‘We Know Our Lane’: How a Boutique Agency Was Born Amid the Pandemic to Champion Inclusivity and Unscripted
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business WriterA talent agency that was born out of the demise of another boutique agency and the disruption of the pandemic is making a name for itself with a commitment to champion a diverse range of creative talent and a tight focus on unscripted content.In late 2020, Rebel Entertainment Partners senior unscripted agents April Yuan, Cal Boyington and Phil Irven founded Vital Artists Agency, following the retirement of their former boss, longtime Rebel chief Richard Lawrence.Per its four-agent team, VAA is a company that doesn’t just preach its desire to be the home of diverse voices, but it’s an agency that strives to be run by them, too.“We do want to grow, but we don’t want to be the same as the dinosaurs that have already been around forever,” Yuan told Variety. “We want it to look different from the top.
That is very important to me, as you can imagine, as a woman of color. And that’s going to take time because there aren’t really very many people who are at that level up there. “Within the past couple of years, it’s really been a drive through the entire agency industry to hire more diverse talent,” added Yuan. “That messaging for us has been there from the very beginning when we founded Vital.
We have always been about having diverse talent. We know we’re not doctors, it’s not a life-or-death situation, we’re literally just making reality TV.
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