EXCLUSIVE: Doug Johnson has left CAA to join WME as an agent in the non-scripted department. He starts in January. In addition to non-scripted, Johnson will continue to work across the scripted space with a focus on comedy.
Joining him at WME are several longtime clients, Emmy-winning Abbott Elementary creator, executive producer and star Quinta Brunson; Saturday Night Live star Mikey Day; The Masked Singer host Nick Cannon; and NBA analyst (and former star) Kenny “The Jet” Smith; with more expected to follow. At WME, Johnson will be joining another longtime client of his, writer-producer Vanessa Taylor, who made the move from CAA a few months ago.
Throughout his career, Johnson has worked across both scripted and non-scripted. At CAA, he was member of the non-fiction department while also working as a literary and talent agent.
After a six-year stint at Management 360 early on, Johnson began his career as an agent in 2009 at UTA. He moved to ICM in 2011 where he moved up the ranks and became partner in the motion picture literary department in 2016. Johnson then made the transition to CAA after the agency’s 2022 acquisition of ICM Partners. Like other ICM transplants, I hear he didn’t quite fit in at CAA and is now headed to a new agency home.
“Doug is an innovative agent with a proven ability to build multihyphenate artists,” WME non-scripted department co-heads Amir Shahkhalili and David Sherman said. “As our industry continues to evolve, we need agents who are forward thinking, willing to push boundaries and work across divisions for our clients. We think Doug is a great match and look forward to welcoming him to WME.”
