Bryan Lourd speaks onstage through the Lincoln Center American Songbook Gala honoring Bonnie Hammer at Broadway Theatre on January 29, 2020 in New York City.
Slaven Vlasic | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
After surprising the company world final yr with the information Discovery Communications would merge with WarnerMedia, incoming Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav had a mission: be taught as a lot about Hollywood as attainable and select the proper leaders to assist him run the mixed firm.
Zaslav begun a year-long quest to tell his determination making. He reached out to dozens of Hollywood’s elite, together with ex-Disney CEO Bob Iger, former WarnerMedia CEO Bob Daley, former chairman of Walt Disney Studios Alan Horn, Endeavor Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel, and Creative Artists Agency co-chairman Bryan Lourd.
Lourd, 61, is not a family identify, however he wields a surprising quantity of affect in Hollywood. He has helped run CAA, one of many two largest international expertise companies, since 1995. Lourd’s Hollywood shoppers aren’t simply A-listers, they’re A+-listers: Brad Pitt. George Clooney. Scarlett Johansson. Octavia Spencer. Alejandro González Iñárritu. Lorne Michaels. The listing goes on and on.
While Zaslav solicited Lourd’s recommendation about whom to rent for Warner Bros. Discovery, he floated an thought by him: Would Lourd contemplate giving up his job at CAA to return run the famed Warner Bros. studio?
The Lourd of Hollywood
Superagent Bryan Lourd is a pivotal dealmaker and consigliere to CEOs in a time of nice upheaval for Hollywood.
The greatest executives in Hollywood take pleasure in working with Lourd, whilst he wins profitable offers for his star-studded listing of shoppers, together with George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
Lourd has performed main roles in latest offers involving Apple, which has expanded into the leisure enterprise, and Disney, which has develop into a significant participant in streaming.
“He’ll tell you to go to Hell so nicely that you’ll ask for directions,” mentioned one studio govt.
Agents have made related profession strikes earlier than. In 1995, Universal precursor MCA employed CAA co-founder Ron Meyer to run its operations. Weeks later, Disney employed one other CAA co-founder, Michael Ovitz, to be the corporate’s president after which CEO-Michael Eisner’s No. 2.
Ironically, these hires, together with third co-founder Bill Haber leaving in the identical six-week interval to run the Save the Children Federation, had been what catapulted Lourd into working CAA, a part of a gaggle of so-called Young Turks who took over in 1995.
Lourd heard Zaslav’s pitch however by no means severely thought of leaving CAA, in accordance with folks accustomed to the matter who requested to not be named as a result of the discussions had been non-public. At the time, Zaslav was contemplating Michael DeLuca, who lately departed MGM as its movement image chairman when the corporate bought to Amazon, to run Warner’s DC Comics movie and TV division. Lourd finally really helpful Zaslav rent DeLuca and fellow MGM govt Pam Abdy to run the Warner Bros. studio.
In June, Zaslav listened. He employed DeLuca and Abdy as co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros Pictures Group. The DC job stays unfilled.
It’s not laborious to grasp why Lourd selected to maintain his job.
A continuing in a time of upheaval
The leisure business is in an “age of great anxiety,” Iger mentioned earlier this month, “because this is an era of great transformation.” The greatest international media corporations are consolidating and reworking their companies to revolve round streaming video. Technology giants Apple and Amazon have develop into lively, deep-pocketed opponents. A brand new era has taken over: The CEOs of Disney, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and CBS have all turned over up to now 4 years.
On high of that, traders have soured on streaming video chief Netflix, driving shares down about 60% this yr. That’s giving media leaders much more agita as an existential query hangs over the business: Have the perfect days in media and leisure handed us by?
That has prompted company leaders to lean on Lourd greater than ever earlier than, in accordance with greater than a dozen media executives interviewed by CNBC. Zaslav calls him “possibly the last true Hollywood star.” An old school expertise agent who loves discussing previous films and would not thoughts stating the issues in his personal shoppers’ work, Lourd has develop into arguably essentially the most highly effective individual in Hollywood. He’s a “wise consigliere,” within the phrases of ex-HBO chief Richard Plepler, to just about each main firm within the leisure business.
