Peter Micelli-Led Management Firm Range Media Partners Launches

With sights set on shaking up the competitive entertainment-industry representation landscape, Peter Micelli and a group of high-profile defectors from super-agencies including CAA, UTA and WME have launched a new management firm that will target Hollywood’s most powerful potential clients for bespoke representation services.

The new company, Range Media Partners, is backed by Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures. The founders, all of whom have an ownership stake in the new company, include Dave Bugliari, Mackenzie Condon Roussos, Rich Cook, Michael Cooper, Susie Fox, Sandra Kang, Rachel Kropa, Chelsea McKinnies, Peter Micelli, Lucinda Moorhead, Mick Sullivan, Byron Wetzel, and Jack Whigham. An additional founder set to head the music division will be announced at a later date.

“We are incredibly proud to begin this exciting adventure together,” the founders said in a joint statement. “Each of us brings something unique and impactful to the table that contributes to our company’s mission and overall success. We want to take a deep, personal approach to our clients’ work while continuing to deliver great results. We have the utmost gratitude to those that have nurtured and supported our work for years, and we look forward to our continued collaboration. The entertainment community is such a special collection of hardworking artists and personalities, and we are honored to work alongside everyone.”

The new venture, spearheaded by Micelli, formerly chief strategy officer at Entertainment One and a longtime TV agent at CAA, comes amid a run of reps exiting top agencies to form new management shops, but boasts significant financial backing to fuel its ambitions. As the firm’s lineup came together last month, it prompted a new wave of sudden agency exits. As Variety reported last month, the company plans to focus on “the top 1%” of entertainment industry clients, the notion being that these top-tier talents are not being fully serviced by agents with bloated rosters.

At the moment, Range has not yet taking any office space, with employees primarily working remotely. All founding employees, including staffers at all level, will have equity stakes in the company.

The flow of agents from top agencies come as those companies have been buffeted by the entertainment industry shutdown due to coronavirus and their protracted battle with the WGA over packaging fees. With revenue slowed, pay cuts, furloughs, and layoffs have become the new norm at the agencies, leaving many veterans compelled to move on to new ventures.