Mike Fleming

BREAKING: In a merger where each side brings a lot to the table, D/F Management principals Steve Dontanville and Frank Frattaroli have joined forces with Circle of Confusion to create a full-service management and production company. It matches Circle of Confusion’s writer and director clients with D/F’s acting roster and the partners will use that to grow the production business in films and TV. The new entity will operate under the Circle of Confusion banner.

The consolidation leaves them with offices in Los Angeles and New York, and a strong roster that each company brings to the mix. D/F brings a client list that includes Frances McDormand, Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Michelle Monaghan, Sarah Polley, Sasha Alexander, Zach Gilford, Alfre Woodard, Benjamin Bratt, Molly Parker, Tom Cavanagh, Daniel Minahan, Mary Harron and John Krokidas. On the Circle of Confusion side, the clients include Andy and Lana Wachowski, Jon Spaihts, Max Landis, Adam Goldberg, Keith Merryman & David Newman, Doug Jung, The Dowdle Brothers, Tim Schlattman, Dan Mazeau and Oren Uziel, as well as comic creators Robert Kirkman, Brian Michael Bendis and several premiere comic book publishers including IDW and Top Cow.

Circle of Confusion also produces the AMC hit The Walking Dead, and has Powers set up at F/X and Chew at Showtime, with Stephen Hopkins set to direct the pilot. On the feature side, Circle of Confusion recently teamed with Andrew Lazar to set up Lore at Warner Brothers with Dwayne Johnson attached to star, and the company is is exec producing the NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton which F. Gary Gray will be directing for New Line.

Dontanville was one of Hollywood’s top longtime talent agents before leaving WMA, and Frattaroli was also a long time WMA agent in New York before they joined forces. Lawrence Mattis formed Circle of Confusion from his basement in Queens and watched it flourish when the Wachowski siblings took off. He then expanded the company with a Hollywood outpost run by David Alpert and David Engel.

D/F principals Frattaroli and Dontanville issued this statement: “We have been searching for like-minded partners for the past several years, and Circle of Confusion’s smart, passionate and unified team is the perfect cultural fit.”

On the Circle of Confusion side, Alpert, Engel, and Mattis called the merger “a very organic and dynamic combination. This union of great people from both companies will empower us to continue providing the highest level of service to our clients in all areas, accelerate our producing activities, and expand our business in exciting ways in the future.”

From here, it looks like a good match.