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Verve has promoted three coordinators to agents — Shahrez Aziz, Taylor Killefer and Cooper Yeager — across its television literary, motion picture literary and digital departments.
“Shahrez, Taylor and Cooper are part
of the next generation guiding the evolution of our industry and helping define what a modern agent is today and tomorrow,” Verve’s co-founding partners Adam Levine and Bryan Besser said in a joint statement. “Each has earned a strong reputation both inside and outside the agency, and together they reflect the strength of our core businesses while underscoring our continued investment in the strategic growth areas driving Verve forward.”
Back in 2022, Aziz got his start in the Verve mailroom and is now being promoted to a television literary agent. His promotion came on the heels of Chris Noriega, partner and head of television literary, orchestrating a stunt around a fictional animated series. It was presented as a sought-after project from a Verve client and ultimately culminated in the agency’s weekly Monday all-staff meeting, where it was revealed that the project was actually Aziz being crowned an agent.
“Shahrez is everything you hope for in an agent,” Noriega said in a statement. “He’s incredibly smart, forward-thinking, deeply committed, and consistently operates at the highest level. He has a great feel for both the creative and business sides of the industry, has earned the trust of clients and executives alike and continually exceeds expectations. We’re thrilled to see him take this next step.”
Killefer joined Verve in 2024 after previous stints at CAA and Netflix, getting her start as a clerk in CAA’s mailroom back in 2019. Killefer found out about her promotion on the motion picture literary team during the company’s annual ice cream social event, where a note was attached to a custom jersey.
“From the day Taylor joined Verve, her passion for film, writers, and directors has been unmistakable. Over the past year and a half, she’s paired that enthusiasm with exceptional taste, an incredible work ethic, and a genuine commitment to our clients,” partner Valarie Phillips said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to welcome her as an agent and have no doubt she’ll be an incredible asset to our Motion Picture Literary team and to Verve as a whole.”
Yeager joined Verve back in 2022 as an assistant, working his way up to coordinator and now being promoted to an agent on the digital team. Yeager helped launch Verve’s annual summer bake-off tradition, so it was a full circle moment during this year’s event when he found out about his promotion through a hidden message in a cake.
“Cooper is driven by curiosity and possesses deep knowledge across a wide range of topics, a foundation that informs his entrepreneurial approach to representation,” partner Adam Weinstein said in a statement. “He has embraced every opportunity to learn and grow throughout his time at Verve, and we’re excited to see him step into this next chapter as he continues helping build our expanding Digital team.”
