Latest in Hollywood agencies

Endeavor Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel dismissed the pending acquisition of ICM Partners by CAA as “the type of merger we did 10 years ago.” During an appearance at an online conference hosted by investment bank UBS, Emanuel said his company competes with CAA primarily in film, TV and music. “When we saw where the…

Music City just saw a big shift over to the WME offices as Buddy Lee Attractions lost a president and Ari and Patrick's entertainment and media company gained a partner in Kevin Neal. The music industry vet will not be making the move alone as Neal is bring clients Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Colt Ford and…

Yet another Halloween-themed video, this time from the WME Motion Picture Department. It’s called ‘The Pitching Hour’ and I spent 5:47 minutes of my vacation watching it. I want that time back.

Lame or laugh-worthy from WME? You decide…

CAA will only confirm that “he’s no longer an employee with the company” though sources say he was fired today. Sources close to talent agent Darren Statt tell Deadline: “Just a hard hit that was unexpected. He is a hard working agent and by all accounts he meshed well over there. He has learned from his mistakes…

WME Co-CEO Patrick Whitesell is interviewed at the 2013 Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen. He didn’t expect to be grilled on his own: Egon Durban, the agency’s partner in Silver Lake Management was a no-show because of the Dell buyout. Listen to Patrick answer the question, “What’s it like working with Ari…

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Disney/Pixar contributor John Kahrs directed the brilliant and touching black-and-white Paperman which won this year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Short and played in theaters before Wreck–It Ralph. Major agencies were in hot pursuit because toons are such major profit centers right now…

No clue if this is the start of a revenge campaign or a bit of photoshopping. But one of Deadline’s comments did suggest on June 11th that “bloWME also works” so that may have been the genesis of the idea. Now Dan Mirvish (co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival) has put up this photo of a purported LA bench ad on…

EXCLUSIVE UPDATE 10:30 AM: WME officially tell me that it has just canceled plans for its Phase Two attack on CAA. “We’re shutting it down. It’s not worth it. The fun we had is done,” the agency said. “It’s not worth it.” Phase Two was going to mock CAA’s lavish headquarters and company culture. WME also clarified…

4TH UPDATE 5:30 PM …Refresh for latest:  More photos: EXCLUSIVE… 3RD UPDATE 2:10 PM: Nikki Finke just learned that WME was responsible for today’s “CAAN’T” ad attack against rival CAA. The William Morris Endeavor agency will not comment publicly. But an insider just broke silence and told Finke: “We thought it was…

UPDATE 7:50 PM: I’ve  just been given this exclusive statement from Paul Bloch at Rogers & Cowan: "After a 30-year association with Creative Artists Agency, Robert Zemeckis has decided to take a hiatus with the firm and step back for the time being. Mr. Zemeckis is very appreciative of the work they have accomplished…

EXCLUSIVE… UPDATE: Rachel McAdams and her Magnolia Entertainment manager Shelley Browning today fired UTA after a seven-year stint together. Browning met with Tracey Jacobs and other members of Rachel McAdams’ agency team this afternoon. Howard Fishman remains her attorney. I hear CAA’s Dave Buligari is chasing “very…