ICM Partners Names Kevin Crotty & Sloan Harris Co-Presidents, Ups 3

Kevin Crotty and Sloan Harris Courtesy of ICM

ICM Partners is restructuring its senior leadership under Managing Director Chris Silbermann and Co-Managing Director Ted Chervin.

Agency veterans Kevin Crotty, Head of the Lit Department, and Sloan Harris, Co-Head of the Publishing Department, have been named Co-Presidents, ICM Partners, effective immediately. They will oversee all agent-related and client service operations, reporting to Silbermann.

Crotty and Harris are founding partners and board members, as are three others longtime ICM Partners agents/executives who have been promoted.

Adam Schweitzer has been upped to Managing Director, Talent and Branding, and Rick Levy has been elevated to Chief Operating Officer, while retaining in his role as the General Counsel.

Jennifer Joel and Esther Newberg Courtesy of ICM

Jennifer Joel has been named new Co-Head of the Publishing Department, succeeding Harris, where she will serve alongside longtime Publishing Department Co-Head Esther Newberg. A new head of TV Lit to succeed Crotty will be named shortly.

Crotty, based in Los Angeles, and Harris, based in New York, will take over the day-to-day running of ICM Partners, overseeing the department heads of the Talent, TV Lit, MP Lit, Alternative TV, Music, Theater, Publishing, Media Rights, International Film Finance and Sales, MP Production, TV Production, Branding and the Lectures departments.

Following the ICM/Broder-Webb-Chervin-Silbermann merger, ICM had Co-Presidents in Silbermann and Ed Limato, with Silberman eventually assuming the President role solo. Singe the 2012 management buyout that led to the formation of ICM Partners, the agency had not had President and had been run by Management Director Silbermann, along with Co-Management Director Chervin.

With the new structure, Silbermann and Chervin are expected to focus their attention on growth opportunities in what is seen as a pivotal moment for talent agencies. The major agencies are at crossroads, facing an evolution of the TV business model that moves away from backend, traditionally one of agencies’ main revenue streams, and a prolonged standoff with Writers Guild of America over packaging and affiliate production.

“Kevin and Sloan have demonstrated over the course of many years that they are excellent agents and tremendous leaders, who have the respect of their peers as well as the wisdom and experience needed to help guide us into the next phase of our successful growth strategy,” Silbermann and Chervin said in a statement.

Schweitzer, based in New York, is the longtime Co-Head of the Talent Department with Lorrie Bartlett (MP Talent) and Dar Rollins (TV Talent). Bartlett and Rollins will continue to run the talent department, which Schweitzer will oversee, along with overseeing the agency’s Branding Department which is run by Carol Goll. Schweitzer will report to Crotty and Harris.

“Adam has been a rising star at this agency since he got here 20 years ago and that continues to this day. This move allows us to seamlessly combine two critically important departments, which we believe will generate even more opportunities for our clients,” said Silbermann and Chervin.

ICM Partners’ General Counsel Levy promotion to Chief Operating Officer comes days after Justin Dearborn stepped down as the agency COO less than a year after joining ICM. He is departing along with human resources chief officer Cindy Ballard who had joined the agency in 2018.

Levy will continue to report to Silbermann in his capacity at General Counsel and to Crotty and Harris in his capacity as COO.

“Rick is a long-time, trusted confidant, who knows the inner workings of the agency better than anyone and is universally respected and admired by his peers. As COO, he will lead a very senior group of department heads that are successfully running all the vital client service and operational functions of the agency, and with whom he shares years-long mutual trust,” said Silbermann and Chervin.

Joel and Newberg. will jointly oversee ICM Partners’ Publishing Department.

“Jennifer Joel is one of the top agents in the Publishing world, a consummate pro who has demonstrated her undeniable leadership skills as a Board member. This is a natural move, as Jennifer has evolved into one of the agency’s leading voices. We couldn’t be luckier to be able to entrust our industry leading Publishing department to her and Esther Newberg,” said Silbermann and Chervin.

The ICM Partners Board of Directors remains comprised of Chris Silbermann, Ted Chervin, Lorrie Bartlett, Kevin Crotty, Sloan Harris, Jennifer Joel, Rick Levy, Steve Levine, Esther Newberg, Janet Carol Norton, Adam Schweitzer, Chris Von Goetz and Eddy Yablans.

“We are proud of our unique culture, that values inclusion, diversity and opportunity while rewarding creative, sophisticated, collaborative and entrepreneurial client representation and exceptional results,” said Silbermann and Chervin. “Kevin, Sloan, Adam, Rick, Jennifer and Esther embody the best touchstones of our culture and we couldn’t be happier or more proud to entrust them with more responsibility and leadership opportunities because they have earned them.”