Notes from the Rep Biz - 08-28-2020

The most significant news of the past week affects the three biggest agencies in Hollywood. Former CAA TV lit agent Peter Micelli, who was most recently an executive at eOne, has come roaring back into the representation business with a brand new management/production company. The as-yet-unnamed company will launch with a murderer's row of former agents. These agents include Mick Sullivan, Jack Whigham, Michael Cooper and David Bugliari, all formerly of CAA; Chelsea McKinnies, Susie Fox, Mackenzie Roussos and Lucinda Moorhead, lately of UTA; and Rich Cook, one of the stars of WME's motion picture lit department. These newly minted managers have been agents for the likes of Margot Robbie and Chris Hemsworth, Bradley Cooper and Constance Wu, Tiffany Haddish and Tom Hardy. If this gambit works, the new company will immediately be on a footing with outfits like LBI Entertainment, Untitled, Anonymous Content and Management 360. The question will be how the stars who already work with managers react, as well as how quickly the new firm can start to monetize all of its powerful connections in the current environment.
 
At CAA:
 
Laurence Fishburne has parted ways with Paradigm, the agency that has represented him for much of his career, to sign with CAA.
 
Actresses Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) and Madison Pettis (Facebook's Five Points) are now clients, as is model and fashion entrepreneur (and Madonna's daughter) Lourdes Leon.
 
Journalist Errin Haines and legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw are both new signs for the agency.
 
At WME:
 
WME has had two veteran agents depart the agency in recent weeks. The first was TV lit agent Melissa Myers, who is taking an executive role at Kinetic Content. The second was talent agent Phillip Sun, who is joining the always-busy Charles King (another former WME agent) in order to reinvent the management division at his company Macro. The new management outfit will be called M88, and already counts Michael B. Jordan as its first client.
 
WME now represents actors David Harbour (Stranger Things) and Eiza Gonzalez (upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong).
 
At UTA:
 
UTA has signed the Hazy Mills producing duo of Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner, as well as actor/musician/The Voice coach Nick Jonas.
 
Other new signs include TV writer/producer Maurice Marable (Woke), Tony-winning actress/writer Sarah Jones, and Peloton instructor Emma Lovewell (because why not).
 
At ICM Partners:
 
ICM Partners now represents author, activist and BLM co-founder Alicia Garza.
 
The agency has also signed actor/writers Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse (Indoor Boys), as well as former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton.
 
Elsewhere Around Town:
 
Verve is in the news after hiring veteran theater lit agent Chris Till (recently let go by CAA) to help open its first New York office. The agency also signed actress Nia Long.
 
A3 Agency's hiring of former Paradigm lit agents continues to pay dividends, as the agency now counts in-demand directors Malcolm D. Lee (upcoming Space Jam: A New Legacy) and Peter Segal (My Spy) as clients.
 
Gersh has signed actress Sadie Stanley (Netflix's The Sleepover) and documentary filmmaker Sam Feder (Disclosure).
 
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Variety