In 1898, a boyish German Jewish immigrant with a nose for talent put up a trademark on his door consisting of a W superimposed over a M, creating four consecutive Xs, and opened shop on his new venture as "William Morris, Vaudeville Agent." 20 years later, the William Morris Agency would incorporate, and proceed to dominate not just the vaudeville circuit, but every new and emerging form of entertainment. It wasn't long before they established a presence in early Hollywood, where they counted Al Jolson, the Marx Brothers, Mae West and Charlie Chaplin among their clients.
In 1995, four L.A.-based agents quit ICM in the dead of night and set up shop in an office on top of an Islands Burgers in Beverly Hills. The following year, they added three CAA agents to their partnership, and moved into a Wilshire highrise. 14 years later, they'd be one of the most dominant talent and literary agencies in the world.
Tuesday, the two shall officially meld into the new WME, posing a direct threat to the Hollywood's other planet-sized super-agency, CAA. Smaller celestial bodies, meanwhile -- from moon-sized management like ICM and UTA down to ice-encrusted cosmo-blips like Gersh, Paradigm, and APA -- won't necessarily be sucked into an above-the-line supply-and-demand black hole. As UTA co-owner Jeremy Zimmer explained recently, "If you have to get 100 people a job, you might not kill as hard. Every deal doesn't count as much, and CAA is having a hard time getting people jobs."
Dozens of WMA agents have already been let go. Some have already found new homes elsewhere, others will have to quickly adapt or perish, jumping out at vehicles at freeway exits to offer window-squeegeeing services in exchange for Associate Producer credits. A similar, but different, bloodbath, is expected in the weeks to come: dead-weight clients will be cut loose, left to float for decades in IMDb limbo as only the money-earners will remain.
The festivities kick off Monday, with a party at co-CEO Ari Emanuel's house. The next day, the Regent Beverly Wilshire will host a day-long series of events. The hotel is conveniently located right next door to the WMA headquarters that will partially house the outfit until they make a move to new offices on Beverly Drive sometime towards the end of 2010.
The other bunk-assignments are as follows:
· Film and TV agents from the WMA side will relocate to Endeavor's Wilshire Boulevard offices.
· Agents from WMA's music and commercials wing and administrative/backoffice staffers will be consolidated at WMA's El Camino Drive buildings.
· WMA chief exec Jim Wiatt takes an emeritus role at WME, but will keep an office at WMA through January.
· William Morris Independent vets Cassian Elwes and Rena Ronson exited the company and Endeavor's Graham Taylor will run the merged operation.
· The fate of WMA's offices in Shanghai and Miami Beach (where they oversee several Latin music stars) still up in the air.
· Same as with WMA's sports division, which handles marketing and endorsement deals for athletes including Kevin Garnett, Alex Rodriguez, Serena Williams and Dwayne Wade.
· WME will debut Tuesday [Variety]