Creative Artists Agency | Principles & Practices

Creative Artists Agency

2000 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Richard Lovett, President
Kevin Huvane, Managing Partner
Steve Lafferty, Managing Partner, Head of Television
Rob Light, Managing Partner and Head of Music
Bryan Lourd, Managing Partner
David O’Connor, Managing Partner
Michael Rubel, Managing Partner

Creative Artists Agency is a worldwide entertainment and sports talent agency located in Los Angeles, California. Commonly referred to as CAA the agency also has offices in New York, Nashville, London, Beijing, Chicago, St. Louis and Stockholm. The company has over 1200 employees worldwide and boasts one of the most expansive client lists in Hollywood.^[1]

A Brief History

Five recently fired William Morris Agents, Mike Rosenfeld, Michael Ovitz, Ron Meyer, William Haber and Rowland Perkins started the company in 1975 because they were not happy with how William Morris ran their agency.^[2] Within a year the company was up and running already selling package deals to various cable networks and by 1980, CAA was already considered the third largest talent agency in Hollywood.^[2]As the years went on, CAA continued to grow, amassing one of the best client lists in Hollywood that included A-list actors, directors, writers, studios, musicians, comedians and major corporations like Coca-Cola. In 2006, CAA again expanded into sports, signing some of the biggest athletes and quickly became a complete full service literacy and talent agency.^[3]Today, CAA is considered to be the dominant full-service agency.

Cara Lewis

Creative Artists Agency started out 2012 by bringing in one of the biggest names in urban music representation. Cara Lewis, who spent 23 years as the top agent in urban music at William Morris Endeavors left after her contract was up and the two parties could not reach an agreement on a new one.^[4]Lewis, who represents such artists as Eminem, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Rihanna, B.o.B, Common, The Roots, Kid CuDi and many others will work mainly out CAA’s New York office. Lewis, who was Billboards 14^th most influential women in music, joins forces with Rob Light, who is the head of music at CAA and Billboard’s 4^th most powerful man in music.^{[5] [4]} CAA now has the pleasure of employing two of the music industry’s most respected agents and hopes that the duo will continue to bring in new talent while still broking deals with its already vast client list. It is currently unknown which of Lewis’ artists will follow her to CAA.

AXS TV

In late January, CAA announced a joint venture with Ryan Seacrest, A.E.G. Live and HDNet to rebrand the HDNet channel as AXS TV.^[6] Although the financial details of the new deal are being withheld, it is known that Ryan Seacrest Media will hold an ownership stake in AXS TV and it’s Production Company, Ryan Seacrest Productions will help develop and produce new content for the channel.^[7] The partnership with AEG will gives it access to over the 100 of the top venues worldwide including The Staples Center and Nokia Theater L.A. Live in Los Angeles, and The 02 Arena in London. President & CEO of AEG, Timothy J. Leiweke had this to say about the new partnership. “The live business continues to grow and expand and the ability to give fans the opportunity to experience live in a different way is something we have been looking for a way to do for years.”^[6] AXS TV will bring behind the scenes content to concerts, festivals, movie premieres, award shows and other pop culture events as well as in-depth interviews. Besides representing Ryan Seacrest, CAA will bring its extensive expertise and relationships in entertainment to make deals and create content for the network while also providing strategies in corporate development, marketing, technology, brand integration and sponsorships. David O’Connor, who is one of the managing partners at CAA said “We have worked closely with AEG and Ryan Seacrest to conceptualize a new network that could benefit from our combined resources and create a new distribution opportunity for artsts and content creators and their high-quality entertainment and lifestyle programming.”^[6]

CAA’s First Chief Financial Officer

CAA announced in February that Jeff Berry will come in as it’s new Chief Financial Officer.^[8] In his new position, which previously didn’t exist, Berry will oversee the company’s finances and accounts and play a strong role in the company’s strategic planning. “Jeff’s depth and breadth of financial experience will be invaluable to us as we continue to grow. In addition to his business intellect, Jeff’s collaborative nature is a great cultural fit with CAA and we are thrilled to have him join us,” said Michael Rubel, a Managing Partner at CAA.^[8] Berry brings 20 years of experience in corporate finance and previously held the position of CFO at a cosmetics company called Physicians Formula Holdings.^[8]

The Shadow Grows Bigger

CAA continues to grow in 2012 by dedicating a new division to tech start-ups and more specifically, mobile apps and games. Moonshark is one of the new companies created in the offices of CAA by Michael Yanover, CAA’s head of business development.^[9] Yanover’s start at CAA began with a small online company called WhoSay, which allowed celebrities to upload their own pictures and video clips to the site for use on Twitter, Facebook and other various online outlets. He then created Moonshark in association with Qualcomm Communications to focus on apps for celebrities on mobile phones and tablets.^[9] Yanover brought in Matt Kozlov as CEO of the new start-up and it is important to note that CAA plays more of the rule of incubator rather then investor. “”This is certainly not your typical start-up environment,” Kozlov says. “We have lovely marble and wooden desks and one of the nicest office spaces I’ve ever been in. And we have incredible access to celebrities.”^[9] Yanover hopes that Moonshark will follow suit like his previous company and eventually move on from CAA in terms of a sale or IPO. Other various internet properties owned by CAA include WePlay, a youth sports scheduling site target towards parents and empowered.com. It us unknown what percentage of ownership CAA takes in these start-ups.^[9]

2012 NFL Draft

Starting on April 27, the NFL held it’s annual collegiate draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The NFL draft is now a three-day affair with Round 1 on Thursday, rounds 2 and 3 on Friday, and rounds 4-7 on Saturday. CAA saw seven of their clients taken in the first round of this years draft, including the second overall pick, Robert Griffin III from Baylor University.^[10] It also represented RB Trent Richardson from Alabama, the third overall pick and OT Matt Kalil from USC, the fourth overall pick.^[10] Keeping up with its reputation of only representing the most talented athletes around the world, CAA only had two clients selected outside the first round, QB Brock Osweiler from Arizona State, selected number 57 overall and Kicker Greg Zuerlein from Missouri Western selected number 171 overall. It represented the 7^th most talent in this years draft and the most in the first round.^[10]

Sources: