Hollywood's Coming Culture Clash

On the other hand, William Morris has a booming music division that reps such stars as Amy Winehouse and Rihanna, which Endeavor lacks. Its also has a vaunted literary division. A competitor says Endeavor, which relies heavily on its film and television business, got hammered when business slowed during the writers’ strike. Since then, he says, “Ari’s been desperate to diversify so he never finds himself in that position again.”

To this end, says one well-placed observer, Emanuel has been all but stampeding William Morris into the deal by making it seem inevitable. He suspects that Emanuel has been widely leaking news of the talks while they were still in a gestation stage. More recently, the source claims, Emanuel has repeatedly called William Morris clients to say, “I’m looking forward to working together,” even though the merger has not yet been approved. (Both Emanuel and Endeavor declined to comment on any aspect of this article.)

Endeavor insiders have other reasons to oppose the deal. Emanuel is such an outsized personality that another competitor says leading agents within his own shop are already nervous that he’s identified as the face of Endeavor. Emanuel has made news by publicly calling for Hollywood to boycott Mel Gibson because of his anti-Semitic slurs. In 2007, he championed then-HBO executive Chris Albrecht after he was busted for assaulting his girlfriend.

Emanuel would be expected to blow into William Morris like a gale-force wind. And some members of the William Morris board would be risking their futures if they vote for the merger. “How good does that feel—to vote yourself out of a job?” asks a competitor.

What really has rivals drooling is the idea of the fratricidal battle that will ensue if the deal gets done. Many agents are expected to lose their jobs at once. And one competitor predicts that the resulting agency would be “ungovernable,” adding, “If it happens, it’s great. It’s just going to be chaos.”

“Ari’s going to lead the charge up Pork Chop Hill toward CAA, and I don’t know that his troops will all be marching in the same direction,” said another leading agent.

Indeed, there will be lots of clients and agents and turf to poach or protect if this deal goes through. And one competitor says his agency will try to do some cherry-picking. It’s clear what line of attack will be used on the talent: Who wants an agent distracted by infighting at the office? “Clients want to be completely looked after, especially in this market, which is contracting,” says a source at one of the big agencies not involved in the discussion. “So for two agencies to merge and for agents to spend a lot of time dealing with agency stuff creates opportunities.”

Jeremy Zimmer, a top agent at United Talent Agency, says he believes his shop could benefit from a fight that would pit CAA against the product of a merger in a battle for dominance. “If they're bashing each other, we become the clear alternative,” he observes, noting archly that the last huge merger in the entertainment world that he can remember was between Time Warner and AOL.

And look how well that turned out.

Kim Masters is the host of The Business, public radio's weekly show about the business of show business. She is also the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else.