Publishers Marketplace: Jeff Aghassi

Jeff Aghassi
Mini-Bio

A former agent, turned literary manager, Jeff Aghassi began his career in the film & television industry as a location scout and manager. In that capacity, he gained valuable experience and knowledge into the reality of moving from the printed page to the screen. The range of projects he worked on include independent films and television MOWs (ie: Under the Hula Moon and Fox TV’s Vanishing Point), to larger budget studio feature films such as TankGirl, The Crucible and The Ghosts of Mississippi.

Jeff transitioned into agenting under the guidance of the highly regarded literary agent, Lynn Pleshette. While with her, he participated in the sale of such notable works as Cold Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Brokeback Mountain.

In 2000, he left The Lynn Pleshette Agency to head up the feature film/MOW and Book-to-Film division of The Alpern Group. While there, he guided the careers of screenwriters TS Cook (The China Syndrome, Tuskegee Airmen, Litvinenko Spy Story), Robert Baird (Monsters Inc., Curious George), and writer/director Pete McCormack (Facing Ali, The Blue Butterfly) among others.

Jeff began working as an independent literary manager and producer in the summer of 2007. In 2010, client David Seidler won the Academy Award for best screenplay for The King’s Speech, which went on to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor awards, and earned over $500,000,000 world wide. Jeff is currently producing David’s next film, The Games of 1940 with producer Frank Marshall.

He continues representing select directors, screenwriters (feature film, MOWs, Series) as well as novelists and publishers. A key focal point of his management is the development of strategic alliances with other agencies, managers and the various media outlets including film studios, networks, cable markets, and on-line content providers.