One of Hollywood’s most prolific showrunners is switching desks.
Greg Berlanti has signed with CAA for representation in all areas. The architect of The CW’s Arrowverse and, more recently, co-creator of Netflix’s YOU and producer of the function My police officermoves to CAA from WME where he had worked for 15 years.
Berlanti was represented by WME’s Ari Greenburg for the past 15 years and will now be part of a team at CAA led by Bryan Lourd.
The news comes as Berlanti is in the middle of negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery sits to renew his $400 million total deal, which he signed in 2018. It’s unclear if he will, as his current deal is years before the WarnerMedia – Discovery merger. That deal included bonuses for the number of series Berlanti could pick up. The prolific producer, who owns the record for the most scripted originals on the air or in the making, has seen that volume hit after selling The CW to Nexstar. Berlanti Productions is behind eight series on the network, but three of them — The Flash, Stargirl and River valley — expire this season, and new owner Nexstar has indicated its intention to pursue lower-cost scripted series in an effort to make The CW profitable.
Also of growing concern is Berlanti’s future role at DC Studios, given the studio’s new leadership and executive interest in better uniting both the TV and movie universes a la Marvel. Berlanti, who kicked off the TV comic craze with The CW’s Arrowverse, has also seen his DC slate shrink until the final season of The Flash, Superman and Lois and the forthcoming Gotham knightsall for the Nexstar controlled platform (Star girl aired the final episode on December 7). He also reworks one Green Lantern series with a new creative direction for HBO Max, the WBD-supported streamer that previously became Berlanti’s Strange adventures series.
Tell sources The Hollywood Reporter that Berlanti, who turned 50 this year, was looking forward to his next chapter in the industry and wanted a team of agents to help with that charge. Known to value loyalty, Berlanti had worked at Greenburg and WME for 15 years. Still, the move to CAA is happening as Berlanti has moved on to film work with features like Amazon’s My police officerstarring Harry Styles and Apple TV+s Project Artemis, in which he will direct Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. Berlanti/Schechter Films, the film company he founded last year with his longtime production partner Sarah Schechter, has Red, white and royal blue in post-production for Amazon and recently wrapped footage on Netflix Atlas, starring Jennifer Lopez. Berlanti/Schechter has a first-look deal with Netflix.
Sources say Berlanti’s legal team, led by Patti Felker, recently sent a letter to WME stating that if the super-producer left, the agency would receive no commission on a possible new overall deal, should Berlanti indeed rejoin Warner. Brittle. His current contract expires in 2024, but WBD CEO David Zaslav was eager to renew one of the studio’s most important deals. Should CAA close Berlanti’s new deal, commissions could exceed $40 million, a huge windfall for the agency that acquired ICM Partners this year.
Also interesting is that Berlanti will be represented by Bryan Lourd at CAA. Lourd also represents Ryan Murphy, giving him two of TV’s most powerful and prolific showrunners.
It’s also a loss for WME, who have also seen A-listers Charlize Theron and Michael Bay leave the agency in recent weeks.
Berlanti continues to be represented by Patti Felker at Felker Toczek and Slate PR.
