UTA: New Girl star Zooey Deschanel has moved from CAA to UTA. Although she was at CAA for the good part of the last ten years, she was actually at UTA for a period of time in 2013. On the features side, she will next be seen in Open Road Films’ Rock the Kasbah and The Driftless Area. She’s also been cast in Along the Highways which is in active development. She will continue to be represented by attorney Steve Warren at Hansen Jacobson.
ESA: Executive producer and director Fred Berner is now an ESA Client and will be repped by Paul Alan Smith. Berner was a long-time Co-EP on Law and Order Criminal Intent and Law and Order. He's also directed episodes of Chicago PD and Law and Order SVU. On the feature side, his notable producer credits include Pollock and The Great White Hype.
Gersh Agency: Writer-director Jordan Galland has signed with the Gersh Agency. He most recently wrote and directed Ava’s Possession, a mystery thriller about a woman that’s ordered to go to rehab to rid herself of a demon. The film premiered at the 2015 SXSW film festival.
CAA: Not a rep move, but very good news for CAA as comedy star Melissa McCarthy has decided to stay with the agency after the CAA/UTA shake-up. She joined the agency shortly after landing the lead in Mike & Molly. Her husband, filmmaker Ben Falcone will also stay with CAA. Both were previously repped by Heyman and Lesak who are now at UTA. McCarthy’s latest film, Spy premieres in the U.S. on June 5.
Gersh Agency: Gersh also signed on to represent another filmmaker out of SXSW, Oren Shai. He made his feature directorial debut that screened at the festival this year entitled The Frontier, a 1970’s period film noir about a young woman running from the law who robs a gang of outlaws.
WME: Laker All-Star Kobe Bryant will now be represented by WME. Agent Rob Pelinka at Landmark Sports will continue to handle his marketing contracts while WME will handle his representation in film, TV, books and digital. Bryant recently executive produced his first documentary, the aptly named, Kobe Bryant’s Muse, which aired on Showtime in February. Next year will be his last for the Lakers and will complete his two-season, $48.5 million playing contract.