Michael Moore Agency Hires Two Former A3 Lit Agents & Ex Paramount Theatre Exec

EXCLUSIVE: Amidst allegations of financial impropriety and corporate skullduggery, the collapse of the relationship between UTA and MediaLink founder Michael Kassan now sees the parties battling it out with competing legal actions  and lots of finger pointing – even by Hollywood standards.

Michael Kassan, CEO of MediaLink, the strategic advisory firm acquired by UTA in 2021, is out.

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer recently picked up shares of the company on the open market and vice chair Michael Burns said today he thinks the purchase was spurred by a visit the set of the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic.

EXCLUSIVE: There will be quite a few familiar faces roaming the halls of Willard R. Abbott Elementary in the coming weeks.

EXCLUSIVE: James Wolk (Ordinary Joe) has been tapped as a lead opposite Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid in Paramount+ upcoming drama series Happy Face. Quaid will play the titular role of the real-life serial killer notoriously called “Happy Face” because of the smiley faces he drew on evidence where he bragged about his crimes. Ashford stars as his daughter, Melissa.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios‘ crime thriller Play Dirty has four new additions: Keegan-Michael Key (Wonka), Nat Wolff (Which Brings Me to You), Chukwudi Iwuji (The Day of the Jackal), and Thomas Jane (Troppo).

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer “Michael,” the splashy forthcoming biopic about Michael Jackson from director Antoine Fuqua, has added actor Laura Harrier in a key role. Harrier, of “BlacKkKlansman” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” fame, will portray pioneering female music executive Suzanne de Passe in the Lionsgate project. De Passe was a creative assistant to Motown founder Berry Gordy, and is credited with convincing Gordy to sign The Jackson 5 to his label.

K.J. Yossman Julianne Moore, Michael Douglas and Emma Thompson are among a slew of celebrities putting their names to a campaign for nuclear disarmament. Ahead of “Oppenheimer’s” expected domination at the Oscars this Sunday, Moore, Douglas, Thompson and other celebrities have backed the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s “Make Nukes History” campaign.

Michael McIntyre left a weight-loss clinic based in Austria with a fear of apples, bizarrely. In a new interview with The Sun, the 47-year-old comedian recalled checking into the £4k per night establishment for one week in total, where he managed to shed two stone. "I went to this place called the Mayr Clinic and lost quite a bit of weight, which I kept off for a little while.

Comedian Michael McIntyre has had to cancel a gig at the last minute due to an unexpected surgery.The 48 year old is currently on his world tour, named Magnificent, which has already taken him across the globe over the past year and is set to continue until the beginning of September. He's already performed in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Asia, New Zealand, the UAE, the USA and parts of Europe, and also still has shows lined up in the UK, Ireland and other European countries like Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.

Stewart Talent is expanding its literary footprint with the hires of A3 veterans Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner, who will launch the agency’s New York literary division.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Food Network is breaking new ground in the intense culinary competition genre with a series that features 24 chefs taking on 24 food challenges in, you guessed it, 24 consecutive hours. Hosted by Food Network stars and iconic chefs Michael Symon and Esther Choi, “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing” is described as the Warner Bros.

Diego Ramos Bechara editor Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly are returning to the “NCIS” franchise, a decade after both stars left the original CBS series. The duo are set to reprise their roles as Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo in a new 10-episode still-untitled “NCIS” series for Paramount+. John McNamara (“Trumbo,” “The Magicians”) serving as showrunner and executive producer.

“Tiva” is back. CBS Studios is expanding its ever growing NCIS franchise by bring back two fan favorite characters from the mothership series, Tony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly, and Ziva David, portrayed by Cote de Pablo, who will reunite on screen for the first time in 10 years. Paramount+ has given a 10-episode series order to the untitled spinoff headlined by Weatherly and David and written by John McNamara (Trumbo, The Magicians). All three executive produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Buoyed by the overperformance of music-driven films Bob Marley: One Love and Mean Girls, Paramount Pictures has slotted Better Man for an exclusive qualifying release on December 25, followed by a wide theatrical release on January 17 in the heat of awards season. The film is an original musical by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey, based on the life and music of singer Robbie Williams.

Katcy Stephan Doug Fronk has joined the television literary department at Gersh as an agent and senior vice president. Fronk spent the last three years at A3 Artists Agency as a partner and head of television literary. Before that, he spent 19 years at Paradigm, where he worked his way up to become co-head of the television literary department.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Black Bear has hired Courtney L. Cunniff as senior vice president of film.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has locked down rights to an untitled adult thriller spec from Michael Werwie (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile), with Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan set to produce for Aggregate Films, sources tell Deadline.

Paradigm has hired Kyle Jensen as a Literary Content Agent and Jamie Kaye-Phillips as a Theatre Literary Content Agent, upping Matthew Nutty from Coordinator to Agent in the Talent department.

EXCLUSIVE: Management firm Range Media Partners has continued to expand with the addition of Becky Astphan, Allegra Salke-Hussey, Melissa Mondello, and Colleen Bailey to its staff.