After 25 years as a top talent agent, she wasn’t afraid to knock on doors in Los Angeles to make sure her clients Grace Palmer and Joe Daymond got the right representation for their stacks of creative ideas. They have recently picked up US talent agents, on top of their Kiwi representation.
“People like Joe and Grace are true creatives who not only perform but also write their own material and produce original content. It’s so rewarding to see they’re now repped in the States across multiple disciplines.”
Imogen Johnson. Photo / Dean Purcell
For Palmer - who co-wrote and starred in local comedy Good Grief, which was screened by the Sundance channel internationally - the timing is perfect. She has just had the green light for her second season of US sitcom Animal Control.
While in the US she is able to have meetings and shop her creative ideas around.
She and husband Rawiri Jobe have a base in LA and will head back to Toronto for the filming of Animal Control later this year.
Daymond - who wrote and starred in local comedy Bouncers and who has produced a prolific amount of popular online content for his production company, This is West Park, has been spending more time in LA this year.
He has just returned home for a gig at the NZ Comedy Festival after performing at some of the American comedy scene’s most iconic venues, including a gig at the Main Room of LA’s Comedy Store alongside stand-up luminaries including Theo Von and Brittany Schmidt. With connections being made via his LA management, Daymond, who’s famous for having many irons in the entertainment fire, has been mixing it up with comedy royalty, including Dave Chappelle.
Joe Daymond. Photo / Supplied
“We love seeing our clients doing well on the world stage, the networking is all part of the mission creatively in LA,” says Johnson.
“It takes something incredibly special to secure international representation - you have to be at the absolute top of your game or you won’t get a look-in over there. But there’s definitely some alchemy required: it takes a unique mix of world-class talent, as well as luck and of course - hard work.”
“Both Grace and Joe are positioned perfectly with talent work and the timing to get their creative work seen, which is a way to ensure career longevity and it also helps to boost our domestic sector when they return to work in NZ.”
Tom Sainsbury is another of New Zealand’s comedy geniuses who have been up in the US recently and, as he told Spy, he was meeting “loopy Americans” with a few projects in the mix. Spy hears he shared a pad with fellow funny person Jaquie Brown.
Over the past six years, Brown has written two feature films, which she recently told Reset magazine she successfully pitched to Hollywood and they are now in development with announcements imminent.
And while we love to see talented Kiwis flying the nest, one such actor has just flown home and signed with Johnson as her local rep. Keisha Castle-Hughes has had five years living in New York working in a lead role on FBI: Most Wanted.
She is on a visit home with her US husband Donny Grahamer and their toddler Matilda to see family and re-establish her acting career Downunder with opportunities aplenty on both sides of the Tasman.
