Jeff Benson, co-head of Paradigm's TV literary division and agent to "24" co-creator Joel Surnow, will be leaving the agency, according to an email from Paradigm Chairman & CEO Sam Goes obtained by TheWrap.
Benson joined Paradigm in 2004 when it acquired Genesis, a boutique firm where he was a partner.
"Dear Colleagues, We have mutually agreed to part ways with Jeff Benson. We all genuinely wish him well as he moves on, and thank him for his contributions over the years," Gores wrote in an email.
Debbee Klein, already co-head of the TV lit department, will take over full responsibility. She represents a slew of prominent TV creatives, including "NCIS: Los Angeles" creator Shane Brennan and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "ER" executive producer Neal Baer.
Paradigm has been adding a lot of agents on the film side over the past few months, including CAA veteran Bob Bookman and Overbrook Entertainmetn exec Ken Stovitz, but Benson had reached the end of his contract and the two sides decided not to move forward, according to an individual with knowledge of the talks.
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That individual said Benson was likely to bring his top clients with him, including Surnow and Jon Cassar, who directed 59 episodes of "24" and has since worked on shows such as "Terra Nova" and "Person of Interest."
Benson represented the lucrative "24" package, as well as "Burn Notice" executive producer Jeff Freilich. It is unclear where Benson will head next though Resolution, Jeff Berg's new agency, would make a lot of sense.
For the Record: An earlier version of this article mistakenly stated that Debbee Klein represents Kennty Ortega. Paradigm does but Klein does not.