Creative Artists Agency

Creative Artists Agency

Type	Private
Founded	Beverly Hills, California, USA (1975)
Headquarters	Century City, Los Angeles, California (USA)
Key people	Richard Lovett, President Kevin Huvane, Managing Partner Steve Lafferty, Managing Partner, Head of Television Rob Light, Managing Partner and Head of Music Bryan Lourd, Managing Partner David O'Connor, Managing Partner Michael Rubel, Managing Partner Talent and Literary Agencies
Website	http://www.caa.com

New CAA building in Century City, California

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is a prominent entertainment and sports agency headquartered in Los Angeles. CAA represents A-list and emerging stars in movies, television, music, and sports. It is often cited as the world's leading talent agency^[1] and its clients include George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Lebron James, Sandra Bullock, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, Will Smith, Novak Djokovic, and Reese Witherspoon.

The company was incorporated in Delaware.^[2]

History

CAA agents employed by the William Morris Agency — Mike Rosenfeld, Michael Ovitz, Ron Meyer, William Haber and Rowland Perkins — met over dinner one night in 1975^[3] after they discovered that they all had the same idea in mind: creating an agency of their own. Before they could obtain adequate financing for their new venture, they were fired.^[4]

By early 1975, Creative Artists Agency was in business, with a $35 line of credit and a $21,000 bank loan, in a small Century City, rented office outfitted with card tables and folding chairs. The five agents had only two cars among them, and their wives took turns as agency receptionist. Within about a week, according to one industry insider, they had sold their first three packages, a game show called 'Rhyme and Reason', the 'Rich Little Show' and the 'Jackson Five Show'.^[5]

At first, CAA's founders planned to form a medium-sized, full-service agency — one that was as unlike Morris as possible in approach and feel.^{[citation needed]} Ovitz, who shortly assumed de facto leadership of the agency, described the company's corporate culture as a blend of Eastern philosophy and team sports. 'I liken myself to the guy running down the court with four other players and throwing the ball to the open guy,'^{[citation needed]} he once said. Their partnership was based on teamwork with proceeds shared equally. There were no nameplates on doors, no formal titles, no individual agent client lists. Practices followed the company's two 'commandments': Be a team player and return phone calls promptly. There was an endless stream of meetings and talk. Because of this, others sometimes referred to CAA agents as the "Moonies" of the business according to the authors of Hit and Run,^[6] the best-selling Hollywood insider account by Griffin and Masters.

In the late 1980s, CAA's growing success enabled it to commission I.M. Pei to design a new headquarters building at the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards in Beverly Hills. Like most of Pei's work, the 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m²), three story building is a series of geometric forms: consisting of two curved wings, one mainly of glass and one mainly of masonry, set around a central atrium with a skylight that rises to become a low, conical glass tower.^[7] The vast 57-foot (17 m) high atrium was designed as an art-filled formal reception hall with a 100-seat screening room and gourmet kitchen and displays a 27-foot (8.2 m) by 18-foot (5.5 m) mural by Roy Lichtenstein, "Bauhaus Stairway: The Large Version". The mural was created specifically for the building and is too large to move.^[8] Ovitz was enamored of Asian culture, and incorporated feng shui design practices to allow chi, or positive energy, to flow smoothly through the building.^[9]

Ovitz still owns the building along with three of his former CAA colleagues — Universal Studios President Ron Meyer, producer Bill Haber and former Chief Financial Officer Robert Goldman.^[9]

New management

The current management team headed by Richard Lovett devised a four-point strategy in 1995 to keep competitors at bay during its transitional year: Make sure the 100-plus agents remain committed to the new CAA; re-sign longtime clients whose primary relationship was with Ovitz or Meyer; sign up new clients; and put together new movies.^{[citation needed]}

Ovitz, Meyer, and Haber's departure led inevitably to an exodus of some of CAA's top-marquee names. In addition, there was some internal turmoil with respect to management. Talent Agent Jay Moloney was originally part of the transition team. However, due to his increasingly serious drug addiction, he was fired and later committed suicide.^[10]

Expansion

With its stable full of actors and about $90 million in annual bookings in the late 1980s,^[4] the agency, led by Ovitz, decided to get into movies.

