It may not mean much outside the 310 area code, but it could have a major impact on the balance of power in Hollywood. As the cost of making box-office hits heads north, so does the importance of casting them with big-name, bankable stars. To get the top talent, studios have to go through their agents, who these days often try to package other clients – stars, directors, writers–as part of the deal. Top agents like ICM’s Jeff Berg and Arnold Rifkin of William Morris aren’t household names, but they have a lot to do with what goes into your VCR on a Saturday night.
Whether CAA keeps its power will depend in large part on Ron Meyer, the agency’s president and cofounder. For the last quarter century Meyer, who personally handles CAA stars like Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, has been Ovitz’s alter ego, playing good cop to Ovitz’s bad cop. Sources dose to Meyer told NEWSWEEK he was likely to join Ovitz in MCA’s executive suite if the deal went through. That would leave the agency bereft of two of its founders -and its most powerful boosters. With Meyer gone, sources said, a group of agents known as the Young Turks were primed to take control of CAA. This quintet of work-hard, play-hard thirtysome-things already earn $1 million a year handling some of CAA’s hottest talent; two of them, Kevin Huvane and Bryan Lourd, are credited with recently luring Brad Pitt and Julia Ormond to CAA.
Yet others wonder if CAA can survive for long without Ovitz, Meyer and another co-founder, Bill Haber, who may also depart. One studio chief speculated that CAA could splinter into several smaller agencies, turning the clock back two decades, when power was shared equally by a handful of firms. “People are making their lists and checking them twice,” says one CAA rival, as agents try to maneuver into what Hollywood calls “second position” – to be the agent the stars will sign with if they dump their current caretakers.
Established agencies like ICM and William Morris would be obvious beneficiaries of a weakened CAA, since they would undoubtedly poach some CAA talent. But the biggest winners could be newer, fast-growing outfits like United Talent Agency, whose clients include a slew of top screen-writers. Among UTA’s up-and-comers: Gavin Polone, whose clients include “Seinfeld” creator Larry David and late night’s Conan O’Brien.
The past decade has already seen several shake-ups in the talent business, as young agents defected from established firms to set up their own shops. Despite its increased power and prominence, the talent game is still one where the main assets -the agents themselves, and the stars who are loyal to them -can skip out the door any minute. Once dominant William Morris discovered that two decades ago, when a young hotshot named Ovitz took a walk. Now it looks like CAA’s turn to discover if it can remain top dog without its fiercest tiger.
