EXCLUSIVE: Todd Eisner, a 30-year veteran talent agent, has resigned from A3 Artists Agency, where he was a Senior Agent in the Los Angeles talent department for almost seven years, to join the Paradigm Talent Agency.
“Paradigm has long admired Todd as an industry veteran who brings an exceptional work ethic and passion for his clients to everything he does,” the agency’s Partner Jim Dempsey said in a statement to Deadline. “With the same artist-first approach, Todd will be an excellent addition to our team of entrepreneurial representatives.”
Over the past year, Paradigm has been staffing up with the hires of Chris Till and Neil A. Cohen and Varun Monga, and internal promotions including elevating 14 agents to Partner.
Eisner is the latest senior-level talent agent to leave A3 in the past couple of months amid a turmoil at the agency, culminating in a recent lawsuit filed by A3 partners Robert Atterman and Brian Cho against the company’s chairman and majority owner Adam Bold.
“We are sorry to see him go, but wish him nothing but the best in his next chapter,” Atterman said about Eisner’s departure in a statement to Deadline.
The majority of Eisner’s clients are expected to follow him to Paradigm. The list of more than 60 actors he has represented includes Freddie Prinze Jr., Peter Facinelli (Twilight, Nurse Jackie), Jamie Lynn Sigler (Big Sky), Corbin Bernsen (The Curse, Duster), Scott Grimes (Ted TV series), Melissa De Sousa (The Best Man: The Final Chapter), Reno Wilson (Fatal Attraction TV series), Coby Bell (Walker), Steven Kreuger, (Yellowjackets), Greg Germann (Ally McBeal, Greys Anatomy), Rick Hoffman (Suits), Larenz Tate (Power franchise), Ted McGinley (Shrinking), Riley Voekel (Hightown), Krys Marshall (For All Mankind) and Robin Givens (Batwoman).
Before joining A3 (then Abrams Artists) in 2017, Eisner spent five years at Innovative Artists, eight years at APA (now IAG) and a decade at Writers & Artists. He started his career in the mailroom at Triad Artists right after college.
In departing A3, Eisner joins Jamie Pillet, partner and co-head of the talent department, who recently moved to WME, fellow partner and co-head of the talent department Sheree Cohen, who became a partner at Mainstay Entertainment, among others.
In taking an unprecedented step of taking their boss to court, A3 CEO Atterman and President Cho accuse him of creating a toxic and hostile workplace and steering “what remains of a once-great company into bankruptcy,” referencing the slew of agent exits.
“In an astonishing run of terror, Bold has squandered everything: A3 is in a state of chaos and dissolution as its agents jump off the sinking ship and flee to A3 competitors, or wait in shock and fear for the next shoe to drop,” the 10-claim fraud and breach of contract complaint against Bold, A3 itself and Superbrands Capital says.