6 World VIDEOAGE November 2023 (Continued from Page 4) deal will be pursued via the Pinault family investment company Artémis, which operates separately from Kering. Artémis holds a 40.9 percent equity stake in Kering. Over the years CAA has expanded beyond film and television representation to professional sports. The agency has been valued at $7 billion. Pinault’s CAA acquisition indicates a growing overlap between the luxury and entertainment industries. The link was first explored by Italian fashion houses that relied on Hollywood’s red carpets to promote their brands. CAA rival Endeavor has also diversified into sports with TKO, which resulted from the merger of Endeavor’s Ultimate Fighting Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment. And Kering’s competitor, Paris-based group LVMH, which is headed by Bernard Arnault, and controls brands such as Dior and Louis Vuitton, has partnership deals with Hollywood celebrities. And just last week, reps for private equity giant Silver Lake, which owns about 71 percent of Endeavor’s voting stake, said that it is working on a proposal to take Endeavor, the owner of talent agencies WME and IMG, private. Endeavor went public in 2021. Still, despite all this proof, the industry insiders who were contacted by VideoAge still insisted that the talent agent business model has not changed over the years. “Agents are licensed for finding work for their clients and make a commission, leaving the contract negotiations to the lawyers, who are paid fees, and the daily interactions to the talents’ managers, who get salaries”, said U.S. entertainment lawyer Steve Schiffman. Nonetheless, today, agencies like Endeavor can no longer control production companies and cannot broker packaging deals since they create conflicts of interest. In early September 2023, VideoAge sent out a query to talent agents and entertainment lawyers to explore whether the talent agency model has changed in light of the recent industry upheaval caused by streaming services. The answers we received were a resounding, “No! The business model has not changed.” Then, a week later came news that French billionaire Francoise-Henri Pinault (probably best known in the U.S. for being married to star Salma Hayek) is buying a majority stake in Creative Artists Agency, a Hollywood talent agency, from private equity firm TPG. The acquisition would come a year after CAA acquired ICM Partners, another Hollywood talent agency. Pinault controls Kering, a luxury conglomerate with brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent, but this Talent Agencies Looking For New Roles Lise Romanoff: lise@vision lms.net Andres Santos: asantos@screenbright.net Please Visit Our Website: WWW.VISIONFILMS.NET VISION FILMS A WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTOR OF INDEPENDENT FILMS, MUSIC & DOCUMENTARIES We welcome you to MIPCANCUN 2023 Nov 14 - Nov 17
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