Two of Independent Talent Group’s top agents have left the company to set up a new management and production company with the executives behind UK indie Between the Eyes.

The new company, titled 42, has been launched by partners Rory Aitken, Ben Pugh, Josh Varney and Kate Buckley. The company will represent a roster of actors, writers and directors, and will develop and produce film and television.

Varney and Buckley both join from Independent Talent Group and will continue to share clients with the leading agency.

The actor roster represented by 42 includes Michael Caine, John Hurt, Rhys Ifans, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Christopher Lee, Nicholas Hoult, Ben Drew, Clemence Poesy, Emily Mortimer, Tom Hollander, Jonny Lee Miller and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Writers and directors represented by the new firm include William Monahan, Peter Cattaneo, Daniel Wolfe, Eran Creevy, Tom Harper, Rowan Athale, Terry George, Nima Nourizadeh, Noel Clarke, Daniel Barber, Baran Bo Odar, and Mark Tonderai.

Film projects include Welcome to the Punch starring James McAvoy, which releases in the UK and US in March 2013; and Autobahn, which will shoot in 2013.

Mady Niel also joins 42 as a literary manager. 

Aitken and Pugh are London-based producers who set up production company Between The Eyes in 2005. Initially producing commercials and music videos for a roster of ten directors, with clients including Coldplay, Jay Z, Nike, Sony, and Cadburys, they went on to produce Bafta-nominated Shifty directed by Eran Creevy, who also directed their new film, Welcome to the Punch, which was executive produced by Ridley Scott. 

Between The Eyes will remain as a production label for certain titles, under the 42 banner.

Varney was a literary agent at Independent Talent Group for nine years and had a reputation for structuring independent finance for his clients.

Buckley, daughter of the Bafta-winning casting director Mary Selway, is a leading talent agent that worked at Independent Talent Group for 12 years.

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