Starring in the Biggest Deals in Hollywood

He is, in the words of a fellow entertainment lawyer, “everybody in Dubuque’s idea of what a Hollywood wheeler-dealer is like”--long hair, big beard, gold chains and silk pajama shirts.

He is famous for his malapropisms, a la the late Samuel Goldwyn. “That train has sailed,” he might say. Or, “That ship has left the station.”

Buzz magazine listed him as one of the “10 Biggest Screamers in Hollywood,” a reputation his friends say doesn’t exactly fit. “I’ve heard him yell, but I’ve never heard him scream,” said one studio executive.

His name is Jake Bloom and, in the world of movie-making, he wields enormous clout as lawyer to such stars as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Jean Claude Van Damme.

The savvy and colorful Bloom is part of an elite Westside legal fraternity that is at the center of Hollywood’s escalating money wars, where top stars earn $20 million or more per picture.

Studios desperate for hits have increasingly invested in stars who have a track record of delivering at the box office, especially in growing and lucrative overseas markets.

As the power of talent has grown, so too has the influence of a cadre of lawyers who in many cases have long-standing ties to A-list actors and directors. They have become a trusted ear and steadying influence at a time of corporate and agency upheaval.

It was Bloom’s longtime client, Stallone, who smashed the salary barrier last year when he signed a then-unheard-of $20-million pact to star in a film for Savoy Pictures. Stallone quickly followed that up with a staggering $60-million, three-picture pact at Universal.

Moore is now the top-paid actress in Hollywood, earning $12.5 million to star in “Striptease,” a Castle Rock Entertainment film due in May.

“Jake has a reputation for making the toughest deals in town and his clients love him for that,” said one studio executive.

For many years, talent agencies have dominated the Hollywood landscape. Michael Ovitz, founder of Creative Artists Agency, was widely considered the most powerful figure in the industry.

But with Ovitz now president of the Walt Disney Co. and Ron Meyer, his former agency partner (and Stallone’s onetime agent), heading Universal Pictures’ parent MCA, some insiders say that attorneys with top clients are becoming as important to Hollywood deal-making as some of the biggest agents.

This top tier of legal power brokers includes Bloom, Kenneth Ziffren and his partner, Harry “Skip” Brittenham; Barry Hirsch, Bruce Ramer and Bert Fields.

The major entertainment law firms have not only helped to inflate star salaries. Some have become mighty engines in Hollywood, creating movie and TV production companies, laying groundwork for satellite TV networks, linking entertainment with emerging computer technologies and negotiating contracts when top executives jump from one studio to another.

Ziffren and Brittenham, for example, dominate television. Their Century City firm--Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca & Fischer--represents an estimated 25% to 30% of producer-creators of prime-time network programming.

In the past two years, the firm has earned more than $50 million in legal fees while putting together deals worth $18 billion. It helped create such motion picture production companies as New Regency Productions, Cinergi Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Interscope/Polygram while also working on the teaming of Microsoft with DreamWorks SKG on interactive programming.

Ramer’s Beverly Hills firm--Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown--has also assisted the “dream team” of Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg in the creation of their studio-in-the-making, DreamWorks.

Fields, a partner at the Century City firm of Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, is primarily known as a litigator but he has represented virtually all the major studios and recently worked on a massive Latin American satellite television deal.

In many cases, these attorneys go back years with their top clients.

Ramer’s first major star was Clint Eastwood and he has represented Spielberg for more than two decades, many of those years in which the director had no agent at all. Fields, 66, also goes back over 20 years with Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman. And Bloom has been with Stallone since “Rocky” and with Schwarzenegger since “Pumping Iron,” films that were released in the mid-1970s when the actors were just coming into their own.

“Lawyers have very long-term relationships with clients, and their power is based on that stability,” said attorney Tom Hansen, whose own firm--Hansen Jacobson Teller & Hoberman--is considered a potential rival to the Big Five.

While agents are hardly bashful about who they represent and the deals they make, entertainment attorneys are far more secretive. The firms are reluctant to divulge their client lists and the attorneys go to great pains not to see their names in print. (Hirsch’s secretary says flatly that he never talks to the news media).

As a litigator, Fields is comfortable giving interviews, but even he is careful not divulge his clients’ business affairs.

There is also a reluctance in the creative community to comment openly and candidly about these men, in part because they represent so many top figures throughout the movie and TV industries, but also because power begets fear.

“Power flows usually from other people,” Fields said. “In this business, it flows from clients.”

