A.D. Miles, the longtime head writer of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” will step down from that role to pursue acting and narrative television and film writing, Variety has confirmed.

Miles has been working with Fallon for the past eight years, with the two meeting at NBC’s “Late Night” before Fallon took over “The Tonight Show.” They have since collaborated on over 1500 episodes of late-night television. Miles and his family will relocate from New York to Los Angeles but he and Fallon are still planning to work together on an animated feature.

“Riding Jimmy Fallon’s coattails for the past eight years has given me all the confidence I need to strike out on my own and work on a movie with Jimmy Fallon,” Miles said in a statement. Fallon added, “Miles was there for the launch of ‘Late Night’ as well as the launch of ‘The Tonight Show.’ He is one of the funniest, most creative people I’ve ever met and I can’t wait to work on this next project with him. He’s family to us, and we are gonna miss him.”

In addition to his work on “The Tonight Show,” Miles wrote for the Comedy Central series “Dog Bites Man,” in which he also starred, and the 62nd Emmy Awards, which Fallon hosted. On the acting side, he appeared in both “Wet Hot American Summer” and the Netflix prequel series “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.” He also made appearances on “Reno 911” and “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” in addition to a role in the comedy film “Role Models.”

Miles’ exit comes at a precarious time for Fallon, who has been in a ratings battle with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert for weeks. Since Donald Trump became President, Colbert’s politically-themed comedy has given him an edge in total viewers, while Fallon maintains the lead in the key adults 18-49 demographic.

From Universal Television and Broadway Video, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” is executive produced by Lorne Michaels. Producers include Gerard Bradford, Mike DiCenzo and Katie Hockmeyer.