All posts tagged: CAA

Anti-Trumpists Are Suddenly Progressive Documentary Funders

Anti-Trumpists Are Suddenly Progressive Documentary Funders

Published by Daniella Wilson

Anti-Trumpists have emerged as a new and growing source of financing for embattled political documentary makers. Richard Lorber, president of Kino Lorber, on Friday told a Toronto Film Festival panel on connecting audiences to non-fiction movies that progressive, or politically-oriented, documentaries are drawing on “civic-minded citizens with significant contributions, which allow them to get made and give viewers a chance to go to the theater.” Beyond such “impact partners,” the TIFF: The Market panel centered on how to get documentaries financed and released as they make slow return to theaters after the pandemic. “The only thing you can count on in releasing quality art house specialty films is disappointment,” Lorber argued, even as he has had recent gains with theatrical docs like the Oscar-winning Mr Nobody Against Putin and the summer arthouse hit Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World. That theatrical success offered Lorber proof of “a ray of light that you’ve suddenly activated, a sleeper cell of fans who you didn’t know even existed.” mTuckman Media principal Michael Tuckman had his own recent success …

Daniel Dae Kim and Production Company 3AD Sign With CAA

Daniel Dae Kim and Production Company 3AD Sign With CAA

Published by Daniella Wilson

Daniel Dae Kim has a new agency home. The veteran star and his production banner, 3AD, signed with CAA for representation in all areas. The move comes after a busy few years that have seen Kim star in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Butterfly, the Oscar-winning KPop Demon Hunters and K-Everything, the latter of which was a documentary he executive produced. He was previously with UTA. Kim is perhaps best known for his work on the iconic series Lost, which earned him and the cast an outstanding ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award, and for a long-running series regular role on Hawaii Five-O. His other credits include Pantheon, New Amsterdam, The Prophecy, The Hot Zone, Stowaway, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Divergent Series, 24, ER, and many more. He’s taken his talents to Broadway in New York where he starred in a revival of David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Faced, which landed him a Tony Award nomination for best performance by a leading actor in a play (the first AAPI lead actor nominee in the show’s 78-year …

CAA Calls Out Meta and Instagram for Making Muse AI Tool Opt-Out

CAA Calls Out Meta and Instagram for Making Muse AI Tool Opt-Out

Published by Daniella Wilson

It’s Sora all over again. Meta, led by CEO and AI enthusiast Mark Zuckerberg, this week rolled out the first photo and video tools to come out of its Superintelligence Labs: Muse Photo and Muse Video. The tool brings Meta in line with the state of the art in AI media creation, alongside Google’s Gemini and Seedance 2.0, but along with the tools, Meta also said that all public Instagram profiles will be opt-out, not opt-in, and other users can pull in those other accounts that don’t opt out and create new content using their profiles. For celebrities and other high-profile figures, that could be a major problem, even if most do end up opting out. Now Creative Artists Agency is calling out Meta for the move, and asking the tech giant to make it opt-in, not opt-out. “No one’s name, image, likeness, voice, or creative work should be used by any third party, including AI models, without clear, documented consent. True innovation puts creators first: respecting their rights, protecting their livelihoods, and giving them …

Inside CAA’s Secret AI “Vault,” Where Actors Can Live Forever—If They Want

Inside CAA’s Secret AI “Vault,” Where Actors Can Live Forever—If They Want

Published by Sam Flores

What kind of opportunities? Digital alter-egos can be used for post-production fixes, so an actor doesn’t need to return to set for reshoots, and to speed up the original filming process. They can also be used for de-aging characters, creating performances in different languages, or preserving the voice or likeness of an actor whose health is deteriorating, as was the case with CAA client Eric Dane. Maybe you’re an in-demand athlete or musician with just a small amount of spare time between games or tours; you can send out your AI clones to do commercials for you. Then there are more innovative possibilities “You now can have authors build a digital clone of themselves,” enthuses Liz Randall, a former Apple exec who is CAA’s head of business operations and strategic development. “You can ask them questions, like, ‘Hey, I’m on this page, what’s going on here? Help me understand this character.’ It’s coming, all this participatory media.” Shannon points to European football coach José Mourinho, who partnered with Snickers on an interactive campaign in which …

Scott Pelley Signs With CAA After ’60 Minutes’ Firing

Scott Pelley Signs With CAA After ’60 Minutes’ Firing

Published by Daniella Wilson

Scott Pelley is ready for life after 60 Minutes. The broadcast journalist, whose firing in early June from the newsmagazine made national headlines, has signed with CAA for representation, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The major talent agency will rep Pelley in all areas as the author and correspondent looks for life after CBS News, where he has worked for 37 years. Pelley had a very fiery clash with 60 Minutes’ new executive producer, Nick Bilton, in an internal network town hall on June 1 that went public. He criticized Bari Weiss, CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, saying Weiss was “murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place; she was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.” He then took aim Bilton’s credentials. The new exec producer replied to staff a day later to say that Pelley “hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt. I welcome a diversity of viewpoints and respectful debate among the team, but this was nothing of the …