Challenging Studios

Law firms have long constituted a barony of their own in the entertainment business, but for years attorneys were careful not to challenge the authority of the studio moguls.

Eric Weissman, a veteran member of the entertainment bar who is a partner at Weissman Wolff Bergman Coleman & Silverman, said that in the early years of Hollywood, attorneys took what the studios offered.

“When the studios were first formed, they had all the power,” Weissman said. “You didn’t negotiate. If MGM offered you a contract, you didn’t change anything.”

Fields agreed. “People were much more afraid to take on the studios,” he said. “You had the feeling in those days that if you took on the studios, you might not really eat lunch in this town again.”

But today, the terrain has been dramatically altered. Society has become more litigious and one’s word is not necessarily one’s bond.

As a result, attorneys like Fields gained a reputation for battling the studios when clients felt they were being treated unfairly.

“I had more of a ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude,’ ” Fields said. “I guess it was hard to find somebody who would sue MCA or MGM. Studios are not liberal in dealing with their money with 99% of the people. What you hear about are the Stallones, the Schwarzeneggers, and those people [who command top dollar].”

In 1988, attorney Pierce O’Donnell sued Paramount Pictures on behalf of humor columnist Art Buchwald, who charged that the studio failed to give him credit for the original story of the Eddie Murphy film “Coming to America.”

The resulting trial exposed studio accounting practices, where even a worldwide hit like “Coming to America” showed no net profits.

Ironically, Paramount asked Fields to handle its appeal, but before the process was over, new management at the studio opted for an out-of-court settlement.

At the same time, the rise of independent production companies as well as ownership changes at the studios gradually shifted power in Hollywood from the buyer to the seller--from the studios to the talent.

As the clout of stars such as Michael Douglas and Kevin Costner grew, so too did talent agencies. CAA, International Creative Management, the William Morris Agency and, more recently, United Talent Agency became forces to be reckoned with.

And, as the deals became more complex--often involving foreign investment, back-end remuneration, screen credits and the like--attorneys found themselves playing key roles in negotiations.

It was Bloom’s former partner, Tom Pollock, who transformed the moneymaking aspects of entertainment law. In 1978, Pollock devised a policy of billing his superstar clients on a percentage basis rather than hourly, reaping handsome profits. While agents took 10% of their clients’ wages, attorneys now took 5%.

Pollock left the law firm in 1986 to run Universal Pictures and now is a top executive at MCA. He is one of many attorneys who crossed over to head studios, including Sidney J. Sheinberg, the former president of MCA, and Alan J. Levine, president and chief operating officer at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Many high-powered agents have legal backgrounds. At William Morris, an estimated 15% of the 200 agents worldwide have law degrees.

A number of entertainment lawyers also actively read scripts for their clients.

“In many instances, the role of the lawyer has changed from what it was in the early days of Hollywood to become almost what the Italians refer to as the consigliere, the counselor,” said attorney David Colden. “The lawyer, in many instances, not only reviews contracts and comments on contracts, but gives business advice and career planning.”

But not all lawyers want to do the work of agents.

Nigel Sinclair, a partner at the high-powered firm of Sinclair Tenenbaum Olesiuk & Emanuel, said he would rather work with an agent to make movies happen.

“If I wanted to be an agent, I’d be an agent,” Sinclair said. “A lot of what I do is think up deals for clients.”

While the public may gasp at reports that Stallone and Jim Carrey command $20 million a picture, the final figure can go even higher. The top stars usually take a percentage of what a film grosses at the box office. It was such a back-end deal that earned Tom Hanks $30 million to $40 million on “Forrest Gump.”

Attorney Fields said he was the first to insist on escalator clauses in contracts. On “Tootsie” and “Rain Man,” he said, the studios agreed that Dustin Hoffman’s pay would increase each time the box office hit certain numbers.

“I set what seemed like fairly high numbers, but they hit those numbers,” Fields said. “The studio said, ‘You’re never going to get to $120 million.’ In those days, that was an outlandish number--but we got there.” Fields declined to say how much Hoffman eventually made.

While studio executives may wring their hands and say the lawyers and agents are ruining the industry, some attorneys disagree.

“It’s irrelevant what you pay a guy,” said one top lawyer who asked not to be identified. “What’s relevant is what the picture costs. Studios are not charitable organizations. They can say, ‘Fine, I won’t make the movie.’ ”

Differing Styles

While Bloom may be the most flamboyant figure among his peers, others are no less intriguing.