By the mid-1990s, CAA had 550 employees, about 1400 of Hollywood's top talent, and $150 million in revenue.^[11] The company divided its agents into two camps: traditional agents, who oversaw the careers of CAA's 1,000 stars, and specialists, whose expertise in investment banking, consulting, and advertising made CAA into a one-stop shop for digital media. When Ron Meyer and Michael Ovitz left in 1995 for MCA and Disney respectively, the entertainment community watched to see if CAA would fall from the top.

In 2006, CAA began its expansion into sports. Athletes such as Sidney Crosby, LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo and many agents from IMG have joined CAA.^[12] USA Today said, "In little more than one rim-rattling year, Creative Artists Agency--longtime superpower of actors, directors, writers, musicians and entertainment/corporate deal-making--has built CAA Sports from concept to colossus."^[13]

In January 2007, returning to their birthplace, Century City, CAA moved to a new building in Century City, a district in Los Angeles. The new headquarters are sometimes referred to by those outside of CAA as "The Death Star".^[14] The new building is even featured in the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

In March 2009 Fast Company named CAA among the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World, alongside Apple, Google and others, noting that "in Hollywood, there's CAA and then there's everybody else."^[15] Fortune named CAA "the entertainment industry's most influential organization."^[16]

In October, 2010, CAA created a strategic partnership with global private investment firm TPG Capital. TPG invested an undisclosed sum for a non-controlling 35% interest in the agency. The companies also created a $500 million pledge fund for investments. ."^[17]

The transaction made fresh capital available to CAA to make acquisitions and expand its business, especially in burgeoning areas like sports and its overseas operations.^[18]

CAA has offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Nashville, London, Beijing, St. Louis, Calgary and Stockholm.

Notable clients

Main article: List of Creative Artists Agency clients

CAA's position in the industry is best understood by the number of "A-List" clients they service across Film, Music, Television and Sports.

References

1. ^ William Morris and Endeavor set to form new talent agency powerhouse
2. ^ Delaware Division of Corporations manual search required
3. ^ Michael S. Rosenfeld's obituary Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2010; page AA6.
4. ^ ^{a b} Cieply, Michael (July 2, 1989), "Inside the Agency - How Hollywood works: Creative Artists Agency and the men who run it", Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-02/entertainment/ca-4858_1_creative-artists-agency 
5. ^ Ovitz, Michaeal - U.S. Media Executive, http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/O/htmlO/ovitzmichae/ovitzmichael.htm 
6. ^ Griffin N, Masters K (1996) Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood. (Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-83266-6)
7. ^ Goldberger, Paul (December 17, 1989), "Architecture View; Refined Modernism Makes A Splash In The Land Of Glitz", New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DE143CF934A25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "Creative Artists Agency". Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners website. http://www.pcf-p.com/a/p/8617/s.html. Retrieved 2008-06-05. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Hoffman, Claire (May 30, 2006), "Temple of Talent Casts for a Tenant" (PDF), Los Angeles Times, http://www.madisonpartners.net/press/MP%20LA%20Times%20Temple%20of%20Talent%20Casts%20for%20a%20Tenant%20Reprint.pdf 
10. ^ Brown, Corrie (November 29, 1999), "The Last Days of Jay Moloney", Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/id/90378 
11. ^ Diamond, Michael (2008), Corporations: A Contemporary Approach, Carolina Academic Press 
12. ^ CAA Sports and International Soccer Agency Gestifute Create Global Partnership to Represent Top Talent
13. ^ Top Athletes Follow Celebs in Picking A-List Agents
14. ^ Evil Architectural Digest: 'W' Magazine Given Exclusive Photo-Tour Of The CAA Death Star
15. ^ The Fast Company 50
16. ^ CAA: A Hollywood Agency with Star Power
17. ^ TPG Capital buys stake in CAA
18. ^ Schuker, Lauren A. E. (October 4, 2010). "Hollywood's CAA Sells Stake to TPG". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859204575526602832404546.html. 

A History of CAA and Coke. By: Hein, Kenneth, Benezra, Karen, Brandweek, 10644318, 1/16/2006, Vol. 47, Issue 3.

External links

• CAA Touring Website
• CAA Speakers Website
• CAA Entertainment Website
• CAA Sports Website
• CAA College Entertainment Website
• IMDBPro information
• CAA Super Size Me
• Slideshow: CAA's Innovation Machine
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