Julia Ormond Threatens Top Collector Michael Ovitz With Bench Warrant

Julia Ormond Threatens Top Collector Michael Ovitz With Bench Warrant

Published by Jenni Sidey

Lawyers for Julia Ormond are looking to have the court issue a bench warrant for the arrest of CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz for walking out of a deposition after being prodded about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Ovitz was asked about his continuing association with Epstein after the disgraced financier’s conviction for sex crimes. At one point, Ovitz stopped engaging. “I’m not going to discuss anything about Jeffrey Epstein,” he said. “You can ask all the questions you want, you’re going to get no answers.” Related Articles The line of questioning related to Ovitz’s assertion that he would’ve cut ties with Weinstein had he known about the former movie mogul’s history of sexual misconduct. Ormond, who rose to prominence in the ’90s after starring in Legends of the Fall, First Knight and Sabrina, claims in a lawsuit filed in 2023 that CAA’s top brass turned a blind eye to Weinstein’s crimes and failed to warn her about him before a 1995 meeting that led to her being assaulted. Ovitz was CAA’s chairman in the period immediately preceding the alleged incident. …

Betches Signs With CAA For Representation Across Media

Betches Signs With CAA For Representation Across Media

Published by Daniella Wilson

Betches, a podcasting and entertainment company for millennial and Gen Z women, has signed with CAA.  CAA will focus on bringing Betches creators and podcasts including U Up?, Mention It All, and Style Therapy into traditional media spaces, including linear television, streaming, film, live experiences, global brand partnerships and more. CAA will also find new opportunities for advertising partners to integrate into the Betches ecosystem. In addition to the podcasts, the company includes an editorial site, as well as as a team of in-house comedy creators and original programming. The brand was co-founded by Aleen Dreksler, Jordana Abraham, and Sami SageIn. In 2023, Betches was acquired by LBG Media, the owner of LADbible Group. “CAA is the gold standard for global talent and brand representation in Hollywood, and signing with them is a natural next step as we expand the Betches Cinematic Universe and continue to invest in our creators and drive the cultural conversation. We are operating at our highest cultural and commercial velocity, and this partnership with CAA is designed to accelerate our …

CAA’s Maha Dakhil Says a Revolution Is Happening in Hollywood

CAA’s Maha Dakhil Says a Revolution Is Happening in Hollywood

Published by Daniella Wilson

CAA‘s Maha Dakhil talked about the “revolution” currently happening in the film business wherein people with talent and drive “are actually really becoming the masters of their destiny.” “The people who are working at the highest levels are people who are not just performing in movies or showing up and being hired, but are actually really becoming the masters of their destiny,” CAA’s managing director and motion picture agent (she counts Tom Cruise among her clients) said while speaking at the Forbes Iconoclast event in New York last week. Dakhil pointed to the surprise success of recent horror films Obsession and Backrooms as evidence of this revolution. “You’re catching the movie business in the middle of a revolution these last few weeks with these horror movies that have driven up the box office week to week and usually there’s a drop in box office,” she said. “The moviegoing habits right now are showing us that the audience is really alive, really there, really connected, and these are not meaningless horror movies.” And while some might …

Kendall Ostrow Joins CAA Creators

Kendall Ostrow Joins CAA Creators

Published by Daniella Wilson

Kendall Ostrow is bringing her digital media expertise to the Creators division at the Creative Artists Agency. The entertainment and sports agency has tapped Ostrow as an executive to focus on driving business development and digital strategies for clients across CAA, including in film, TV, sports and elsewhere. “For more than two decades, Kendall has consistently been ahead of the curve, identifying emerging trends, anticipating cultural shifts, and architecting transformative strategies that position companies, creators, and artists for sustained success,” Brent Weinstein, a member of CAA’s senior leadership team who oversees the Creators division, said in a statement. In 2007, Ostrow joined The Ellen DeGeneres Show to design and direct early social media strategies. She moved to ID PR in 2010, and three years later joined UTA to help launch the agency’s digital data and insights practice. In 2022, Ostrow boarded Candle Media to lead business development, before joining YouTube in 2025. “As digital media and the creator economy continue to redefine entertainment and culture at a global scale, there is no one better equipped than Kendall to …

Twitch Streamer QTCinderella Signs With CAA

Twitch Streamer QTCinderella Signs With CAA

Published by Daniella Wilson

Twitch streamer and YouTube content creator QTCinderella has signed with CAA for representation. QT Cinderella, also known as Blaire, with no surname revealed, in 2021 created the annual Streamer Awards to honor the best performances in live streaming. QT also hosts two podcasts, Wine About It and Fear&, as she performs on emerging platforms where digital audiences increasingly gather and where Hollywood is finding new talent to drive content pipelines. QT’s roots are in event planning and baking, which led to bakealongs, where she gave live online video tutorials on making dessert delicacies. That led to Master Baker, a YouTube baking competition, where QT chatted to her followers, which have grown to over 3 million across social media platforms. In 2025, she surpassed 1 million concurrent live viewers, which accounted for around a third of all viewership on Twitch during peak viewing. That in turn led to sponsors like AT&T, Microsoft, Spotify and HyperX getting behind QT’s Twitch live streaming as her profile in the Influencer Universe grows. She has also worked with major brands …