any layoffs and furloughs that beset most other agencies, while it also created the first crack in the resolve of agencies when WGA successfully forced the percenteries to end packaging and affiliated production companies, the Covid pandemic made the uncorking of champagne impossible, with most of Hollywood shuttered in their homes.

In a competitive situation, Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully have signed with Verve, Variety has learned exclusively.

The husband and wife duo most recently co-created the Fox animated series “Duncanville” with Amy Poehler, on which they also serve as co-showrunners. Poehler also provides the voice of the lead character on the show and serves as an executive producer along with Scully and Thacker Scully. The show will return to the broadcaster for its second season on May 23.

Scully is perhaps best known for his time on “The Simpsons,” on which he was an executive producer and showrunner for four seasons. He was also a producer on “The Simpsons Movie,” which was released in 2007. He has also worked as a writer-producer on hit shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Carmichael Show,” and “Parks and Recreation.” He was

Thacker Scully was also a writer and co-executive producer on “The Simpsons” as...

Verve has promoted TV lit agent Chris Noriega to partner.

He is now the ninth partner at the agency, alongside founders Bryan Besser, Adam Levine and Bill Weinstein, and, Amy Retzinger, Adam Weinstein, David Boxerbaum, Felicia Prinz and Sean Grumman.

“We launched Verve over a decade ago with a goal of creating an environment in which interns become assistants , assistants become agents and agents become partners,” the other partners said in a statement. “Noriega’s promotion is extra special as he is the first to make the leap from assistant to partner ! We are excited to add more fuel to our leadership team and look forward to what he accomplishes in this new role.”

Noriega previously worked in the finance industry. He joined Verve ten years ago as an intern before being made an assistant. He was the fourth assistant to be promoted to agent at Verve in 2014. He was...

Chris Noriega has been promoted to partner at Verve.

The TV lit agent becomes the company’s first former assistant to become a partner since the agency was founded in 2010. In all, Noriega becomes Verve’s ninth partner, joining Bryan Besser, Adam Levine, Bill Weinstein, Amy Retzinger, Adam Weinstein, David Boxerbaum, Felicia Prinz and Sean Grumman.

“We launched Verve over a decade ago with a goal of creating an environment in which interns become assistants, assistants become agents and agents become partners. Noriega’s promotion is extra special as he is the first to make the leap from assistant ...

Chris Noriega has been promoted to partner at Verve.

The TV lit agent becomes the company’s first former assistant to become a partner since the agency was founded in 2010. In all, Noriega becomes Verve’s ninth partner, joining Bryan Besser, Adam Levine, Bill Weinstein, Amy Retzinger, Adam Weinstein, David Boxerbaum, Felicia Prinz and Sean Grumman.

“We launched Verve over a decade ago with a goal of creating an environment in which interns become assistants, assistants become agents and agents become partners. Noriega’s promotion is extra special as he is the first to make the leap from assistant ...

Sean Grumman is leaving WME to head up a new talent division over at Verve. He will become the agency’s eighth partner.

Grumman spent four years at WME, rising to partner in its talent department. Before that, he spent 15 years with CAA.

“As the agency continues to grow, we are excited to add Sean’s impeccable taste and client-first approach to both the Verve culture and Verve clients with the launch of our talent team,” the Verve partners said in a joint statement. “It’s an exciting time for the agency as we continue to expand and bring more Verve to the creative community.”

Also Read: Activision Donates $2 Million to Call of Duty Endowment Helping Veterans Impacted by Covid-19

Grumman’s TV clients include Milo Ventimiglia, Anna Chlumsky, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Morris Chestnut, Chris Wood, Lecy Goranson, Jeanine Mason, Ryan Kwanten, Ben McKenzie and James D’Arcy.

Verve was launched 10 years...

Exclusive: Verve is becoming a full-service agency with the launch of a talent team, which will be led by top TV talent agent Sean Grumman. He is leaving WME, where he was a partner in the talent department, to join Verve where he will become the agency’s 8th partner. WME and CAA alum Grumman will bring in other talent agents to build the Verve talent team.

This marks another step in the evolution of Verve, which was launched 10 years ago by WME motion picture lit agents Bill Weinstein, Bryan Besser and Adam Levine. The agency soon expanded into TV lit, and over the last few years also built up an alternative TV operation.

“As the agency continues to grow, we are excited to add Sean’s impeccable taste and client-first approach to both the Verve culture and Verve clients with the launch of our talent team,” the Verve partners said in a joint statement.

Verve, the boutique literary agency, is branching into talent representation.

