Told He Would Never Sign Movie Stars, He Mailed Rivals Proof for 10 Years
Michael Ovitz was told he could not compete with almost 200 agencies, so he made his wins impossible to ignore.
David Senra · Founder of CAA Michael Ovitz: "I Just Knew I Was Going to Outwork Every One of Them"Michael Ovitz was sitting over coffee in 1974 with a close friend he had worked with at William Morris. Ovitz had just told him he was starting his own agency. The friend answered, "So good that you're starting this business. In a year you'll be looking for a job."
Ovitz asked what made him think that. The friend said, "Oh, you're going to fail." There were almost 200 agencies out there, he said: "You're not going to compete with the big ones."
Within six months came a second dismissal. Ovitz met with the four partners who ran a leading agency for television writers to discuss merging. The writers were what his new firm needed, because writers are the source of packaging, meaning the bundles of talent sold to studios. In that meeting, the partners said he would never represent any movie stars.
Ovitz, who would go on to found the talent agency CAA, asked why. They told him he would never get them. Ovitz replied, "we're going to have all of them." When one of them called him arrogant, Ovitz said, "I'm not arrogant at all, actually. I just know I'm going to outwork every one of them."
Each time CAA added a film star, at a pace of about one a week, the agency bought a full red page in Variety on Friday. At the time there were no computers, and Ovitz noted that people actually read the paper. Each time an ad ran, Ovitz tore it out, put it in an envelope, and mailed it himself to those four partners. He kept doing that for a decade.
He still talks about that coffee as motivation. Ovitz said his friend's prediction became a "fantastic stimulant" for him, one he has not forgotten since the day he heard it.
On competition, Ovitz said he loves it, and monopoly even more: "There's no room for competition."
Questions people ask
What is CAA?
CAA is a talent agency that represents actors, directors, writers, musicians, and athletes, and negotiates their deals with studios and other employers. Ovitz co-founded it in 1975 after leaving William Morris, and it grew into one of Hollywood's most powerful agencies.
What is Variety and why did an ad there matter?
Variety is a trade publication covering the entertainment business, with news on deals, box office, ratings, and personnel moves. In the 1970s and 1980s, its print edition was essential daily reading in Hollywood, and a full-page ad was a loud public signal.
Did Ovitz really end up representing all the movie stars?
No, but CAA came unusually close during its peak. At one point the agency represented a large share of Hollywood's top actors and filmmakers, which gave it leverage to package stars, scripts, and directors together for studios.