EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Literary Manager James Engle has launched Navigation Media Group, a management and production firm that will rep creators in film and television. Partnering with Engle is Vancouver-based Literary Manager and media investor Ben C. Silverman, whose investments include interests in distribution, production and talent management.
Navigation will look to combine a passion for creativity with established, proven, business acumen to give clients the full-spectrum guidance they need to navigate both the current and future media landscape with success. Creatives joining the company as clients include Sam Sheridan (Creator, I Am The Night), Becca Gleason (Writer-Director, Summer ’03), Grant Sputore (Director, I Am Mother), Bret VandenBos & Brandon Willer (Writer-Producers, Walker), Michael Lloyd Green (Writer, I Am Mother), Jem Garrard (Creator, Vagrant Queen), Damien Ober (Writer, The OA), Barbara Kymlicka (Writer, Christmas with the Campbells), Jeff Renfroe (Producing Director, Chucky) and Mark Bacci (Writer, Prisoner’s Daughter).
“I’m excited to launch Navigation with Ben, who is not only a gifted representative, but an experienced entrepreneur and investor,” said Engle. “Our individual missions have always been to provide world class strategic and creative guidance to our clients, and our partnership gives us an even greater capacity to do so. There is no set path for writers and directors in this business, which is daunting. Navigating that path with our clients is the ethos of our company.”
“Artists and studios love working with James for good reason. He is truly one of the most talented, and hardest working, managers I have ever dealt with,” added Silverman. “We are acutely aware of the requirements put on artists to make numerous creative decisions, often on the spot. As such, we have prioritized our approach to help clients streamline their decision making on the business and development side.”
Engle has represented writers and directors in film and television as a Literary Manager for over a decade. He spent the last nine years at Echo Lake Entertainment, where he helped guide and shape countless projects for his clients, and extended the company’s foray into new mediums. Engle has also begun producing film and television projects—most recently, the film Oxygen, starring Mélanie Laurent, for Netflix.
Engle began his career at the independent film production company Baldwin Entertainment Group, working as an assistant and junior development executive. From there, he joined ICM in the television literary department, supporting some of the agency’s most established clients. After his stint at ICM, he joined veteran film producer Sean Daniel at the Sean Daniel Co., developing movies via a first-look deal with Paramount. He went on to spend four years managing feature writers and directors at Benderspink, and subsequently joined the team at Artist International, where he further developed his concentration on television writer and director representation, before joining Echo Lake.
Silverman is the managing director of the Canadian management company, Integral Artists, who in 2016 he acquired a controlling interest in The Kirk Talent Agency. He serves as president of the Vancouver production company, Timeless Pictures, and is CEO of the private media investment firm Various Things Entertainment, which has a controlling interest in the feature film distribution company LevelFilm. Prior to launching Integral Artists, Silverman served as head of the West Coast Literary Department at The Characters Agency.