Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency

We cast the company like you would cast a movie.

anyplace, anytime. We also assured them we would find them

Even though Mike and Ron wanted the final say on most things, my dad really spent the bulk of his time building the infrastructure of the agency.

We always had a very low attrition rate.

By forgoing a standard salary and taking profit participation instead, Stewart paved the way for actors, directors, producers, and writers to leverage their celebrity at the negotiating table. Similarly, Wasserman cofounded independent production companies for such luminaries as Jack Benny, Alfred Hitchcock, Errol Flynn, and dozens of other MCA cli

That said, however, there’s no better platform for success than wanting to avenge someone’s death, right?

In any business on earth—I always say to people—nobody will ever leave you for money, and nobody will ever leave you over titles. People will only leave if they have no loyalty to you.

This started small, but we never stopped, and in the years to come, we wound up representing almost every major executive in the business. We never asked or received financial favors from them, but we certainly got our calls returned.

I’m not a writer and I’m not a painter, but I love artists, and I am blown away by how creative people come up