Fields writes mystery novels as “D. Kincaid” and spends his spare time at the British Museum and the Tower of London researching a history of Richard III.

Brittenham is an environmentalist who has lived with Indian tribes in the Amazon.

Ramer has crisscrossed the globe on behalf of the American Jewish Committee, combating anti-Semitism and meeting with heads of state.

Each attorney reached the top in different ways.

With Bloom, it began with weekly poker games.

It was over such games that he, Pollock and Andrew Rigrod decided to open an entertainment practice in 1971. In those days, Bloom wore business suits and Pollock swore off socks. Today, Pollock has taken to three-piece suits, while a friend said, “Jake looks like something from the Planet Zerkon.”

Like most lawyers, Bloom chooses not to approve scripts for his clients, believing that is the domain of agents and personal managers. Still, Bloom loves to pal around with his celebrity clients.

One place he can be found is at any star-studded opening of a Planet Hollywood, the famed eatery chain owned by Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis and Moore.

Bloom, 53, is known as a tough but fair negotiator. He is a “closer,” one attorney said. He looks to the bottom line and doesn’t let details lead to hang-ups that could doom a deal.

Ramer comes from a more traditional law firm. “Gentlemanly” is the word that people often use to describe him. “Bruce is button-down,” a studio executive says.

“He’s charismatic and one of the quickest guys you’ll ever meet,” said a lawyer who knows him well. “He has boundless energy and represents most of the studio heads. He is an industry leader.”

A native of New Jersey, the 62-year-old Ramer’s first big client was Eastwood, whom he met through the firm. Ramer’s former partner and close friend was Frank Wells, the late president of the Walt Disney Co.

Hirsch, 61, is also widely respected by his peers but has developed a reputation at the studios of being difficult in negotiations.

“He is exceptionally smart, but a difficult man to deal with,” said one studio official. “Jake will cut to the bottom line. With Barry, every point is a deal breaker.”

His colleagues admire Hirsch’s competitiveness and say he is constantly “out there” signing up young talent.

“He signed Julia Ormond when . . . nobody ever heard of her,” said one attorney. “He’s out there beating 35-year-old lawyers to the punch and he’s the only one of his generation who does that.”

In TV and movies, Ziffren and Brittenham are usually thought of as a team. While Ziffren is known for his love of cigars and his wine collection, Brittenham likes fly-fishing.

Brittenham’s first big client was Henry Winkler back when he played “The Fonz” on TV’s “Happy Days.” Today, his clients include Harrison Ford, Eddie Murphy, Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson.

Fields, meanwhile, is a Hollywood legend.

He is famous for sending scorching letters to the opposition when he feels a client has been betrayed. “I tend to be very frank--sometimes cantankerous,” he said.

David Geffen once fought a terrific legal battle with Fields over who would have final cut on “Personal Best,” a film written and directed by Robert Towne, a Fields client. When it was settled, and Towne received final cut, Geffen became a client, too.

Ovitz even sent Fields $1 a year to keep him on retainer, joking that he hoped that by doing so Fields would never be able to sue him.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Entertainment Law

Lawyers have become some of the most powerful “players” in Hollywood, drawing clout from their dazzling array of superstar clients. Here’s a look at some of these top lawyers and whom they represent:

Jake Bloom:

His firm: Bloom Dekom Hergott & Cook in Beverly Hills.

Top clients: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Jean Claude Van Damme; directors Joel Schumacher (“Batman Forever” and John Hughes (“Home Alone”); producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (“Crimson Tide”).

****

Barry Hirsch:

His firm: Armstrong Hirsch Jackoway Tyerman & Wertheimer, in Century City.

Top clients: Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand (for films), Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer and Julia Ormond.

****

Bruce Ramer:

His firm: Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown, in Beverly Hills.

Top clients: Ramer’s first major client was Clint Eastwood, and he has represented Steven Spielberg for more than 20 years.

****

Kenneth Ziffren and Harry (Skip) Brittenham:

Their firm: Ziffren Brittenham Branca & Fischer, in Century City.

Top clients: Ziffren’s clients include producers Stephen J. Cannell and Witt-Thomas Productions. Brittenham, whose first big client was Henry Winkler during his days on “Happy Days,” represents Harrison Ford, Eddie Murphy, Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson.

****

Bert Fields:

His firm: Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, in Century City.

Top clients: Fields has represented Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty for more than 20 years. He has also represented many of the major studios.

Source: Times research

compiled by Robert W. Welkos