13 March 2023
In the mid 1970s, just after he set up his eponymous literary agency, the great, much missed Ed Victor saw an opportunity.
At that time film rights were a side hustle for agents and not even on the radar of publishers. Throughout his life Ed loved turning side hustles into mainstream operations. In this case, he used his contacts to sell film rights to Stephen Sheppard's historical crime novel The Four Hundred for $1.5m (£1m in those days), and set up an office in Hollywood on the back of it. More deals followed, including those for his friend and client Freddy Forsyth. Agents saw the potential and over the years piled in. Publishers, not so much.
