Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency

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We cast the company like you would cast a movie.

Ovitz was brains and science; Meyer was heart and culture.

anyplace, anytime. We also assured them we would find them

By forgoing a standard salary and taking profit participation instead, Stewart paved the way for actors, directors, producers, and writers to leverage their celebrity at the negotiating table. Similarly, Wasserman cofounded independent production companies for such luminaries as Jack Benny, Alfred Hitchcock, Errol Flynn, and dozens of other MCA cli

This started small, but we never stopped, and in the years to come, we wound up representing almost every major executive in the business. We never asked or received financial favors from them, but we certainly got our calls returned.

He didn’t take sides; he just cared deeply for the place.

I really didn’t have an agent until Michael; I just had a lawyer, Bert Fields.

Our pitch—which was totally honest—was that we were going to be available for our clients seven days a week—anyplace,