Verve’s Partners Elect Bill Weinstein As CEO
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.
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“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 heels of the agency doubling in size since March 2020, including expansion into Talent, Theatre, Publishing and IP, Audio/Podcasts, and Non-Fiction, as well as the agency’s first acquisition, that of the television director agency New Deal Mfg. Co and the opening of its first New York office.
Weinstein has been at the forefront of Verve’s industry-leading decisions, including the company’s negotiation with the WGA (becoming the first significant agency to sign the Code of Conduct in May 2019), and later that year working to ensure that Verve set the standard for assistant pay in response to the #PayUpHollywood movement. Weinstein was also pivotal in helping guide the agency’s response to Covid-19, enacting protocols and procedures that allowed Verve to keep all employees in the initial weeks of the pandemic, eventually expanding its ranks of colleagues and clients during the Work From Home period, then guiding the company’s return to the office in March 2022.
This latest announcement follows on the heels of a year of continued expansion and organizational alignment for the talent agency with key hires made across various teams including Audio/Podcasts, Talent, Ventures, and Non-Fiction. Additionally, Verve recently promoted a number of Agents to leadership positions within the company including Liz Parker & Parker Davis to co-head Motion Picture, Felicia Prinz & Chris Noriega to co-head TV and Tyler Reynolds to lead TV Directing. Weinstein and the Verve leadership have also been building out the business support teams with various hires across People and Operations, Learning and Development, and Finance.
“I am incredibly grateful and humbled to be selected for this position by my fellow Partners and peers. Verve’s clients, community, and culture remain my top priority and I am excited to have the opportunity to guide this special group into a very bright future,” said Weinstein.
While the newly created position will see Weinstein’s responsibilities continue to evolve, he will continue to represent clients, an indication of Verve’s continued commitment to it’s core tenet of advocating for creative talent across all levels of the company. Weinstein’s works with clients including J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay, Emmy nominee Sara Hess, Emmy nominee Jac Schaeffer, Oscar winner Michael Arndt, Mike Jones, Adele Lim, Oscar nominee Meg LeFauve, John August, Oscar nominee Allison Schroeder, Brian K Vaughan, Oscar nominee James Schamus and Oscar winner Geoffrey Fletcher.
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