Whether it is advising Zaslav on whom to rent at Warner Bros., or convincing Apple TV+ to outspend everybody on his shoppers’ future tasks, or advising corporations on potential board members, Lourd has develop into a man-behind-the-curtain determine who stands out not just for his energy but additionally for his lack of public persona.
“He’s one of the most powerful people in the history of Hollywood,” mentioned Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. “But you’d never perceive him to be powerful.”
Lourd declined to take part on this story.
This is not ‘Entourage’
“Trustworthy,” “consistent,” “supportive,” “very nice” and “almost quiet” aren’t phrases sometimes related to Hollywood illustration — an business many affiliate with Plepler’s previous HBO present “Entourage.” That collection options superagent character Ari Gold, who’s performed by actor Jeremy Piven and loosely primarily based on the brash, in-your-face Emanuel.
But these phrases of endearment are how 5 high showbiz executives – Iger, Paramount Pictures head Brian Robbins, Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch, NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell and Zaslav, respectively – describe Lourd.
“He’s unique,” mentioned Iger. “He’s a statesman in an industry defined by superagents who rose to positions of power by being intimidating. He’s honest. He’ll say things like, ‘Yeah, that could have been better.’ He brings people together and takes positions that people galvanize around.”
Ari Emanuel speaks onstage through the 2017 LACMA Art + Film Gala Honoring Mark Bradford and George Lucas introduced by Gucci at LACMA on November 4, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.
Stefanie Keenan | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
While Emanuel has develop into well-known for brief conversations and one-word e-mail responses, one govt after one other famous Lourd all the time appears to have time for longer discussions about technique, problem-solving and checking in on private lives.
“Bryan never feels rushed,” mentioned Apple TV+ co-head Zack Van Amburg. “He’s ready to have as long of a conversation as it takes. That’s a super skill, as mundane as that may seem.”
Emanuel’s job additionally not mirrors Lourd’s. Emanuel has develop into a public firm CEO, rising Endeavor first with numerous company acquisitions after which shopping for standard skilled mixed-martial arts league UFC. The purchases have turned Endeavor into an $10 billion firm.
Lourd’s persona is “brilliant counter positioning” to Emanuel, mentioned Sarandos. Lourd and his co-chairmen have saved CAA non-public, lately doubling down on the enterprise with an acquisition of expertise company ICM.
“I don’t think it’s by accident,” mentioned Sarandos. “It’s two very different styles at play.”
Emanuel declined to remark for this story.
Born on the Bayou
Lourd has been a mainstay in Hollywood for many years regardless of rising up in New Iberia, Louisiana (inhabitants 28,143), a bit greater than a two-hour drive west from New Orleans.
After graduating from the University of Southern California as a double main in worldwide relations and journalism, Lourd started considering of turning into an agent after studying a New Yorker journal article on the Hollywood illustration business, in accordance with a CAA spokesperson.
Lourd joined William Morris Agency in 1983, actually working his means up from the mailroom to agent. He left William Morris to hitch CAA in 1988. By the time he was serving to to run CAA in 1995, Lourd was already representing Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, amongst others.
Lourd’s obsession with Hollywood bled into his private life. He dated actress Carrie Fisher from 1991 to 1994. The two had a daughter, Billie, who can be an actress. Lourd later married longtime boyfriend Bruce Bozzi, who labored as govt vice chairman of the Palm Restaurant Group for many years, together with working its L.A. hotspot for leisure business stars and moguls. Lourd shares a second daughter, Ava, with Bozzi. She was born in 2007.
Sure, he is good, however he is nonetheless an agent
Lourd is the quintessential behind-the-scenes maestro, mentioned Zaslav, with aspirations that reach past Hollywood.
Lourd lately held a cocktail party at his house for Vice President Kamala Harris, after strongly advocating on her behalf behind the scenes to be Joe Biden’s working mate, in accordance with folks accustomed to the matter. He’s on numerous charitable boards, together with New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and two foundations developed by his shoppers — the Clooney Foundation for Justice and Sean Penn’s J/P Haitian Relief Organization.
When Plepler determined he would depart HBO in early 2019, Lourd was one in every of a really small handful of individuals with which he shared his determination weeks earlier than he made it public or informed his then-boss, AT&T CEO John Stankey.
