The New World Order

Creative Artists Agency President Ron Meyer jolted the entertainment industry last July 10 when he announced that he would leave the outfit he co-founded to assume the presidency of MCA. Five weeks later, CAA’s Michael Ovitz, considered by many to be the most powerful figure in Hollywood, accepted the No. 2 spot at the Walt Disney Co. The agency business, industry observers predicted, would never be the same.

A year later, CAA--which had dominated the landscape for the past decade--has largely avoided the meltdown anticipated by rivals. But according to high-ranking executives interviewed by The Times, the testosterone-filled agenting arena has turned into a free-for-all. Client mobility is on the rise, with backbiting and sniping the order of the day.

“Until a year ago, the agency world was like the Old West,” says Joe Roth, chairman of Walt Disney Studios. “CAA’s dominance made for a moral order. There was no expectation you could steal clients away since people were afraid to leave. When Ronnie and Mike left, however, chaos became the norm.”

Arnold Rifkin, worldwide head of motion pictures at the William Morris Agency, agrees: “Flux leads to confusion . . . and there’s a lot of confusion now.”

Even prior to the frenzy, traditional loyalties had begun to erode. Early last year, Madonna left CAA for William Morris, where she spent four months before bolting to International Creative Management. With Meyer out of the picture, longtime CAA client Sylvester Stallone headed for ICM, where he lasted three months before William Morris roped him in. Arsenio Hall went from CAA to United Talent Agency to ICM. Eddie Murphy went from ICM to CAA and back to ICM.

Some high-powered talent opted to avoid the entire agency scene, preferring to rely on a manager or lawyer instead. At present, former CAA clients Kevin Costner, Winona Ryder, directors John Hughes (“Home Alone”) and Joel Schumacher (“Batman Forever”), as well as ex-ICM clients Sharon Stone and director James Cameron (“Aliens”), have no agency representation.

“The business today is not about getting clients work but about which clients you get--who can collect the most toys,” a top agent says.

Without the prospect of a long-term relationship, industry observers say, agents may be tempted to put clients in substandard projects, heading off defections by keeping them employed. The most successful Hollywood careers, a top executive suggests, belong to Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson and Harrison Ford--stars with long-standing ties. Eastwood has been with William Morris’ Leonard Hirshan for 35 years, Nicholson with Sandy Bresler for 35, Ford with Patricia McQueeney for 26.

Dennis Palumbo, a screenwriter (“My Favorite Year”) who became a psychotherapist, compares the situation to the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. “Every Balkan nation you never heard of was trying to get hold of nuclear weapons, strutting their stuff,” said Palumbo, 90% of whose clients are show business folk. “Now that CAA is no longer the superpower it was, everyone is going for the big score. Burnout is a factor across the board.”

One high-profile casualty was Ovitz protege Jay Moloney, who represented Bill Murray and David Letterman and was a leader of CAA’s brash “Young Turks.” After open heart surgery and, his spokesman confirms, months of drug rehabilitation, the 31-year-old Moloney resigned May 12. In February, ICM suffered a more radical jolt when agent Jon Sepler, also 31, hanged himself from a window of his Los Angeles home. Attentive as always to the needs of his clients, he had suggested alternative agents with whom they could sign in one of his suicide notes.

“Sepler’s death resulted from personal demons,” says a source familiar with the situation. “But they were exacerbated by the fact that he couldn’t talk about them. Everyone has to put on the best face possible when representing clients. They want to know that your life is together so you can take care of theirs.”

The real pressures, many believe, kick in after a client is snagged. “After the hunt and the capture, you have the honeymoon--a limited time . . . to make good on all the promises you’ve made,” one insider says. “And because agencies spend 80% of their time servicing the top 20% of their client lists, mid-level actors such as Danny Glover or Patrick Swayze can get lost in the mix.”

Changing financial realities have added to the squeeze. Now that the average film costs $54 million to produce and market, the stakes--and risks--are higher than ever.

The bigger the budget, the more demand for A-list actors and directors, who serve as practical and psychological safety nets. Still, with mergers whittling down the number of major players and profit margins at an all-time low, killer deals may also kill the buyer. And Hollywood’s new credo--making fewer films--means less work down the road.

