Back in 2010, Bill Weinstein, Bryan Besser and Adam Levine — all former agents at Endeavor — launched Verve with the idea of creating an agency with the clout of a CAA but that functioned as a smaller, more writer-focused outfit.
But following a stretch of infighting that led to Weinstein’s exit in 2024, client exits and some bad luck on the real estate and labor fronts, the agency faces a steep climb.
Sources tell Page Six Hollywood that Verve is several months past due on paying the rent on its Hollywood offices and has lost 15 of its 20 biggest clients since 2022 — when things began to go south — including “Jurassic World” director Colin Trevorrow to WME, Oscar winner Michael Arndt to Paradigm and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” scribes J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay to CAA.
As was the case with “Little Miss Sunshine” writer Arndt, several of Verve’s top earning scribes followed Weinstein to Paradigm including Mike Jones (“Soul,” “Luca”), Adele Lim (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Meg LeFauve (“Inside Out”) and James Schamus (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”). Several sources say that recent belt-tightening has resulted in every assistant now being assigned to multiple agents’ desks.
Verve declined comment for this story. Other sources says Verve is actively renegotiating its lease, which has seven years remaining.
In the summer of 2023, Verve signed a ten-year lease for the 53,000-square-foot office space on Barton Avenue that Quibi once occupied at the height of the rent market. It turned out to be especially bad timing given that the WGA strike was still afoot, ultimately lasting 148 days and hitting boutique agencies the hardest. We reached out to Lincoln Property Company, which owns the building, but they did not respond for comment.
The fact that the strike would hurt Verve so keenly was ironic considering that it split from the Association of Talent Agencies amid a standoff with the WGA in 2019 over packaging fees and calls to limit agencies from producing content.
At the time, WGA negotiators John August and Meredith Stiehm signed with Verve and hailed it as a great home for writers because the agency was willing to sign the WGA code and forgo packaging. It made for splashy headlines but didn’t lead to a huge influx of top writers signing with Verve. August and Stiehm would both bolt to UTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
In between August and Stiehm’s exits, the WGA strike rocked Hollywood and the representation business. Sources say Besser and Levine wanted to sell Verve as the landscape got especially rocky, but Weinstein wanted to stick to the original mission.
“Bill tried to get the votes to make sure he had control. He missed. Six months later, they fired him. His partners, including his brother [Adam Weinstein] stabbed him,” says a top agent at a rival. “So now, Bill is fired. Clients are scattering. The place is in disarray.” Verve declined to comment on these allegations.
Sources familiar with Verve’s client list say less than two percent of its clients have left since Weinstein’s exit.
But Verve had angered many young TV literary agents at CAA, UTA and WME during the WGA standoff. As a result, rivals became overly aggressive with regards to poaching Verve’s clients. In 2024, “WandaVision” creator Jac Schaeffer signed with CAA. Other recent defections include former Weinstein clients like “Hidden Figures” screenwriter Allison Schroeder (to WME) and “Dune: Part Three” scribe Brian K. Vaughan (to UTA).
“They have a lot of liabilities,” says one knowledgeable source who notes that several agencies have “kicked the tires” on potentially acquiring Verve over the past several years.
This source says that suitors who glimpsed their books were spooked by several elements including the massive lease they signed in Hollywood. “They owe a lot of money to two partners,” adds the source, referring to both Weinstein and former lit agent Amy Retzinger who left the agency in 2023 after serving as a partner there for more than 11 years. “I just don’t see anyone absorbing their millions of dollars in debt,” the source continues.
We hear that Weinstein, now on his third lawyer, recently filed a new arbitration claim against Verve after the parties settled a 2024 lawsuit brought by the one-time CEO against the agency. Sources say not a dime has been paid to him.
Like every area of Hollywood, the talent representation community has struggled to adapt to a distressed industry. Whether due to the influx of private equity or massive consolidation, agencies and management companies have been endeavoring to diversify and, in certain cases, find synergies with strategic partners.
And while talent agents aren’t exactly known for their empathy, several say they feel an uncharacteristic level of sympathy for Verve and its situation. One top agent at a rival firm sent a gritting teeth emoji when asked about Verve’s shaky status, which has been a topic of conversation in the representation community.
To be clear, agency defections aren’t uncommon, and Verve still has one of the biggest television stars in Noah Wyle, but there is a growing consensus that the agency faces a particularly steep climb.
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