Agencies Go Hollywood, and Beyond
As digital distribution spurs growth in studios and production companies, agencies have had to follow suit.
Hollywood has been in the midst of shifts for years, long before the pandemic hit. But as has been the case with a number of industries, COVID has been a catalyst for change. Studios and streamers, entities that had already started to merge, (see: Amazon Studios, Netflix Originals, Disney +), have gained more power from the captive audience of people stuck at home.
In a recent interview for Bloomberg, United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer positioned what the shifting landscape means from the business side, particularly for agents, whose position has expanded as the definition of Hollywood as a whole has grown. “The role of an agent today, which is more complex than 20 or 30 years ago,” says Zimmer, “is to sit at the intersection of various media streams and help guide clients to make decisions that will be the best for them as artists and as business people — to manage their careers.”
In the past few decades, the definition of celebrity has expanded to include podcasters, politicians, models, chefs, YouTubers, fashion designers, lifestyle gurus. The lifecycle of book (or podcast) to movie or TV show has sped up, and IP doesn’t stay unclaimed for long. Take, for example, Netflix’s “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” or “Get Organized With the Home Edit,” programs that emerged from a book and a business-turned-Instagram account, respectively. These trajectories are not unlike that of, say, Martha Stewart, whose first success was a bestselling cookbook, published in the early 80s. But consider that it would be almost a decade later until Stewart expanded into other media, first with a magazine, then with a TV show. The speed at which talent is expected to diversify today is much, much faster.
Talent themselves, whose stake in projects has become more limited as studios have grown more powerful, have found ways to leverage their influence. In recent years, actors have increasingly moved into directing and producing — a trend that’s especially pronounced among women. Production companies founded in the past five years include Margot Robbie’s Lucky Chap, Regina King’s Royal Ties, Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Elizabeth Banks’ Brownstone Productions, Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street, and Eva Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. Some, too, like Jessica Alba (whose Honest Company is valued at $1 billion) have sought richer opportunities outside the realm of the screen.
The opportunities for individuals to capitalize on their brand, however loosely that’s defined, have grown exponentially. Thanks to digital distribution, studios and production companies have gotten bigger, and agencies have had to follow suit. For many, that’s meant expanding into content, a combination of church and state that’s long been restricted in the industry.
WME’s Endeavor Content is perhaps the most visible example of this, though UTA and CAA also have production arms. In a 1962 antitrust case, the U.S. Department of Justice forced representation heavy-hitter MCA to get rid of its agency business in order to acquire Universal Studios. But by then, MCA had already been in the production business for decades. CEO Lew Wasserman was an early adopter of television and had the foresight to convince SAG (helmed by Ronald Reagan) to waive a bylaw forbidding talent agencies from producing TV programs.
It remains to be seen what entertainment entity will catch regulators’ eyes over the next few years. Companies like Amazon own the means of production and distribution. For now, talent seems to be off the table.