The current turmoil caps five years of change. In 1991, United Talent Agency--the leading mini-major--was formed by the merger of Bauer-Benedek and Leading Artists. A year later, the mid-level InterTalent Agency disbanded, followed by the sale of Triad Artists to the venerable William Morris. And in March 1995, four key literary agents from ICM were caught carting out documents in the middle of the night to start the writer/director-oriented Endeavor Agency.

Still, none of these changes could compare to the impact of the Ovitz/Meyer departures last summer.

“Ovitz was so good and collected so much power you had to deal with him,” a competitor says. “Now the fear factor is gone. Studios no longer run their executive choices by CAA. Clients aren’t afraid their careers will be ruined if they leave. CAA is no longer in the incoming-phone-call business. There’s no magic wand.”

Massive defections failed to materialize, however, as superstars such as Michael Douglas, Robin Williams, Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise held firm. But some--particularly those aligned with Ovitz and Meyer--did bail out. Stallone, Alec Baldwin and Whoopi Goldberg headed for William Morris, while Barbra Streisand and Steven Seagal went to ICM. Costner left for no agency at all.

Meyer’s value to CAA, colleagues say, extended far beyond his client list, which included Douglas, Jane Fonda, Cher, Goldie Hawn, Warren Beatty and Demi Moore, as well as Goldberg and Stallone.

“Ron was the heart and soul of CAA,” a former associate says. “He’s an accessible, regular guy with a great gift for making buyers and clients feel like he cared.”

The agency also survived better than expected the loss of another co-founder, TV division head Bill Haber, and two key TV agents. In fact, under Lee Gabler the company just emerged from its best pilot season ever. It has also been a good summer for CAA’s movie division, which packaged the talent for the season’s three biggest hits--”Twister,” “Mission: Impossible” and “The Rock.”

When carving up the CAA turf, a schism erupted between the Young Turks and more seasoned department heads. Though an eight-man leadership committee, representing both factions, was set up, 35-year-old Richard Lovett holds the title of president and, day-to-day, calls the shots.

The operation is said to be less single-minded and “Japanese” as an institution than when Ovitz was at the helm. But, industry insiders say, in the dog-eat-dog milieu of the agency business it still has some of the best teamwork in town.

“I’m not trying to fill Michael’s shoes,” says Lovett, longtime agent to Tom Hanks. “I’m just trying to take what he created so brilliantly and stamp it for a new generation. The Brad Pitts and the Ethan Hawkes and the Keanu Reaves are important, but they want to work with the Robert De Niros and the Dustin Hoffmans and the Robert Redfords of the world. Nicolas Cage did ‘The Rock’ because of Sean Connery . . . they’re all pieces of the puzzle.”

Lovett disputes the notion, and most of those interviewed agree with him, that it’s a three way-race between CAA, ICM and William Morris. “It’s not an even playing field,” he insists. “That’s just a useful mantra for our competitors to chant.”

Still, while CAA has lost momentum, the others are coming on strong. ICM’s Ed Limato is said to have the best star roster in the business with Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, Richard Gere and Michelle Pfeiffer. And Oscar time was a particular high for ICM, with Gibson, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, screenwriter Chris McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”) and director Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas”) winning statuettes.

The agency, led by Chairman Jeffrey Berg and President Jim Wiatt, has bet big on the global arena--a wager that looks increasingly savvy now that foreign grosses make up 50% to 60% of the feature film pot. ICM’s bicoastal book publishing division, with clients ranging from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford (“Independence Day”) to Deepak Chopra, also gets good marks.

That rivals label the agency a series of “boutiques” rather than a collaborative unit is off the mark, Wiatt says. “This is an old rap that just doesn’t seem to go away. And it simply isn’t true. Our management structure provides a team of agents for every client.”

William Morris seems to have found its sea legs since absorbing Triad in October 1992. After some initial turnover, relative stability reigns. TV, its perennial strength, faltered a bit when TV chief Bob Crestani left and series starring Angela Lansbury (“Murder, She Wrote”) and Andy Griffith (“Matlock”) went off the air. Still, syndication prospects are tantalizing, Candice Bergen and Roseanne remain big money-makers and the indefatigable Bill Cosby just signed a 44-episode CBS deal.

On the feature-film front, ex-Triad chief Rifkin has taken the lead, creating an oasis of signing after a considerable drought. In addition to longtime client Bruce Willis, he now represents Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, Geena Davis and writer Joe Eszterhas.

