Talent agency Verve has implemented salary cuts for employees above a certain compensation threshold — said to be in the six figures — with the percentage reduction believed to grow progressively larger for higher earners, sources tell Deadline. The move, which we hear was communicated recently during internal meetings, is temporary and in effect until the end of the year.
Additionally, Verve is said to be closely scrutinizing expenses and assistant overtime with the goal of reducing costs in those areas too.
The measures are believed to be in response to the tough market conditions as the entertainment industry is undergoing contraction, which impacts agencies like Verve, whose business is primarily in film and TV, particularly hard.
Verve is said to be projecting stronger Q3 and Q4, which is why the salary reductions are timed until the end of the year, we hear. Their purpose is to keep staffers employed through the rough period instead of resorting to layoffs, sources said.
While companywide pay cuts are rare, virtually all talent representation firms have implemented some sort of cost-reducing measures over the past year or so — from cutting expenses and overtime to laying off assistants and individual agents and managers.
Then there is the entertainment industry at large, which has been in a belt-tightening mode resulting in multiple rounds of layoffs, most recently at Disney and Paramount Global.
The Hollywood agencies have gone through a string of cataclysmic events over the past five years: the Covid pandemic, which shut them down for months; the standoff with the WGA, which ended packaging; and the writers and actors strikes.
The turmoil has led to the demise of a couple of smaller agencies, including A3 Artists, and a string of acquisitions. Verve itself has been at the center of merger speculation for a while, with rumors resurfacing again this year that it may be looking for a buyer.