The agency has hired veteran talent agent Sean Grumman to head Verve Talent, a move that comes on the agency’s 10-year anniversary. Grumman, who is coming from WME, will lead what will become the talent team. He will also become the eighth partner at the agency, joining Bryan Besser, David Boxerbaum, Adam Levine, Amy Retzinger, Felicia Prinz, Adam Weinstein and Bill Weinstein.

Clients expected to join Grumman at Verve include This is Us star Milo Ventimiglia, Gotham star Ben McKenzie, Station 19’s Jaina Lee Ortiz, Veep actress Anna Chlumsky, Jeanine Mason ...

Verve, the boutique literary agency, is branching into talent representation.

The agency has hired veteran talent agent Sean Grumman to head Verve Talent, a move that comes on the agency’s 10-year anniversary. Grumman, who is coming from WME, will lead what will become the talent team. He will also become the eighth partner at the agency, joining Bryan Besser, David Boxerbaum, Adam Levine, Amy Retzinger, Felicia Prinz, Adam Weinstein and Bill Weinstein.

Clients expected to join Grumman at Verve include This is Us star Milo Ventimiglia, Gotham star Ben McKenzie, Station 19’s Jaina Lee Ortiz, Veep actress Anna Chlumsky, Jeanine Mason ...

Exclusive: Verve has promoted agent Felicia Prinz to partner, bringing the total number of partners at the Los Angeles agency to seven. Prinz is credited with developing Verve’s television team, which during her tenure over the past seven-plus years, has grown from four agents to 14.

Prinz works with Stephany Folsom, Allison Schroeder, Sarah Watson (The Bold Type), April Blair (All American), Ben Queen, Katie Wech, Kim Harrison (Deputy) and Olatunde Osunsanmi (Star Trek: Discovery).

In a joint statement, the partnership said, “Ten years ago, Verve was created as a company where interns could become assistants, assistants become agents, and agents become partners. We are thrilled to welcome Felicia Prinz into the partnership of Verve.”

She joins partners Bryan Besser, David Boxerbaum, Adam Levine, Amy Retzinger, Adam Weinstein and Bill Weinstein.

Updated with ATA response: Verve has signed the WGA’s new Code of Conduct, the biggest win yet in the guild’s campaign to “divide and conquer” the agency business. Verve is not a member of the Association of Talent Agents, but its signing makes it the biggest lit agency to sign the code so far.

It also allows hundreds of Verve’s clients who fired their agents last month to return to the agency; at last count, more than 7,000 writers have fired their agents who have refused to sign. The signing announced Thursdsay also opens the door to other mid-level agencies to follow suit. Sources say several other mid-sized agencies have been in talks with the guild, including at least one that is a member of the Ata.

Verve’s signing makes it the 70th agency to sign the code, only one of which, Pantheon, is an Ata member.

Verve Talent and Literary Agency is in preliminary talks with the Writers Guild of America to sign the guild’s code of conduct, sources tell Variety.

The guild is believed to have made some modifications to its initial code to make it more palatable to agencies like Verve.

If a deal is signed, it would mark a major breakthrough in the month-long standoff between Hollywood agents and writers. The nine-year-old agency would be by far the most prominent of the nearly 70 agencies that have agreed to the code.

The WGA and Verve had no comment about the negotiations.

Members of the WGA approved the code in March, with the requirement that agents cannot represent WGA members unless the agents agree to bans on collecting packaging fees on and owning stakes in production companies. The code also requires agents to provide the guild with a copy of the agreement or a...

Zach Carlisle will be joining ICM Partners as an agent in the TV Lit department effective Monday, February 12.

Carlisle comes to ICM from Verve, where he was one of the boutique lit agency’s first employees after leaving WME along with Verve partners Bryan Besser, Bill Weinstein and Adam Levine in 2010. Carlisle was promoted to agent in 2011 and helped start Verve’s television department. Among the clients expected to follow him to ICM Partners are playwright/TV writer Steve Yockey (Supernatural), Matt Wheeler (Hawaii 5-0) and Jonathan Igla (Shut Eye).

“We are excited to have Zach join our agency,” said Kevin Crotty, a founding partner and board member at ICM Partners. “He has outstanding clients, a tremendous work ethic and is a great cultural fit for us.”

At Verve, Carlisle also launched the TV career of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Scott Gold (as a writer on Under the Dome) and helped...

Zach Carlisle will be joining ICM Partners as an agent in the TV Lit department effective Monday, February 12. Carlisle comes to ICM from Verve, where he was one of the boutique lit agency’s first employees after leaving Wme along with Verve partners Bryan Besser, Bill Weinstein and Adam Levine in 2010. Carlisle was promoted to agent in 2011 and helped start Verve's television department. Among the clients expected to follow him to ICM Partners are playwright/TV writer…...