Biography
Justin Girdler is the cofounder and CEO of leading talent management company Diving Bell and a regular speaker on the intersection of talent, entertainment and purpose.
Diving Bell, which he cofounded with Kim Butler in 2017, represents a diverse roster of generation-defining talent who include best-selling authors, leading podcasters, television personalities and award-winning content creators.
Signing to Sylvia Youngs childrens acting agency at the age of 9, Justin spent his youth on the stage, television and film including playing the role of Oliver in Oliver! at the London Palladium and acting alongside talent including Steve Coogan, Sam Neil and Helena Bonham Carter.
In his late teens, Justin formed a band, A Beggars Opera, with his younger brother and went on to sign a 6-figure record deal with EMI/Heavenly and record an album with producer Brendan Lynch (Weller, Primal Scream). Represented by Nicky Stein, partner at Clintons Legal, Justin cites Nicky as his introduction to good contract negotiation.
In his early twenties, after co-managing his band for several years alongside industry veteran, Ciro Romano (Lighthouse Family, Universal Records), Justin sought to merge his passion and experience for the creative arts and the entertainment business.
Justin left his band and was hired by Andy Varley of leading UK talent management and live DJ agency, Insanity. After two years at the agency representing artists including Alexa Chung, Fearne Cotton and Peaches Geldof, in 2011 at the age of 24, Justin left to found his first company, JP Talent. JP was a commercial talent agency focusing on commercial partnerships with talent and luxury brands. The agency represented a roster of both UK and globally recognised talent in music, broadcast and fashion including Charli XCX, Tom Odell and Laura Whitmore.
Seeking a new challenge and a deeper fulfilment from his work, in October 2017, Justin co-founded Diving Bell Group with ex-colleague, friend and industry-leading talent manager, Kim Butler. Their combined vision was to launch a talent management company representing exceptional talent whos work empowers their audience and is anchored by social purpose. Diving Bell is now recognised as housing some of the most important talent of a generation and as the catalyst behind several seminal creative and cultural works including millions of podcast downloads, hundreds of thousands of book sales and hundreds of millions of digital impressions.
Diving Bell is an entertainment industry leader in purpose-driven collaborations and content.
