Shogun languished at William Morris for 3 years, but CAA got it made
It was only possible because Roots had been a huge hit as a mini-series. It aired for 12 hours over 8 nights.
Our corporate culture was American team sports boosterism mixed with Spartan military tactics mixed with Asian philosophy, all overlaid by communitarian spirit of the Three Musketeers.
Say you were a promising screenwriter and I met you at a dinner at Morton’s. I’d call you the next day for a quick chat—not about wanting to represent you, but above the virtues of your work (which three of our literary agents would have briefed me on). I’d casually toss in the names of a few well-known actors and directors who’d be a perfect fit with your sensibility. 99% of the time, you’d want to talk more.
He suggested agents have a reading list: one national newspaper, one international news magazine, and one special interest magazine. Michael had 200 magazines and would skim them while on the phone.
All studios could lose on a bomb was a lot of money, but we could lose a group of top clients.
Their rule of thumb was two commercial films for every non-commercial one.
I often sent out more than a thousand letters a year, commemorating every opening of a film, award nomination, or award. The ones that really had an effect were the personal ones.
They had an entire department and he had one assistant, entirely dedicated to gifts. They were famous for their $500 gift baskets that would show up to clients and non clients on the first day of shooting
Once important clients were signed , they would pass them to their younger agents by “slow responding” to their calls. This had the added benefit of making them seem more important.
He would have up to 300 phone calls per day
MCA/Universal decided to ride out the bubble of the 1980s and pass on deals they seemed inflated. But the bubble lasted 15 years.
Infrared TV remotes made it a lot easier to change the channel so ads needed to tell a story and entertain.
CAA came up with the coke polar bears concept. They were inspired by the bright primary colors in Bauhaus Stairway, the Roy Lichtenstein in CAA’s atrium.