Vacancies

This is a great opportunity to join the TV, Film and Stage department as assistant to one of the book to screen agents. With a long-established history in author representation, over 90 books currently under option and a sizeable roster of emerging and established writer clients in all mediums, David Higham Associates is a leading agency in the Literary, TV, Film and Stage industries.

This will be a very busy role which offers the successful candidate a brilliant opportunity to develop skills in all aspects of agenting including administrative and contractual skills, client management, book/script-reading, pitching authors to production companies and may involve working with screenwriters. The role might suit an existing agent’s assistant or someone with office experience looking to make a move into a new part of the TV, Film or Stage industries. If this sounds like you, we would love to hear from you!

Our offices are based in central London (Soho). Working hours are 9.15am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Please note this is a full-time role and will be based at our offices in London. You would be expected to work a minimum of four days a week in the office for the first year.

Salary will be a minimum of £28,000 per annum depending on experience.

We offer expenses for travel to London to attend interviews. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments during the interview process.

Job Description

Admin and departmental

• Providing administrative support to your line managers in all areas
• Tracking signature of agreements and addendums, ensuring return of fully executed copies
• Raising invoices for producers and chasing payments
• Liaising with Accounts department and clients on payments
• Keeping meticulous records of options and option expiry dates, deals in progress, upcoming publications etc
• Entering contracts on a database and keeping hard copy files in clear order
• Assisting with red-lining of contracts
• Diary management
• Taking notes for book agent and producer meetings
• Preparing departmental newsletters
• Keeping on top of developments in the industry (e.g. ai, studio acquisitions, SVOD developments) and liaising with industry bodies such as Writers Guild, PMA and Society of Authors and attend relevant meetings on this front
• From time to time attending meetings and industry events where required by agent(s) e.g. PMA meetings, producer parties/briefings
• Providing holiday cover and/or general support for other members of the team as required
• Other tasks as required

Authors

• Handling enquiries about film/TV/stage rights to books and checking status of rights
• Liaising with producers and book scouts about opportunities for book options and reporting back to the team
• Acting as the primary point of contact for enquiries relating to certain clients including Estates managed by your line manager
• Liaising with your line manager on submission lists and submission strategy. Preparing marketing materials for the same
• Dealing with TV, radio permissions and professional stage agreements alongside line manager
• Reading books and making notes

Demonstrable experience

• Support role experience, ideally in a related industry
• Ability to juggle multiple projects and independently prioritise workload
• Exceptional organisation with excellent record-keeping skills
• Confidence working and communicating directly with clients and outside partners
• Diplomacy, tact and discretion
• Working with simple contracts
• Meticulous attention to contractual detail
• Ability to assimilate information and learn quickly

Desirable skills and attributes

• Self-motivated and able to take initiative
• High level of verbal and written communication
• Ability to remain calm and unflustered under pressure
• Good creative judgement
• Knowledge of and passion for the film/TV/Theatre industry – scripted and unscripted
• Assessing scripts and books
• Reads and watches across a range of genres
• Experience as an Agent’s assistant

To Apply

To apply, please send your CV and a brief covering email to Clare Israel and Georgie Smith at dhamediajob@davidhigham.co.uk . You can also contact this email address if you have any questions about the role.

Please format the subject line of your email/s as “YOUR NAME // BOOK TO SCREEN ASSISTANT” and include mention in your covering email of where you heard about this position.

DHA welcomes and encourages applications from any individual regardless of ethnic origin, gender, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age. All applicants will be considered on merit.

Please note that only successful applicants will be contacted.

Applications close midnight Sunday 11^th May 2025.

Interview dates: w/c 19^th May 2024

Start date: TBC but asap.