Eva Longoria Exits CAA for WME
WME has signed actress, director and producer Eva Longoria. The multi-hyphenate joins the agency from CAA, where she will be repped in numerous categories.
Longoria was the breakout star of ABC’s resonant primetime soap “Desperate Housewives,” and for nearly two decades has risen as a prolific television producer and director, brand ambassador, and activist.
She is next poised to tackle feature film directing, with the Searchlight biopic “Flamin’ Hot” and the workplace comedy “24/7” for Universal Pictures. Other past directing credits include the ESPN “30 for 30” documentary “Versus,” as well as episodes of “Black-ish,” “The Mick,” “Telenovela” and “Devious Maids.” Longoria will next be seen on screen in Eugene Ashe’s “Sylvie’s Love,” opposite Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, a Sundance player acquired by Amazon Studios.
Longoria founded her production company Unbelievable Entertainment in 2005 and recently renewed her first-look deal with Twentieth Television for an additional three years. The company seeks projects that accurately represent the stories of Latinx and other underrepresented communities.
Unbelievable is developing “Before I Forget” at Amazon as a potential starring vehicle for Longoria, with director Marc Webb. With producing partner Ben Spector, the company recently sold to ABC “Chicano,” a multi-generational drama centering on a Mexican-American family that immigrates to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American dream. There’s also “A Class Apart,” a true story of Mexican Americans fighting for civil rights, at HBO.
Longoria was recently named one of People magazine’s “Women Changing the World,” for her dedicated philanthropy and activism. She established the Eva Longoria Foundation in 2012 to help Latinas build better futures for themselves and their families through educational programs, scholarships, mentorship and entrepreneurship, and co-founded the nonprofit Eva’s Heroes, which enriches the lives of those with intellectual special needs.
She is also a founding member of Time’s Up and the co-founder of the Latino Victory Fund, which is a movement that builds power in the Latinx community to ensure their voices and values are reflected at every level of government. Longoria also had a hand in the Macro Episodic Lab Powered by The Black List with Charles D. King, Lena Waithe and Franklin Leonard to discover, support and empower storytellers of color. Her most recent effort was the launch of She Se Puede, a new digital lifestyle community and media platform to inspire, affirm and inform Latinas to leverage their power.
Last month, Longoria served as emcee of the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
Longoria has served as a global brand ambassador for L’Oreal Paris for over 15 years. She is a New York Times bestselling author for her cookbook “Eva’s Kitchen.”
The star continues to be represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Sunshine Sachs and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.
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