 Literary and Talent Agency | |
| Founded | 1899 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters location | London, UK |
| Key people | Jonny Geller (Chairman Curtis Brown), Sarah Spear (CEO), Nick Marston (Director), Simon Flamank (CFO) |
| Official website | https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/ |
Curtis Brown is a Literary and Talent agency based in London, UK. One of the oldest literary agencies in Europe, it was founded by Albert Curtis Brown in 1899. [1]
Albert Curtis Brown was an American journalist who was the London correspondent for The New York Press . He also ran a press syndication agency. Because of his extensive contacts in both the UK and America, he fell into representing authors who were looking for publishing opportunities on the two continents.
The first deal he transacted was selling serial rights in John Oliver Hobbes’s The Vineyard. The literary agency element of Brown’s business was accommodated alongside his press agency in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. In 1914, Curtis Brown opened its first international office in New York; subsequently, offices were opened in Paris, Berlin, Milan and Copenhagen. Brown believed in the exchange of literature between countries as a point of principle to foster international understanding. The company retains a translation rights department to this day.
During this period, Brown carried out agency business on behalf of a large number of well-known writers such as Kenneth Grahame, AA Milne and DH Lawrence. It also worked on behalf of prominent figures of the day including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
Curtis Brown wrote an autobiography called Contacts – published by Cassell in 1935. He ran the agency until 1935 when he was succeeded by his son Spencer Curtis Brown. Spencer ran the agency until his retirement in 1968 when he sold it to an investment company.
The agency was instrumental in establishing the reputations of several British and American writers, including John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Norman Mailer, C P Snow, Angus Wilson, Lawrence Durrell, Gerald Durrell, Kingsley Amis, Elizabeth Bowen, and Isaiah Berlin.
In 1953 Spencer Curtis Brown Black head hunted Kitty Black and she became chief play reader at Curtis Brown. She played golf and used her connections to find clients that included Somerset Maugham and Samuel Beckett. [2] She was involved with the noted production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in 1956. She notably told John Osborne to "think again" about his play Look Back in Anger that would later transform British theatre. [3]
The agency was bought back by its management team in 1982.
In 1995, Jonathan Lloyd was recruited from the publishers Harper Collins to become managing director and two years later Nick Marston joined from rival agents AP Watt to begin the new film, theatre and television department.
A further buy-out in 2001-2002 resulted in the present ownership of the agency by its management.[ citation needed ]
Curtis Brown underwent a management buyout in 2002, when agents Jonny Geller, Ben Hall, Jonathan Lloyd, Peter Robinson and Nick Marston bought the company from the then senior director shareholders at the agency. In the same year Sarah Spear, Jacquie Drewe and their teams joined Curtis Brown from London Management to form what is now known as Curtis Brown’s Talent Department.
In 2008, Curtis Brown and ICM (International Creative Management) inked a deal for Curtis Brown to represent ICM’s clients in the UK and across the world. [4]
In addition to its books, actors, presenters, theatre and television departments, the company has a film production arm launched in 2008, Cuba Pictures, headed by Nick Marston as CEO and with Dixie Linder as Head of Film and Television.
In May 2012, the company restructured its management team with Jonathan Lloyd becoming Chairman and with Ben Hall and Jonny Geller becoming joint Chief Executives. [5] Curtis Brown also runs a creative writing school, Curtis Brown Creative, [6] directed by Anna Davis. CBC courses span across creative and screen writing.
In March 2013, Curtis Brown acquired a major stake in leading literary agency Conville and Walsh, finally acquiring the company in early 2015. [7] finally acquiring the company in early 2015. [8] [9]
Curtis Brown was acquired by Original Talent in 2016 as its first and flagship acquisition.
Curtis Brown is led by Sarah Spear as CEO. Jonny Geller remains as Chairman as well as CEO of Original Talent.
Further acquisitions by Original Talent include Ed Victor Ltd, Fane Productions and Debi Allen Associates, all in 2017 and Meryl Hoffman Management, Tavistock Wood, Open Book Productions and JHI Marketing in 2018.
