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William Morris Agency Lays Off 10 in Shake-Up

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William Morris Agency laid off 10 agents on Wednesday as part of an ongoing effort to shake up its lagging motion picture division.

The moves are the most sweeping actions yet taken by new company chief Jim Wiatt, the former co-chairman of rival International Creative Management. Wiatt was brought in by Morris in August with a clear mandate to improve the agency’s film business.

Once the dominant agency representing film talent, Beverly Hills-based Morris since the 1980s has fallen behind its rivals, chiefly Creative Artists Agency and ICM. Although television and music have grown in importance for Hollywood agencies, movie units remain the flagships.

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Sources said that seven of the agents affected are in Los Angeles, while three are based in New York. The agency declined comment.

Morris did not release, and would not confirm, the names of the agents, although sources identified two of them as Jeff Field and Gene Parseghian.

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