Hasbro says 'Sayonara' to CAA

Posted by Stormrider Jun 12, 2007 at 6:57pm CDT 12,569 views

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Hasbro has done something a bit strange. With a major motion picture about to appear in three weeks, Hasbro has said ‘sayonara’ to Creative Artists Agency, which is the agency that brought together and helped broker the deal for the Transformers Movie with Paramount, DreamWorks, Hasbro, and Spielberg.

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is one of the most powerful talent and literary agencies in American show business. Previously headquartered in a I.M. Pei-designed building in Beverly Hills, the agency represents a vast array of actors, writers, directors, and athletes, as well as a variety of companies and their products.

So what does this all mean? It means that something is not going right between Hasbro, Paramount, DreamWorks, CAA, and possibly the movie. This is a bold move for Hasbro to do several weeks before the movie’s debut.

For the powers at the Creative Artists Agency, Hollywood’s pre-eminent talent representative, the coming blockbuster “Transformers” has already brought a lesson in the cold-hearted ways of corporate entertainment.

The outsize robot adventure movie was born when the talent agency connected Hasbro — a client, and owner of the Transformers toy line — with DreamWorks, Paramount and another longtime associate, Steven Spielberg, among others. As the project grew, at least 10 Creative Artists clients picked up credits, including the writers, several stars and both Mr. Spielberg and Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s chief operating officer, who are executive producers.

But a scant month before the picture’s release on July 4, Hasbro decided to jettison Creative Artists and jump to the rival William Morris, which represents the director of “Transformers,” Michael Bay.

So it goes in the new Hollywood. Loyalty stops at the bottom line, and even the most powerful of agencies is finding it can be tougher to meet the needs of a corporate customer than to baby-sit for a temperamental star.

Wayne Charness, Hasbro’s senior vice president for corporate communications, credited Creative Artists for its “invaluable assistance” in hooking it up with DreamWorks and Paramount. “For that, we’ll certainly be eternally grateful.”

But, in explaining the corporate kiss-off, Mr. Charness added, “William Morris, from an entertainment point of view, is best able to deliver something for us now.”

For Creative Artists, the loss of Hasbro is hardly a show-stopper. But the embarrassment comes just as it is trying to prove that it can mirror, if not exactly match, the intricacy and reach of the media conglomerates and consumer and technology companies that have come to define the entertainment world.

You can read more about this break up here and here.

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