Exclusive: After four years at Verve, veteran unscripted television agent Bill Thompson has joined Vital Artists Agency, reuniting with former colleague Phil Irven.
At Verve, Thompson launched an unscripted division in 2018 and oversaw that area for the agency. His departure followed the July hire of former ICM agent Andy Stabile as Verve Partner and Head of Unscripted. Thompson met with a couple of companies and went with upstart Vital, which was launched in late 2020 by Rebel Entertainment Partners’ Irven, April Yuan and Cal Boyington. They were joined by veteran unscripted executive Nicole Zien earlier this year.
During his Verve tenure, Thompson built a department that packaged and sold over 100 hours of programming including Pants on Fire (Disney +) American Dreams (Discovery +) and the upcoming USA series Barmageddon with Blake Shelton. On the talent side, Thompson brokered Leah Remini’s seven-figure People Puzzler game show deal and the reboot of Kat Von D’s LA Ink.
At Verve, Thompson launched an unscripted division in 2018 and oversaw that area for the agency. His departure followed the July hire of former ICM agent Andy Stabile as Verve Partner and Head of Unscripted. Thompson met with a couple of companies and went with upstart Vital, which was launched in late 2020 by Rebel Entertainment Partners’ Irven, April Yuan and Cal Boyington. They were joined by veteran unscripted executive Nicole Zien earlier this year.
During his Verve tenure, Thompson built a department that packaged and sold over 100 hours of programming including Pants on Fire (Disney +) American Dreams (Discovery +) and the upcoming USA series Barmageddon with Blake Shelton. On the talent side, Thompson brokered Leah Remini’s seven-figure People Puzzler game show deal and the reboot of Kat Von D’s LA Ink.
- 9/16/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: MTV is bringing back one of its most popular reality franchises, The Hills, with a new incarnation. The Paramount network has given a series order to The Hills: Next Gen, from MTV Entertainment Studios.
The Hills: Next Gen will feature a brand new cast which is expected to be more diverse than the original. The series will follow close group of 20-something friends and aspiring entrepreneurs who are coming of age in a very different L.A. They will navigate realities of race, class, identity, addiction, family drama along with the thrills of romance and becoming self-made amidst the exclusive enclave of the hills in Malibu.
Created by Adam Divello and executive produced by Liz Gateley and Sean Travis, the original The Hills, starring Audrina Patridge, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt and Brody Jenner, was a spinoff of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The series ran on MTV for six seasons,...
The Hills: Next Gen will feature a brand new cast which is expected to be more diverse than the original. The series will follow close group of 20-something friends and aspiring entrepreneurs who are coming of age in a very different L.A. They will navigate realities of race, class, identity, addiction, family drama along with the thrills of romance and becoming self-made amidst the exclusive enclave of the hills in Malibu.
Created by Adam Divello and executive produced by Liz Gateley and Sean Travis, the original The Hills, starring Audrina Patridge, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt and Brody Jenner, was a spinoff of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The series ran on MTV for six seasons,...
- 5/18/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Verve continues to build out its unscripted division, adding veteran reality TV producers Sean Travis and Justin Booth to its client roster.
Travis, best known for executive producing MTV’s hit docuseries The Hills and The City, directed early seasons of MTV’s The Real World. He produced the first Beastie Boys music video which helped launch the band’s career. On the film side, Travis won the Best Director award at the AFI Film Fest for his first feature film, The Week That Girl Died.
Travis expanded his producing and directing slate to include larger-scale competition reality series including ABC’s The Mole with Anderson Cooper, Celebrity Mole, The Rebel Billionaire with Richard Branson and more recently CBS’ Hunted. He also has been executive producer-showrunner for a slate of docuseries including Fox’s The Princes of Malibu, MTV’s The Hills, The City, Wait til Next Year and Siesta Key,...
Travis, best known for executive producing MTV’s hit docuseries The Hills and The City, directed early seasons of MTV’s The Real World. He produced the first Beastie Boys music video which helped launch the band’s career. On the film side, Travis won the Best Director award at the AFI Film Fest for his first feature film, The Week That Girl Died.
Travis expanded his producing and directing slate to include larger-scale competition reality series including ABC’s The Mole with Anderson Cooper, Celebrity Mole, The Rebel Billionaire with Richard Branson and more recently CBS’ Hunted. He also has been executive producer-showrunner for a slate of docuseries including Fox’s The Princes of Malibu, MTV’s The Hills, The City, Wait til Next Year and Siesta Key,...
- 5/13/2020
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Update Tuesday: While no side is discussing financials, I’ve learned more about the size of the deal, in which Legendary Entertainment acquired Asylum. I hear that Legendary ended up paying about eight times what Asylum is projected to make in terms of profits in 2014, which comes to a price tag just north of $100 million. Asylum is set to clear $12-$13 million next year, about three times what the company made in profits this year, as its balance sheet will be bolstered by the one-year output deal Asylum recently inked with ReelzChannel to deliver 50 hours of unscripted programming for the network in 2014, distributed over 10 series. While 8x multiple is within the range for a high-end deal, I hear Asylum’s decision to go with Legendary vs. the other suitors bidding for it came down to the plans Legendary had for the company’s future. In anticipation of the sale, Asylum...
- 12/10/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Veteran reality producer Sean Travis has inked a pod deal with Asylum Entertainment. Under the pact, he will produce his own shows. Travis’ unscripted credits include MTV’s The Real World, ABC’s The Mole and Celebrity Mole, WB’s High School Reunion, Spike TV’s The Joe Schmo Show and Fox’s Princes Of Malibu and The Rebel Billionaire. He also was executive producer for MTV’s The Hills and The City, and currently is Ep on that network’s Wait ‘Til Next Year via his 2Lights Entertainment. He is repped by Wme and Greenberg Traurig. It’s the latest addition for Asylum, producers behind The Kennedys miniseries as well as reality shows like ReelzChannel’s Beverly Hills Pawn and the Espn docu series 30 For 30. As part of its expanding unscripted efforts, Asylum last month inked an output deal with Kennedys partner ReelzChannel with plans to produce 50 hours...
- 11/23/2013
- by PATRICK HIPES, Managing Editor
- Deadline TV
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