By ROBERT GOLDRICH
THERES BEEN QUITE A BUZZ recently over the past, present and future of entertainment talent representation, with some of the conversation tangentially but meaningfully linked to the spotmaking business.
The present is embodied in the imbroglio between Michael Ovitz and Creative Artists Agency. The battle escalated when former CAA chieftain Ovitz, now head of the month-old Artists Management Group, wrested plum client Robin Williams away from CAA. In response, CAA declared that it would not serve as agent for any artist who enlisted Artists Management Group for talent management.
Some contend that Ovitz, the agent turned talent manager, has crossed the line of acceptable behavior by poaching from colleagues who once emulated and revered him. Others see twisted irony in CAA crying foul; after all, the talent agencys know-all-the-angles, street-smart business practices helped it achieve dominant status in dog-eat-dog Hollywood.
Meanwhile, adland is quietly waiting to see if Ovitz might again eye the spot arena. It was Ovitz who initiated CAAs foray into the commercial business; you may recall that the talent agency generated concepts (some packaged with CAA director clients) for Coca-Cola, beginning with a host of spots that debuted back in 1993. Now theres preliminary conjecture that Artists Management Group could eventually become involved in the ad game.
That future prospect isnt the only one in a hazy crystal ball. Theres been talk of rewriting 1930s regulations that govern talent agents and managers. Currently, talent managers are permitted to advise their clients on career decisions, but under California law and agreements with major Hollywood unions, only licensed agents can procure an actor employment in movies and television. Talent agents and managers frequently work together. But many agents, who earn a 10% commission, have contended for years that unlicensed talent managers, who earn 15%, are encroaching on their turf. State Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) reportedly plans to draft a bill that would subject talent managers to the same regulations as talent agents.
Meanwhile, a look back at talent representationapartly chronicled in The Last Mogul, the expose authored by Dennis McDougal on former MCA power broker Lew Wassermanais also generating industry chatter. MCA was originally a talent agency, wielding a powerhouse client roster. Mentions of Ovitz are sprinkled throughout the book, including one that cites his admiration and envy of Wasserman.
In casual banter over the past month, Ive run across a number of commercial execs whove been reading the book, including Michael Romersa, head of the Stoney Road family of spot production houses. I had just begun The Last Mogul so Romersa was several chapters ahead of me when he mentioned an excerpt about Jack Benny, a performer whom MCA originally snubbed. But when Bennyawith the help of the little known Lyons Agencyarose to radio stardom, MCA came a-calling.
MCA lured Benny away from Lyons, embracing a philosophy that, according to McDougal, was articulated by Wasserman on numerous occasions: Let some other jerk build them. Well buy them.
Romersa said that when he read that line, he laughed because it represented the underlying philosophy of so many spot production houses when it comes to director procurement. A company breaks in a director, nurtures his or her talent and reputation, takes losses on initial jobs to build a reel only to have the rug taken out from under it by a friendly competitor just at the juncture that the director was positioned to generate serious revenue. And true to the do-unto-others credo, the house that was victimized can turn around and use the same means to secure a director from another company.
Wasserman, now 85, may have been the last all-powerful entertainment mogul. But the machinations of Ovitz and CAAaand the parallels to the frenetic commercial production house bizasuggest that there are still plenty of apprentice moguls to go around.
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More