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. Thompson’s producer/showrunning roster includes Emmy winners Lee Metzger (The Voice, Legendary) and Mark Bracero (Queer Eye), Justin Booth (The Challenge), Brad Tiemann (The Challenge, Double Agents), Tiffany Nicholson-Horton (Tattletales), Sean Travis (Dr. Phil’s House Calls), Jason Carbone (Are You the One?), Rob Schwarze (Drag Tweens) and true crime executive producer Tiff Winton (Panic 911,Doomsday),most of whom will be joining Thompson at Vital, along with production companies Back Roads Entertainment, Pink Sneakers, and Transition Productions. Documentary filmmakers Andrew Muscato (Mooch!) and Academy Award winner Jim Czarnecki (Bowling for Columbine) also remain on Thompson’s client list.
“Our core business is representing A list producers and production companies in unscripted television and Bill brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that will help our agency continue to grow a diverse client list that produces premium content,” said Vital Artist Agency co-founder lrven.
Thompson was previously a producer with overall deals at Critical Content and Brian Graden Media. His independent shingle, Bill Thompson Productions, partnered with actor/producer Mark Wahlberg on Breaking Boston, Big Brew Theory and Teamsters series at A&E. In the 2000s, Thompson spent eight years at Rebel Entertainment Partners, working alongside Irven, where he rose to SVP, Television Packaging and International Sales. His resume also includes a stint as head of unscripted development at New Wave.
“I am thrilled to be working alongside incredible agents who I have long standing relationships with,” Thompson said. “This is a laser focused team that is solely focused on representing top tier producers and production companies in unscripted television, and it was a logical choice for my business and clients.”