WMA's Scarlett Johansson Leaves For CAA

19 Comments »

1. another nail in the WMA Talent (?) coffin.

   Comment by yoyo — November 18, 2008 @ 11:59 am

2. You mean that Jim, Gaby, Brad Slater, (the talented Ms. Ripley)Smoller, Wirtschfter and the other douche bags over there couldn’t woo her into staying? Surprise, Surprise.

   So, the big question, who does WMA have left?

   Comment by Anonymous — November 18, 2008 @ 12:07 pm

3. I am sure super agent Craig Kestel at WMA will tell everyone it is part of his master plan. Like suing former clients.

   Comment by Sternboy — November 18, 2008 @ 12:35 pm

4. Funny, I thought Jim and George Freeman were her primary agents. Scarlett will be much better served at CAA than staying with the reprehensible agents at WMA. WMA - get a grip and wake up to what is happening. You may be able to spin it internally to trainees and admin staff but the industry is aware of what’s going on.

   Comment by Anonymous — November 18, 2008 @ 12:58 pm

5. Who is repping her at CAA?

   Comment by JS — November 18, 2008 @ 1:54 pm

6. No comments on this? Is today a Jewish Holliday?

   Comment by SeanH — November 18, 2008 @ 3:58 pm

7. That CAA signed a big available name before the other agencies could have the meeting should surprise no one working in Hollywood.

   CAA = Covets All Actresses

   Comment by ReelBusy — November 18, 2008 @ 6:14 pm

8. Another nail in the coffin is right. WMA is bleeding agents and clients right now and it’s not going to stop. Jim Wiatt, John Fogelman and Gaby Morgerman are destroying this company. It’s not fair to the hard working agents that are left and round out the rest of the talent department. Someone needs to step up to the plate and remove Jim and John from the board and fire them. For what John Fogelman and Gaby make as salaries in addition to their massive expenses, I can guarntee you that neither is profitable bottom line and they should be held accountable. A few agents are taking down the company and it isn’t fair.

   Comment by Mike Ovitz — November 18, 2008 @ 10:45 pm

9. I heard once Lambert was leaving that Michael Cooper tried to have Scarlett handed to him only to be denied by the only agent with a business at WMA, Mr. George Freeman. Cooper also recently lost Ellen Page, Giovanni Ribisi, and Martin Henderson so I guess he is too busy working on his impressions of other agents to focus on his clients businesses. My bet is WMA will next lose the rest of Lambert’s clients because if the clients have any brain at all they will know the rest of the agents at WMA are idiots and they will be better serviced at the other four agencies. WMA may have to drop their talent business all together and focus on lit, tv, music and consulting because those are the only profitable departments.

   Comment by Give Me A Break — November 18, 2008 @ 10:54 pm

10. WMA should not lose any sleep. She hasn’t had any hit since..emm..when did she ever had any hit anyway?

    Comment by Armand — November 19, 2008 @ 12:09 am

11. Scarlett may not be a hitmaker but she has been nominated for 4 Golden Globes and won a Bafta. If she gets her game together again then she is defintiely someone who could get an Oscar someday…sort of like Keira Knightley.

    Comment by JS — November 19, 2008 @ 6:28 am

12. Scarlett should be a much bigger movie star then she is but there is only one person responsible for killing her career and that is her mother. She is one of the worst people that I have ever met. Anyone who has ever tried to work with her will agree. She has sold out her daughter to bad movies so she can either produce them or take the money that Scarlett makes to buy houses. She even promises Scarlett to financiers to get her other kids jobs again to support her producing and her lifestyle.

    Comment by Anonymous — November 19, 2008 @ 6:36 am

13. she needs to get rid of her momager for anything worthwhile to change.

    Comment by elliott — November 19, 2008 @ 10:28 am

14. Goog grammar, genius!

    Comment by StringerB — November 19, 2008 @ 10:50 am

15. Scarlett is way too old and needs real strategic guidance to be led by her mom for her career. CAA may try to wrangle that - they are so good at getting rid of managers - while she’s there.

    Comment by F. — November 19, 2008 @ 1:16 pm

16. I remember a story about when Wiatt was trying to sign Chris Rock and was so desperate, he apparently said, “Come on man, please sign with us, we need you.” That was his sophisticated strategy for signing a comic who just wanted to know how his career could be re-ignited and extended. (He didn’t sign with WMA.) This was several years back and nothing has changed, WMA stinks from the head and people internally know it. Beyond the W stooges, Fogelman, Morgerman, Walsh, et al, is a house of losers from the top down.

    Comment by Cliff Clavin — November 19, 2008 @ 1:38 pm

17. I guess the above must be disgruntled, broke, sleazy financiers.

    Comment by Anonymous — November 19, 2008 @ 1:46 pm

18. Talking about Wiatt trying to sign Chris Rock, well I heard he passed on Mark Burnett. Now Mark Burnett has fizzeled a little lately, but off of his hits like Survivor he must make an agency at least $10 million a year so what was Wiatt thinking. Also heard good ol’ Wiatt and Irv tried to get Adam Venitt to join WMA and offered him only $4 million because they couldn’t see any agent making more than themselves even though a rep like Venitt more than deserves $4 million. In fact guys like Adam are raking in more than $10 million a year. The talent dept. needs to ban together an kick John Fogelman to the streets

    Comment by BMOC — November 19, 2008 @ 5:30 pm

19. BMOC, I know you are correct regarding Venit, they went after Patrick Witesell, as well, and Rick Nicita, and probably half a dozen other top talent agents. The result, they continue to renew Gaby Morgerman’s contract and give John Fogelman more and more power. But as long as the top people continue to syphon money from the place, including Walt Zifkin, who should bear responsibility for hiring Wiatt and creating this downward spiral, and as long as mediocre agents are being overpaid (Michael Cooper, Brad Slater, Gaby Morgerman, etc.), nothing is going to change there.

    Comment by Cliff Clavin — November 19, 2008 @ 6:43 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment