Word: icm
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Maybe none of the above, and certainly ICM's Berg is a little disingenuous in his outrage. There is some truth to CAA's contention that if it helps keep a major studio alive, that will ultimately accrue to the benefit of everyone working in Hollywood. But when Berg went to the press, Ovitz was stung. Since both men are people of such consequence, their fearful peers are careful not to take sides, even anonymously. "It was a bold move on Mike's part," says the currently successful head of a studio, "and a logical move on Jeff's part...
...like him," says one studio lieutenant, unnecessarily withholding his identity, "because he is honest, straightforward and reliable." CAA is a disciplined, very closely managed organization -- some would say oppressively so. CAA agents must collaborate on projects and share information for the good of the clients and the agency; at ICM it tends to be every agent for himself. Ovitz is a devotee of the ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, whose Art of War, in addition to emphasizing the use of elite shock troops, extreme flexibility and deception, says that a general must nurture loyalty. "CAA has been there 18 years...
...fear of Ovitz and CAA in Hollywood is intense and practically universal, though perhaps not wholly warranted. The hot screenwriter Joe Eszterhas says Ovitz threatened to ruin him when he switched to ICM 3 1/2 years ago, but his writing fees have kept climbing. CAA client Michael Douglas appeared in his Basic Instinct, and CAA tried to get its clients cast in Eszterhas' forthcoming Sliver. In late 1991 Wall Street Journal reporter Richard Turner co-wrote a devastating article about Ovitz's overenthusiastic involvement in a penny-ante company pushing QSound, an unsuccessful audio technology. Ovitz apparently sputtered...
...rivals, particularly the folks at ICM, are doing their best to stoke these fears. Says Bill Block, a cocksure young agent at ICM: "This deal? It's like the Oliver North thing -- the full implications weren't brought out." Certainly, sour grapes and not simply righteous indignation plays some role: two years ago, ICM hired one of the Credit Lyonnais officials who was in charge of many of the bank's movie-industry loans during the go-go '80s, and it also happens to be making forays of its own in the ad game...
...ICM is energetically spreading the idea that Ovitz isn't minding the store. Says Block about CAA's extracurricular businesses: "Smart clients question what's the value-added service when senior agents are busy with outside deals, and they get shunted to junior agents." His boss Jeff Berg echoes that point: "My core business is managing the careers of talented people." This may be the major risk in Ovitz's expansive strategy; CAA clients could start to feel neglected and then restless, even if their fears were unjustified...