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Creative Artists Agency

also referred to as: caa

15 statements across 2 episodes · 7 bullish · 0 bearish · 2 people on the record · first statement Dec 21, 2021 by Michael Ovitz · said 66 times in 7 episodes since 2021 · across every show →

Mentions by year

brought up most by Ben Gilbert (30), Michael Ovitz (23), David Rosenthal (12), Peter Fenton (1)

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023202120222023202420252026episodes it came up in
00251.5503202120222023202420252026episodesmentions per episode
2026 5 mentions in 1 episode
2025 10 mentions in 2 episodes 5 per episode
2022 3 mentions in 3 episodes 1 per episode
2021 48 mentions in 1 episode

every mention, scene by scene, with the transcript →

Everything said about Creative Artists Agency, oldest first

Dec 21, 2021
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ovitz: CAA agents handled 200 to 250 phone calls daily
“So an average agent at our place would run 200 to 250 phone calls a day.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 1:14:27 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021
Assertion Not checkable as stated
CAA ran the Coca-Cola advertising account with six people versus McCann's 300
“So we had McCann Erickson had 300 human beings working on the Coke account. We had six.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 51:53 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 bullish
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
CAA represented roughly 45 of the top 50 highest-grossing directors in 1990
“And frankly, as CAA gained momentum in the eighties and early nineties, they didn't have a lot of choice because of the 50 top grossing directors in the, for example, in 90, CAA represented like 45 of them. So it was impossible. You couldn't say no.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 27:42 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021
Assertion Supported
Ovitz: CAA was first to represent Hoffman, Pacino, and De Niro simultaneously
“So, you know, I, we signed Hoffman, Pacino, and De Niro, which had never been done in history.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 1:17:35 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 positive
Insight
Ovitz: Tech investing is the same packaging playbook as Hollywood agency representation
“All of the training I had as an agent has led me to a career in the digital world that's fantastic because what am I doing? I'm packaging. I'm putting young founders together with money and distribution, and nothing different than I did for 35 years. It's all …”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 1:39:08 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 positive
Assertion Partly supported
Coca-Cola approved all 35 commercials CAA presented in their agency shootout
“We got awarded the account And of the 35 commercials we presented, they approved every single one.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 49:15 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ovitz: CAA launched on $100K debt, repaid it in six months, and stayed debt-free
“And we started our business on a 100,000 dollars, and we never went into debt beyond that, paid that debt off in six months, and never carried 10 cents a debt, ever.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 1:00:58 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 neutral
Assertion Contradicted
CAA packaged 350 films and treated traditional studios strictly as distributors
“Or any of the 350 films that we packaged, Tootsie, Rain Man, go down a forever list, you had a choice. You'd, you'd buy the package, or we'd sell it to somebody else, because we viewed the studios as distribution entities.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 32:33 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 neutral
Assertion Supported
Ovitz: CAA was sparked by a William Morris staff meeting signing Ann Miller
“Crazy as it sounds, CAA was born out of a bad staff meeting at William Morris. Where the guy I worked for, who was head of the television department, his name was Sam Weisbord, announced with great pride and passion that he had signed Ann Miller, which will me…”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 55:05 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021
Disclosure
CAA took a 5 percent overall cut on the Jurassic Park package
“Well, the creative people at 50, which means we had five.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 17:13 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 positive
Disclosure
CAA never pitched unpackaged ideas or individual clients to movie studios
“And we would never sell any idea or client unpackaged or naked to a studio ever, ever. So anything we did was pre-packaged where we controlled all the elements and our clients controlled their own destiny.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 31:18 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ovitz: CAA Doubled Director Mike Nichols's Fee From $2.5M to $5M
“I remember when we signed Mike Nichols, may he rest in peace, a great director. I'll never forget a call he made to me. He was getting two and a half million to direct. And when he became a client of ours, and he, we went to make a deal for him, I called him u…”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 28:09 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Dec 21, 2021
Assertion Not checkable as stated
CAA lost fewer than six clients over a 25-year period
“As a matter of fact, in a 25 year period, I think we lost under six, five or six clients.”
Michael Ovitz Dec 21, 2021 ▶ 1:08:52 CAA (with Michael Ovitz) · Acquired
Nov 24, 2025
Assertion Partly supported
Rosenthal: Ovitz Pitched Coke 40 Ads for the Cost of McCann's Seven
“So he pitches Coke that CAA can make 40 ads a year for them. For the same cost that McCann Erickson is making seven and they can all stay unified under the new Coke slogan of always Coca-Cola.”
David Rosenthal Nov 24, 2025 ▶ 3:05:20 Coca-Cola: The Complete History & Strategy (Audio) · Acquired
Nov 24, 2025 positive
Assertion Supported
Rosenthal: CAA Won Coke's Ad Business and Created the Polar Bears Campaign
“CAA wins the business. Dethrones McCann Erickson. And among the many ads that they create for Coke is a new Christmas Coca-Cola motif, not featuring Santa Claus, but instead the polar bears.”
David Rosenthal Nov 24, 2025 ▶ 3:05:38 Coca-Cola: The Complete History & Strategy (Audio) · Acquired
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