0.cached.png
By Newsweek Editors
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
WHEN MICHAEL OVITZ GOT BACK into the movie business a couple of months ago, agents and executives pretty much had this to say: him again? Ovitz came back just as unloved as when he left--and almost as feared. He started a company, Artists Management Group, and talked about restructuring the entertainment business with a new emphasis on talent managers, as opposed to agents (NEWSWEEK, Nov. 30, 1998). He allied himself with two of Hollywood's hottest managers--Rick and Julie Silverman Yorn--and thereby gained an instant stable of young stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Claire Danes. He roped in some loyal old guardsmen, like directors Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese and Barry Levinson. Then, last week, Ovitz really got down to business. In a move that floored executives at his old company, Creative Artists Agency, he raided agent Michael Menchel and Menchel's biggest client, the $20 million-per-picture Robin Williams. You know the old Don Rickles joke, where he sees Frank Sinatra walk into a casino and says, ""Frank, make yourself at home--hit somebody''? Think of last week this way: Michael, make yourself at home--start a war.
CAA's reaction had a decidedly un-Hollywood tone: moral indignation. Agents at the company Ovitz built into a superpower in the '80s and '90s didn't think their old mentor was abiding by the distinction between agents and managers--that the former procure work, while the latter supervise long-term career goals. (It's a legal distinction as well: agents are licensed and charge only a 10 percent commission, while managers are unregulated and can participate in their clients' production deals. Technically Menchel is now managing Robin Williams's career, not negotiating his deals.) Clients who wanted to be repped by CAA but managed by Ovitz were given an ultimatum: us or him. ""Ovitz is acting like a rival agent, not a manager,'' said one CAA agent. ""We took a stand for all agents.''
Read More on News
Their reaction was touching, considering that CAA's Young Turks learned the business from Ovitz. They were his foot soldiers, bolstering CAA by raiding other companies and carrying out his agenda around town. ""We were unbelievably loyal,'' said one former disciple. ""We're outraged that he deceived us.'' Executives at rival companies sat back and enjoyed the fireworks. ""This is a highly charged emotional issue between Michael and his former students,'' said a rival manager. ""He's driving a train recklessly, not caring about his old relationships.''
Ovitz's brazen attitude is something to behold. He arrived back in the business after his failed foray into corporate America (15 rough months at Disney) and a fling with Broadway (the company he's bought into, Livent, is currently in bankruptcy). Now the mere sight of him creates a gossip storm. The night CAA issued its ultimatum, Ovitz dined at Spago with big-bucks actor-rapper Will Smith--a CAA client. It was purely social; Smith is a spokesman for a charity Ovitz favors, and besides, he's had the same manager for 15 years. But in this climate, no one knows what Ovitz is up to next. It's hard not to wonder: is he just beating his old team at the game he taught them? Clients who have been forced to choose, like Scorsese and Pollack, are choosing Ovitz. And as much as Ovitz's old enemies want to stand against him, their business sense gets in the way. ""Why would we line up with CAA?'' said the head of a rival agency. ""We could get Marty Scorsese out of this.'' The CAA camp wants to take the moral high ground, but it seems to be slipping up on one important point. As ruthless as Ovitz may be, who feels sorry for agents?
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines