Mid-sized talent agency Innovative Artists has reached a deal with the Writers Guild of America, making them the third full-service agency in the past 10 days to make a deal that would allow them to once again represent writers.
“We are proud to support our literary agents and the talented writers they represent,” read a statement from Innovative Artists. “We are grateful for our clients’ loyalty and are excited to resume working for them.”
“As advocates and representatives, we always seek to put our artists’ interests first and foremost, and to that end, we have heard the concerns and positions of our writers and look forward to continuing to provide the level of personalized and passionate service that they have always valued and enjoyed.”
On Jan. 17, the WGA reached a deal with Gersh that required the agency to phase out packaging fees — payments from a studio to an agency in exchange for packaging talent — by July 15, 2021, a change from the previous sunset date of January 2021 agreed to by smaller agencies like Buchwald and literary-only agencies like Verve. A few days later, the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) signed the same deal.
Other agencies that have signed deals and are now permitted to represent WGA members include Abrams, Kaplan Stahler, and Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston. Over 70 agencies have signed agreements since the WGA membership terminated their agent representation to pressure agencies to give up packaging fees and affiliated production companies, which the Guild has called a conflict of interest.
Details on the agreement were not disclosed by Innovative. The WGA declined requests for comment.