“He’s an ally you can trust in a world that can be purely transactional,” Plepler mentioned.
Still, regardless of his appeal, Lourd is an agent. His major function is to extract cash for his shoppers. That’s not solely misplaced on Zaslav.
David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery talks to the media as he arrives on the Sun Valley Resort for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 05, 2022 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
“He’s both charming and sensitively thoughtful, but at the same time, he can be a real killer shark,” mentioned Zaslav. “But unlike a shark, where you feel the teeth, you hang up the phone feeling good, before a week or two later, when you realize you’ve spent a lot more than you thought you were going to spend. But somehow, you don’t feel bad about it, and you feel he’ll make it up to you on the next one.”
Or, as Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns mentioned: “He’ll tell you to go to Hell so nicely that you’ll ask for directions.”
Not-so-mysterious methods
Lourd’s palms are on almost each a part of the enterprise of leisure. That’s a part of why Zaslav thought of him to steer the Warner Bros. studio.
An ordinary agent has a listing of shoppers and works to get these folks as a lot cash as attainable. But Lourd’s shoppers are such bankable stars that it is equally essential for Hollywood executives to be pleasant with him as it’s useful for Lourd and CAA. Of all of the folks CNBC spoke with for this story, not one had a single essential factor to say about Lourd, aside from blaming him for ballooning expertise prices. It’s a testomony to his pure persona – a number of executives weren’t as type about Emanuel – however it could additionally communicate to Lourd’s energy.
While it appears random to outsiders how or why sure movies or TV collection find yourself on explicit streaming companies, it begins to make extra sense when considered by the lens of Lourd.
- Step 1: CEOs ask him for recommendation on whom to rent due to his mixture of trustworthiness and information of the business.
- Step 2: Those executives, a lot of whom can no less than partially thank Lourd for his or her jobs and excessive salaries, come to him to workers tasks.
- Step 3: Lourd will get high greenback for his shoppers by offers signed by those self same executives.
- Step 4: Those tasks ship billions in income for executives.*
Step 4 comes with an asterisk, as a result of solely a few of Lourd’s tasks ship. Not each film is successful, even with Lourd’s roster of stars. But his affect is just rising because the variety of surefire stars dwindle.
This yr, Lourd satisfied Apple TV+ to pay greater than $200 million for a Formula 1-themed film starring Brad Pitt that did not have a script. Lourd’s asking value was so outrageous to Warner Bros. Discovery that some executives scoffed on the pitch, privately calling it frothy and “bells and whistles” with no certainty it could possibly be a tentpole franchise, in accordance with folks accustomed to the matter.
Apple TV+’s Van Amburg and co-head Jamie Erlicht had been additionally not sure of Lourd’s pitch, however they knew the film could be written and made by the workforce that did “Top Gun: Maverick” — director Joseph Kosinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and screenwriter Ehren Kruger. The solely downside was “Top Gun: Maverick” had but to hit theaters on the time of the talks.
Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”
Source: Paramount
So the Apple workforce bought permission to display the movie early. After watching it, they walked away assured. “Top Gun: Maverick” turned one of many highest grossing field workplace films of all time, surpassing $1 billion globally. The Apple deal additionally contains unprecedented income sharing for key expertise, in accordance with an individual accustomed to the matter. Lourd crafted a contract permitting Pitt, Bruckheimer and different CAA shoppers to take part in quite a lot of future income streams which will set a brand new commonplace for the way main expertise is paid for streaming films, the individual mentioned.
Apple TV+ can be counting on Lourd and his shoppers to ship on a number of different big-budget tasks, together with a yet-to-be-titled thriller starring Pitt and Clooney, and “Project Artemis,” a interval romantic comedy starring CAA shoppers Channing Tatum and Johansson, which value Apple a reported $100 million.
The business’s altering dynamics, and learn how to pay film stars as extra viewing shifts away from the field workplace and towards streaming, could make negotiating with Lourd difficult even because it seems like a partnership, Van Amburg mentioned.
“Bryan enjoys the role of being the ultimate diplomat,” Van Amburg mentioned. “But I don’t think we have underpaid for anything we’ve ever done with him.”
Standing up for ScarJo
Lourd flexed his muscle tissue final yr in a transfer that caught business executives off guard as a result of it put him in a uncommon public adversarial function to a significant Hollywood govt.
