Average Joe Creator Robb Cullen Signs With New Literary Agency Ascend, Days Before Season 2 Lands on Paramount+

Ascend Literary Management has signed Robb Cullen, the creator of BET+ dark comedy Average Joe, for representation, according to Variety Variety. The signing lands one day before the second season of Average Joe debuts on Paramount+ on 19 August.

Cullen created the series, which launched on BET+ in 2023 and stars Deon Cole as Joe Washington, a plumber who discovers his late father stole millions from the Russian mafia. The show draws on Cullen's own life. He also serves as an executive producer. McG and his company Wonderland partnered with Cullen and BET+ to develop the project, as Deadline reported in 2022 Deadline. The Season 2 move to Paramount+ marks a platform shift for the series between its first and second runs.

Cullen continues to be represented by IAG and by Jared Levine, Sabrina Padwa and Jonathan Leiter of the law firm Yorn Levine. He is also currently developing an untitled action drama with McG and Wonderland.

Ascend Literary Management was founded earlier in 2026 by Ian Greenstein. Greenstein previously worked at Innovative Artists Entertainment. Before that, he spent over a decade at Gersh, where he led the agency's TV department — the team that handles television talent and literary clients. His career also includes more than ten years at Paradigm after that agency merged with Genesis, a boutique literary firm Greenstein co-founded in 2000.

Cullen's writing credits stretch across both television and film. He and his brother Mark co-created the FX series Lucky, which starred John Corbett and earned the brothers an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the pilot episode. That pilot was directed by the Russo brothers, who went on to direct several Marvel blockbuster films. On the feature side, Cullen co-wrote Once Upon a Time in Venice and Cop Out, both starring Bruce Willis.

His other television work includes the Spike TV animated series Gary the Rat and NBC's Heis, Mr. Robinson and Las Vegas.

For a new agency like Ascend, landing a writer with an active series and a film track record is an early marker of intent. For Cullen, it adds a new representative just as Average Joe reaches a broader streaming audience on Paramount+.