The Curtis Brown Prize was established in 2006 in memory of agent Giles Gordon (1940-2003). [1] Worth £1,500, it is awarded annually for the best writer of prose fiction on the University of East Anglia MA in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) course, based on the material submitted by students for their MA assessment. The winner is chosen by a panel of Curtis Brown agents from a shortlist comprising all students in the year who achieve an MA with distinction. [11] The inaugural award was made to Joe Dunthorne in 2006 for his novel Submarine. Other recipients are: Tamara Britten (2007), Daniel Timms (2008), Lauren Owen (2009), Gillian Daly (2010), Chelsey Flood (2011), Charlotte Stretch (2012). [1]
Blake is a surname or a given name which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory is that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake", meaning "Son of Lake".
Nadia is a female name, used predominantly throughout the Mediterranean region, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caucasus, and the Arab world. It has also seen some popularity in regions of the United States and Canada where the aforementioned diasporas are common. Its origins are in the Slavic and Ancient Greek languages. Variations include: Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia.
Lauren may be a given name or surname. The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentius.
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name יוֹחָנָן and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename Iain. It is a popular name in the English-speaking world and in Scotland, where it originated.
The 33rd Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1960, were held on April 17, 1961, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Bob Hope. This was the first ceremony to be aired on ABC television, which has aired the Academy Awards ever since
Clemency Burton-Hill is an English broadcaster, author, novelist, journalist and violinist. In her early career she also worked as an actress.
Susan Melody George is an English film and television actress.
Daisy is a feminine given name. The flower name comes from the Old English word dægeseage, meaning "day's eye". The name Daisy is therefore ultimately derived from this source. Daisy is also a nickname for Margaret, used because Marguerite, the French version of that name, is also a French name for the oxeye daisy. It came into popular use in the late Victorian era along with other flower names. Authors Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran wrote in their 2007 book Baby Name Bible that Daisy has a "fresh, wholesome, and energetic" image. The name has been used for literary characters such as Daisy Miller, the title character of the novella by Henry James, and for television characters such as Daisy Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard. Very short, form-fitting, denim cut-off jeans shorts are named Daisy Dukes after this character.
Conville & Walsh Ltd is a literary agency founded by Patrick Walsh and Clare Conville in 2000, and based in Soho, London. The agency numbers seven book agents in a staff of thirteen. The Managing Director is Jake Smith-Bosanquet. In 2015 Curtis Brown bought a 100% stake in the company. Subsequently, Patrick walsh left Conville and Walsh to found a new agency.
Katharine "Kay" Brown Barrett was a Hollywood talent scout and agent beginning in the 1930s. She is most famous for bringing Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind to the attention of David O. Selznick, for whom she worked, in 1936. She had a long career as representative, talent scout and agent with Leland Hayward, MCA and International Creative Management ("ICM").
Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD) is a talent and literary agency based in London, England. One of the oldest agencies in Britain, and a co-founder of the Association of Authors' Agents, it is home to a distinguished and varied client list, including Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, Jeanette Winterson, Ruby Wax, Steve Peters, Helen Rappaport, Simon Schama, William Hague, Sarah Raven, Twiggy, Sir Max Hastings, Chris Patten, Bear Grylls, Valentine Warner, Philip Norman, Graham Masterton and such estates as V.S. Pritchett, E.M. Forster, Georges Simenon, Margery Allingham C.S. Forester, Robert Bolt, Edmund Crispin and Storm Jameson.
Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin derived from the Old French curteis, which means "polite, courteous, or well-bred". It is a compound of curt- ″court″ and -eis ″-ish″. The spelling u to render [u] in Old French was mainly Anglo-Norman and Norman, when the spelling o [u] was the usual Parisian French one, Modern French ou [u]. -eis is the Old French suffix for -ois, Western French keeps -eis, simplified -is in English. The word court shares the same etymology but retains a Modern French spelling, after the orthography had changed.