Johansson sued Disney for concurrently releasing “Black Widow” on Disney+ on the similar time it was launched in theaters. She claimed her wage was primarily based on an unique theatrical launch for the movie.
Disney shot again on the lawsuit with a public assertion, outing how a lot Johansson had already made on the film ($20 million) and blaming her for being callous to business adjustments round Covid-19.
Lourd felt Disney’s assertion was each misogynistic and offensive not solely to Johansson however to all of his shoppers, in accordance with folks accustomed to the matter. That prompted him to fireplace again a stern response at Disney and its comparatively new CEO, Bob Chapek, who had taken over for Iger the earlier yr.
“Disney’s direct attack on her character and all else they implied is beneath the company that many of us in the creative community have worked with successfully for decades,” Lourd mentioned in an announcement on the time. “They have shamelessly and falsely accused Ms. Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear to be someone they and I know she isn’t.”
Disney finally settled the Johansson go well with, giving Johansson greater than $40 million, in accordance with Deadline. Chapek mentioned he and Lourd have put the incident behind them and proceed to have a “running dialogue” that goes properly past particular offers.
“[We talk] about the industry at large and how it’s all evolving,” mentioned Chapek. “It’s a relationship I value. Our industry is lucky to have him.”
This is the way in which
Navigating altering business dynamics has pushed Lourd to get artistic with a number of offers to satisfy the wants of each corporations and shoppers.
When Disney signed a take care of director Jon Favreau in 2018 to govt produce and write Star Wars collection “The Mandalorian,” Lourd labored with Disney’s then-head of streaming, Kevin Mayer, to get Favreau a novel deal of money and Disney inventory. The considering behind the contract was “The Mandalorian” would result in a increase in Disney+ subscribers, and Favreau wished to have the ability to take part within the potential upside. Mayer and Lourd determined the perfect proxy for Disney+ efficiency was Disney inventory, understanding the corporate’s shares would largely commerce on the efficiency of the flagship streaming service.
Temuera Morrison stars as Boba Fett in “The Mandalorian.”
Source: Disney
That turned out to be correct. Disney shares boomed through the pandemic, even with theme parks closed, as a result of Disney+ subscribers grew by leaps and bounds every quarter. Favreau signed his take care of Disney shares round $90. By February 2021, they’d doubled to greater than $180 per share. They’ve since come again down amid broader market declines, with Disney at just under $100 per share as of Friday’s shut.
Disney+ ended its fiscal third quarter with greater than 152 million international subscribers.
“He helps people with company-level strategic decisions,” Mayer, who has since based the media funding agency Candle Media, mentioned about Lourd. “He’s a great agent, but he transcends that.”
Shell, of NBCUniversal, and movie producer Jason Blum even have Lourd to thank on a extremely uncommon so-called first-look deal struck in 2014 that is turned out to be “wildly lucrative” for each events, Blum mentioned.
Instead of NBCUniversal paying Blum charges for his movies, which have included 2017’s “Get Out” and 2018’s “Halloween,” each of which grossed over $250 million worldwide on budgets of $10 million or much less, Blum wished to construct fairness in his personal manufacturing firm, Blumhouse. Lourd architected a take care of then-Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley wherein NBCUniversal took a non-controlling fairness stake in Blumhouse, with Blum’s charges going again into the corporate relatively than into his checking account.
At first, Shell, who on the time ran Universal, was skeptical of the concept. But Lourd crafted an advanced 10-year contract, giving the corporate quite a lot of community and cable tv exhibits, digital properties, and, in fact, low-budget horror films.
Shell echoed sentiments from Sarandos, Van Amburg, Starz’s Hirsch and Zaslav that conversations with Lourd incessantly go properly past expertise offers, spanning topics from potential hires to the metaverse to how reside sports activities ought to be built-in in streaming video.
“Bryan is a problem solver,” Shell mentioned. “He’s the closest thing in the industry to the age-old superagent of yesteryear.”
Blum summed it up extra succinctly.
“I don’t see him as an agent,” Blum mentioned. “He’s a Hollywood executive.”
WATCH: Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel breaks down the media and leisure panorama.
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Source: www.cnbc.com”