UK Talent Mega-Agency Curtis Brown Merges With Markham Froggatt + Irwin

Two goliaths of the UK acting and talent industry have merged, with Markham Froggatt & Irwin (MFI) joining Curtis Brown, now rebranded as The Curtis Brown Group.

MFI is home to leading talent including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mark Strong, Damian Lewis, Ruth Negga, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísu, Bill Nighy, and Tim Roth. They will now become stable-mates of Curtis Brown clients Dev Patel, Robert Pattinson, Paul Mescal, Florence Pugh, and Gugu Mbathu-Raw.

Curtis Brown, which claims to be Europe’s oldest and largest talent agency, also incorporates Tavistock Wood, agency to Lily James, Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Eva Green, Charles Dance, and Dustin Hoffman.

Markham Froggatt & Irwin, founded in the 1960s by Peter Froggatt, will retain its name, office and separate identity, and will continue to be led by Alex Irwin.

What does this mean for actors?
The merger is unlikely to have any short-term impact on actors, with both agencies continuing to act as separate entities. However, in the medium term, the tie-up will enable the group to act with greater clout in what is increasingly a global business; and it will also act as a bulwark to a trend we reported on earlier this year of major US agencies eyeing the UK talent business with increasing avariciousness. This move to establish UK talent bases came in the wake of a UK production boom, major UK studio investments by Disney, Marvel, and Netflix, and global demand for British screen talent. All delayed, of course, by Covid – yet the underlying trends are unlikely to change.

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Good news, then, for actors already in the tent, who will now be part of a mega-agency with even greater global influence. For those further down the ladder, it probably won’t change much initially, though one could argue that all actors will benefit from a healthy, viable, and assertive talent industry.

In a statement, Curtis Brown’s CEO Jonny Geller said: “I’m so proud that such an experienced and brilliant team headed by Alex Irwin is joining us on the next phase of our journey at The Curtis Brown Group. Alex and her colleagues represent one of the most sought after collection of actors in the world and with Tavistock Wood and Curtis Brown, we feel we can pioneer a new era of British talent around the world and continue to maximise opportunities for all our clients across the group.”