Hello, I'm Matt Belloni.
Welcome to a special Wednesday issue of What I’m Hearing… (I’m traveling tomorrow). This email is part of Puck, our new journalist-owned media company focusing on the power centers of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Washington, and Wall Street.
If this email was forwarded to you, or if you've yet to subscribe, you'll need to sign up here for a membership. (Yes, we have group subscriptions, so your entire company can get my emails for one price, just email fritz@puck.news for details.) In the meantime, please enjoy a preview of my breakdown of the CAA-ICM “megamerger,” what it is, what it isn’t, and what it all means, followed by my in-depth conversation with James Andrew Miller, agency expert and author of the CAA oral history Powerhouse…
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The Big 4 agencies are becoming the Big 3! A “landmark” deal! Bryan Lourd’s declaring war on Ari Emanuel! It’s hard to look at the reactions to Monday’s news that Creative Artists Agency is acquiring rival ICM Partners and not feel like everyone in Hollywood has become a bit hyperbolic.
Sure, the former world’s largest talent representation company, which had been stripped of that title by Emanuel’s William Morris Endeavor and its M&A-first strategy, is adding some top agents and star clients, and expanding its presence in the book world and international soccer, thus reclaiming its title as the world’s largest talent representation company. And after years of watching WME pull off the IMG merger, snatch UFC away from other suitors, morph into Endeavor, and take the whole thing public this spring, CAA’s Lourd, Richard Lovett and Kevin Huvane now have something shiny and new to talk about. The rest of Hollywood is consolidating and bulking up in the face of domination by tech companies—and so, they can say, is CAA. Disney’s Bob Chapek won’t return Lourd’s phone calls? Well now, in addition to a lawsuit over Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow pay, Chapek will have to deal with CAA on Samuel L. Jackson’s next Avengers deal. Michael Ovitz would be proud.
But let’s not pretend the ICM deal is a huge coup. If we’re honest, that “Big 4” designation hasn’t really been accurate for a long time. ICM was a full-service agency, in the sense that a high-earning client like Ellen DeGeneres or Regina King or Chris Rock could expect to benefit from agents across film, TV, books, branding, digital, touring, and even some sports. But despite grouping itself with its much larger rivals and slapping its name on a Century City high-rise (replacing MGM, ironically, another casualty of the Great Consolidation), it’s been awhile since ICM approached the breadth and volume of the deal activity at CAA, WME or UTA ... FOUR STORIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A conversation with CAA expert James Andrew Miller, about the place of agencies in Hollywood, and what the future holds for its rivals in a quickly changing talent landscape. MATTHEW BELLONI At 78, Woodward has become the ultimate Washington monument: a subject of public adulation and private eye-rolling, essentially making him no different from the public figures he covers. JULIA IOFFE An unexpected turn in the spotlight underscores a fundamental truth about one of Silicon Valley’s prolific investors. It can feel like everyone knows Powell Jobs, and no one really knows her at all. TEDDY SCHLEIFER Bankers know that the combination of the highest stock prices and lowest bond yields in recorded history is not sustainable. A massive correction is coming. WILLIAM D. COHAN |