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Kyle Loftus has been named President of Independent Artist Group, the agency announced on Wednesday.

Loftus is a homegrown success story who started at the agency 16 years ago as an intern, in its previous incarnation as APA, quickly moving up the ranks. He’s the rare agent to reach such heights in his 30s, at a time when achieving upward mobility in the ten-percenter business is fairly tricky. In addition to his new title, he will join the Iag Board of Directors.

In a statement on the appointment, Iag CEO Jim Osborne, a longtime mentor and partner of Loftus, said, “Kyle has been instrumental in building an architecture at Iag that allows us to seamlessly integrate innovative opportunities for our clients across all divisions. Through his leadership, we’ve created multiple strategic pathways to help our clients diversify and grow their businesses. His exceptional ability to connect talent, music, IP,...

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Paradise is a sci-fi political conspiracy thriller series created by Dan Fogelman. The Hulu series is set in an idyllic community housing some of the most important people in the world, and it follows Special Agent Xavier Collins after the President of the United States is murdered. Paradise stars Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin, Percy Daggs IV, and James Marsden. So, if you loved the political intrigue, genre-blending plot, and compelling characters in Paradise, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Salvation (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – CBS

Salvation is a sci-fi mystery thriller drama series created by Liz Kruger, Craig Shapiro, and Matt Wheeler. The CBS series follows a group of people as they discover that an asteroid will hit the Earth in six months and destroy the planet.

Exclusive: Giancarlo Esposito, star of series including Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, is staying in the criminal underworld with his latest project.

Esposito, coming off another turn as the sophisticated boss of a meth empire in Netflix’s The Gentlemen, is launching his first graphic novel.

He has co-created The Venetian, a story of commitment and sacrifice set against the backdrop of Venice’s criminal underworld.

Coming out via Gallery 13, part of The Gallery Books Group, a division of Simon & Schuster, the graphic novel was co-created by screenwriter Matt Wheeler and writer, storyboard artist Jay Martin.

Wheeler is working with Esposito on his next series, six-part crime thriller Parish for AMC, where he is a co-exec producer. He recently wrote the sequel series The Italian Job for Paramount+ and penned a series adaptation of Guy Richie’s Rocknrolla that was previously in development at UCP and Dark Castle.

Exclusive: Industry veteran Josh Kesselman is joining Sugar23 as a producer and manager in the company’s expanding management division.

“Coming to Sugar23 is a dream come true. Michael and I have been talking about working together for years and what better time than in the year 2023! Could not be more excited to be working with all of my new colleagues. The energy and growth at this company is second to none!” said Kesselman.

Prior to Sugar23, Kesselman spent the last decade at Thruline Entertainment. His most recent projects include the Emmy-winning television series The Great and the documentary Obey Giant for Hulu, the docuseries Medal of Honor for Netflix, Dean Craig’s comedy The Estate starring Toni Collette, Anna Faris, and David Duchovny, and A Little White Lie with Michael Shannon and Kate Hudson. Upcoming projects include the crime thriller Devil’s Peak starring Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright, and Hopper Penn,...

ViacomCBS spent the afternoon unveiling details about Paramount+, its rebranded streamer that will launch March 4, and now here is a roundup of the television series and feature films that will be available on the service.

Paramount+ will feature a content catalog of more than 30,000 episodes, 2,500 movie titles and 1,000-plus live sporting events and news coverage. More than 50 new series across multiple genres will bow during the next two years on the streamer, which promises 7,000 episodes of kids content, 5,000 of reality and 6,000 of comedy.

A number of theatrical movies will hit Par+ after a 45-day theatrical window, including Mission: Impossible 7, A Quiet Place Part II and Paw Patrol: The Movie.

Paramount+ Pricing And Tiers Revealed: What’s In The $5 And $10 Monthly Plans

ViacomCBS wasn’t clear about which programming will be available at launch next week, but here is the full lineup on movies and TV shows earmarked for Paramount+,...

Exclusive: ‘The Son’ writer-creator-showrunner Lee Shipman, has signed with APA.

Most recently, Shipman wrote the musical drama Moss Landing for ABC, 20th Century Fox TV, Lee Daniels and Florida Georgia Line. The network has given the show a script commitment with penalty.

He is also known for co-creating the AMC series, The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan that aired for two seasons, and Hemlock Grove for Netflix, which aired for three seasons.

In the feature arena, Shipman is scripting a Netflix feature based on the 2017 Vanity Fair article profiling the real-life “Mad Max.” He also recently completed penning a true-story inspired WWII-set diamond heist story for Focus Features. The project, entitled Raiders, details how MI6 protected over $100 million in industrial diamonds during Germany’s Blitzkrieg through Europe.

Shipman, who was formerly with CAA, continues to be repped by Circle of Confusion as well as The Nord Group.

APA is one of...

Zach Carlisle will be joining ICM Partners as an agent in the TV Lit department effective Monday, February 12.

Carlisle comes to ICM from Verve, where he was one of the boutique lit agency’s first employees after leaving WME along with Verve partners Bryan Besser, Bill Weinstein and Adam Levine in 2010. Carlisle was promoted to agent in 2011 and helped start Verve’s television department. Among the clients expected to follow him to ICM Partners are playwright/TV writer Steve Yockey (Supernatural), Matt Wheeler (Hawaii 5-0) and Jonathan Igla (Shut Eye).

“We are excited to have Zach join our agency,” said Kevin Crotty, a founding partner and board member at ICM Partners. “He has outstanding clients, a tremendous work ethic and is a great cultural fit for us.”

At Verve, Carlisle also launched the TV career of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Scott Gold (as a writer on Under the Dome) and helped...