The agency gets credit for reinventing John Travolta and, by placing Willis in the offbeat (“Pulp Fiction,” “12 Monkeys” and “Nobody’s Fool”), invigorating his career as well. William Morris also created an independent film department, packaging material for directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Gus Van Sant.

If William Morris is on firmer ground, 5-year-old UTA--an outfit presenting a younger, more progressive face--seems to be imploding. Meshing three philosophically diverse cultures has proven overwhelming, its executives admit. And, image-wise, a couple of recent incidents didn’t help.

In late April, UTA fired partner Gavin Polone, who was accused by a female colleague of sexual harassment. After the company gave him a public apology and a $5-million settlement, Polone left agenting to become a talent manager.

Two weeks later, UTA’s Jay Sures, 29, resigned, threatening to go public with allegations of “intolerable working conditions and illegal activities” at the operation. When UTA filed a breach-of-contract suit, Sures opted to stay. He accepted an offer to co-head the TV division, offered to him in the wake of Polone’s departure, and was promised his freedom at the end of the year.

Writers David Koepp (“Mission: Impossible”) and Larry David (“Seinfeld”) and late-night TV host Conan O’Brien left the agency after the Polone debacle. But despite the morass and very public infighting, the agency has pushed on. Longtime clients Jim Carrey and Sandra Bullock were recently joined by red-hot director David O. Russell (“Flirting With Disaster”) and action star Jean-Claude Van Damme. Ben Stiller (“The Cable Guy”) and John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”) signed with the agency on the day the Polone affair broke.

In retrospect, UTA partner Nick Stevens admits, both sides were “dysfunctional.”

“Gavin is a high-profile performer, a good friend of mine,” says Stevens, who represents Carrey. “But philosophically he was a bad egg--an impact player who didn’t fit in. We’ve worn our problems on our sleeve which, in a poaching business, increases the difficulties. A ‘service’ industry is a fragile one, but we have too much momentum to be at risk of falling apart. Since our numbers keep going up, it’s hard to kill the beast.”

Feeling isolated a couple of years ago, UTA partner J.J. Harris suggested that the agency bring in a therapist to improve communication.

“The man we brought offered up a lot of new skills but they were inappropriate to the tiger-shark mentality of this business,” says Harris, a former InterTalent partner who came to UTA in 1992. “We’d put our feelings on the table and people would use the information to find new, more sophisticated ways of pursuing their own agendas. Unity is a goal we continue to pursue, nevertheless.”

The structure of the agency business impedes that effort, CAA’s Bob Bookman asserts. “As long as an agency compensates its agents on the basis of who they sign and what they book, there’s no incentive to change,” he says. “You can employ all the touchy-feely devices you want, but if people are insecure, they’ll continue to act out. Unlike other agencies, CAA rewards people on the basis of their contribution to the whole.”

Since the 1940s and 1950s, when MCA’s Lew Wasserman reigned, the agency business has had a figurehead. When Wasserman moved on, Ted Ashley, of Ashley’s Famous Talent Agency, stepped in. William Morris’ Abe Lastfogel picked up the mantle before Ovitz ascended in the mid-1980s--brokering the sale of two studios, plunging into the advertising realm and generally redefining the parameters of the agenting world.

“Ovitz was both a natural leader and such a good agent that people had to follow him,” Polone says. “That’s an anomaly in this business, since the attributes that make for a good agent--aggressiveness, pursuing your own agenda and those of your clients--work against cohesiveness and are often anathema to representing a larger group.”

Though Ovitz inspired fear as well as reverence, even his competitors acknowledge his clout. William Morris’ Rifkin calls him a man with “a voluminous capacity to consume and control, strategically gifted and ever-present. I admire what he was able to accomplish.” Ovitz’s departure, in combination with that of Meyer and Haber, Wiatt adds, would leave a vacuum in any industry.

“Ovitz had tremendous power--the uncanny ability to create situations for himself in which he was the most prominent fixture,” Wiatt says. “That situation doesn’t exist anymore--and I don’t foresee anyone moving in.”

But despite the turmoil and the leadership void, Wiatt points out, the agency business is on a roll.

“The opportunities are vast in terms of new media and new technologies,” he says. “And the ongoing need for software puts a premium on intellectual property and individual ideas.”

Polone agrees that things are healthier now. “The power is diffused and the window of opportunity is greater,” he says. “It’s open season on CAA.”