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Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency

James Andrew Miller

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Summary

James Andrew Miller tells the history of Creative Artists Agency through accounts from the people who built it, worked with it and competed against it. The book begins with five agents leaving William Morris in 1975 and follows CAA’s rise across film, television, music and other parts of entertainment. Michael Ovitz and Ron Meyer are central participants, alongside clients and rival agents. The story includes the agency’s move into sports, advertising and digital media. Its oral-history form puts personal ambition, loyalty and conflict beside the growth of a service business, allowing readers to compare different accounts of the same company and its influence.

  • SourceHarper Academic — Powerhouse · About the Book, paragraphs on 1975 founding, industry expansion and access to Ovitz, Meyer, clients and rivals

Why read it Our view

Read for the demands of building a firm around relationships while expanding into new markets. Compare how founders, staff, clients and rivals describe the same culture; a strong shared story inside a company can look different from outside it.

Written about

  • Michael OvitzCompany-history subject and interview participant
    Miller’s CAA oral history draws on direct access to Ovitz and Ron Meyer, alongside clients and rivals. It follows the firm they built and its later expansion. This is a reported company account, not a claim that Ovitz read or recommended it.
    Source