EXCLUSIVE: Industry Entertainment veterans Bill Butler and Michelle Kittrell have left after 14 years to join upstart management/production company Amplified, launched earlier this year by fellow longtime Industry Entertainment managers Adam Levine, Brandy Rivers and Michael Hepburn.
Butler and Kittrell, who are bringing all of their clients, will be launching a New York office of Amplified, located in Chelsea. Butler, who was a Partner at Industry, will join Hepburn, Rivers and Levine as Partner; Kittrell has been named VP /Head of NY Talent.
Butler started his career at WMA before moving to Gersh where he eventually rose to Senior Partner and head of the NY office. Kittrell began her career in theater before transitioning to representation at Gersh NY. She followed Butler when he left to launch the NY offices of Industry Entertainment in 2010.
Butler and Kittrell have been instrumental in growing the NY offices of both Gersh and Industry, working with a roster of clients, many of whom have been with them for decades. The list includes Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Organized Crime), Billy Porter (Pose), Calista Flockhart (Feud: Capote vs The Swans), Victor Garber (Alias), Donna Murphy (The Gilded Age), Michael Cyril Creighton (Only Murders in the Building), Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Law & Order: Organized Crime), Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession), Jelani Alladin (Fellow Travelers), Shoshana Bean (Tony Nominee, Hell’s Kitchen), Stark Sands (Tony Nominee, Kinky Boots), Robert John Burke (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Julie Halston (And Just Like That) Lee Tergesen (Oz), Ward Horton (The Gilded Age), Ledisi (Grammy Winner, Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story), and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (The Wire).
Butler also produced Kokomo City, which won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival, as well as a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. He was a producer on the Syfy series Happy!, starring and executive produced by Christopher Meloni, and on Sweet Gwen Suite at both New York City Center and the Fire Island Dance Festival. Additionally, he produced Billy Porter’s music singles Love Yourself and For What It’s Worth with Stephen Sills via The Butler Music Company.
In addition to Hepburn, Rivers and Levine, the move reunites Butler and Kittrell with fellow former Industry manager Josh Levy who joined Amplified last month.
“Bill and Michelle are two of the most highly respected and brilliant managers we’ve had the privilege to know over the years,” Hepburn, Rivers and Levine said in a statement. “Their taste and knowledge of the marketplace is unparalleled and we are thrilled to enter this next chapter at Amplified as we continue to grow our company alongside Bill and Michelle. Their experience in representation, producing narrative and documentary projects, working in music, and their vault of theater wisdom will be a great asset to our company and our clients.”
