Gawker: william morris agency

William Morris Agency Salary Figures Leak

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:22:11 EDT

An executive of hotshot talent agency William Morris made the mistake of faxing a memo containing the salaries of many of the firm's highest-paid employees, and now it's all up on the internet. Here's how much they make (a lot):

The Wrap got hold of the memo, which they say was written by CFO Irv Weintraub and contains compensation figures from 2007. Translations of the abbreviations:

Norman: Norman Brokaw, chairman
IW: Irv Weintraub, CFO
JW: Jim Wiatt
DZW: Dave Wirtschafter

[The Wrap]

E! Host Giuliana Rancic Sues WMA For Daring to Employ Other Clients

Kyle Buchanan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:00:00 EDT

There are certain universal truths about Hollywood agents: namely, that they never pick up your phone calls, deal with you mostly through their assistants, and always seem to be finding work for people who aren't you. Sadly, E! bobblehead Giuliana Rancic (who we last saw announcing the death of "Brad Redfro" while dressed in a somber tube top) has failed to grasp that last tenet — in fact, she's suing her agents at William Morris for having the audacity to focus on anyone but her. Says Page Six:

Rancic, who hosts E! News with Ryan Seacrest, is suing her former agency for "breach of contract and fiduciary duty," according to her lawyer, Lavely & Singer bulldog Paul Sorrell. "They put the interests of other clients they had ahead of hers," Sorrell said. "It was a major conflict of interest, so she fired them."

Now that the Dam of Obviousness has been breached, we expect lawsuits against WMA any minute on the grounds that "they exist," "they take ten percent commission," and "they're mean." We've contacted William Morris for comment, though we've been assured "they'll get back to you soon, they're just at lunch — I mean, 'really swamped right now.'"

SUE THE AGENT [New York Post]

New WMA Client Alex Rodriguez Takes Brave Next Step in Celebrity Courtship

STV — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:25:00 EDT

We're hearing today that Madonna might not be the only entertainment interest Alex Rodriguez reportedly plans to get into: According to The Wall Street Journal (via ESPN), the Yankees slugger and bachelor-to-be inked a deal with William Morris "in an attempt to extend his brand beyond the baseball diamond." A-Rod joins Dwayne Wade, Serena Williams and Kevin Garnett among WMA's athlete clientele, an affiliation he and manager Guy Oseary are hoping will nudge him deeper into commercials, endorsements, video games, self-help literature, yoga tutorials, reality-TV dance competitions, and, most importantly, an IMDB headshot and STARmeter ranking that won't embarrass the shit out of his rumored paramour. Yes, A-Rod, we agree — it's time. (Click the image for a larger view.)

A-Rod thinking beyond baseball in partnering with William Morris [ESPN]
Alex Rodriguez [IMDB]

If WIlliam Morris hires wireless controversarian Peter Adderton, can they afford the requisite helicopter?

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:40:00 EDT

Former Amp'd Mobile CEO Peter Adderton has reportedly landed a new job, says Rafat Ali, as president and CEO at talent agency WIlliam Morris's new-media division, Agency 3.0. (William Morris later confirmed the hire via press release.) Adderton got the gig likely because of the mobile-video hit "Lil Bush," which eventually ended up on Comedy Central. But in our hearts, Adderton will always be the guy who burned through Amp'd's $360 million funding in just two years. Where did investors' money go?

Adderton and Amp'd lost most of it by selling handsets to consumers with bad credit. But a good portion went toward Adderton's daily commute from his home in Orange County to Amp'd's headquarters in Los Angeles. By helicopter. (Photo by tiarescott)

Julia TV Gets The Green Light

Nick Denton — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:43:53 EDT

Our culture cannot be so debased as to give a television platform to a woman who pretends to be a Star magazine journalist, one who claims to design handbags, and the third an heir to a Sun Microsystems dynasty that we've never heard of. But, of course, it has. That rumored reality television project, one of the few things that Star's Julia Allison has ever kept secret, has been greenlit by Bravo, we're told by people familiar with the cable network. The show, tentatively called IT Girls, begins shooting this summer.

I suppose congratulations are in order, to Allison, whose pink and perky determination has propelled her to fame of some debased sort; to the blonde one, a veteran of reality shows, Mary Rambin, older sister of the Hud-banging teen star; to Megan Asha, the supposed tech heiress; and to the agent who has shepherded through the project, Jason Fox of William Morris Agency, pictured here with his three angels.

It would be easy to dismiss IT Girls as final proof of a culture gone spongy in the brain, in the final stages not so much of Alzheimers as syphilis. But let's be honest: the concept, three girls are followed by the cameras as they set up an online chat show, a younger version of The View, is positively gripping compared with some of the other reality projects being touted. Julia Allison's obvious ambition provides a dramatic core; she's better at least than the empty socialites around Kristian Laliberte, another group with television ambitions.

Finally, IT Girls promises to take watching-me-watching-you media narcissism to a new plane. A girl who is famous for photographing her every move, sets up a pretend chat show which is itself the focus of cameras from a cable show. So meta! And that will, for a blog that has designated Allison an icon of a new age of self-levitating celebrity, make great entertainment.