- Justin Halpern has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for literary representation, with agent Byrd Leavell, who previously repped Halpern at Waxman Leavell Literary Agency, now handling him at UTA.
- Halpern continues with Adventure Media for management and Sechel PR for publicity.
- His debut fiction novel, Get Lost, publishes via Hachette Book Group on July 7, and he is adapting it for film as both writer and director.
- Halpern and producing partner Patrick Schumacker are co-showrunners of ABC's Abbott Elementary and have Netflix's I Suck at Girls currently in production.
Abbott Elementary co-showrunner and author Justin Halpern has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for literary representation.
He is repped by agent Byrd Leavell, co-head of UTA’s publishing department, who previously worked with Halpern at Waxman Leavell Literary Agency, where he helped turn Halpern’s Twitter feed Sh!t My Dad Says into a New York Times bestselling book and a CBS sitcom. Halpern retains Adventure Media for management and Sechel PR for publicity.
The signing arrives at a pivotal moment. Halpern’s debut fiction novel, Get Lost, drops July 7 via Hachette Book Group, and he and Schumacker are attached to adapt it for film.
Their Netflix coming-of-age comedy I Suck at Girls, based on Halpern’s nonfiction book, is in active production with Bill Lawrence executive producing.
The duo also have HBO Max comedy Backhanded in development, all under their overall deal with Warner Bros. Television via Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions.
On the TV front, Halpern and Schumacker’s Abbott Elementary, which they co-showrun alongside creator Quinta Brunson, has earned four consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series and is already renewed for Season 6.
UTA has been aggressively expanding its literary and TV roster in 2026, recently adding Better Things creator Pamela Adlon. Maddie Ziegler also joined the agency earlier this year as part of that push across entertainment categories.
Takeaways
This signing is a full-circle moment. Byrd Leavell helped build Justin Halpern’s literary career from a viral Twitter account to a bestselling book back at Waxman Leavell, and now they’re reuniting at UTA with considerably more firepower.
That kind of loyalty in a relationship-driven industry isn’t accidental, it speaks to how much trust both parties have built over time.
What makes this signing sharper than the usual agency news is the timing. With a debut novel dropping in July, a Netflix series in production, an HBO Max project in development, and a feature film adaptation he’s set to direct, Halpern is entering what could be the most commercially diverse period of his career. Literary, TV, and film all converging at once, and now all anchored at UTA.
For Adventure Media and Sechel PR, retaining their positions tells you the management and publicity infrastructure around Halpern is stable. The only move was in representation, and it was a calculated one.
With Halpern directing a film adaptation of his own novel, could this signal a broader pivot from TV showrunner to feature filmmaker? Does Byrd Leavell following Halpern across agencies suggest UTA is actively poaching literary talent from boutique shops?
