THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 40 JULY 31, 2019
YORN: JOE SCARNICI/WIREIMAGE. DICAPRIO: JOHN PHILLIPS/GETTY IMAGES. BURKLE: STEFANIE KEENAN/GETTY IMAGES FOR WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS. CARPET, PEOPLE: ISTOCK (4). JOBS: TAYLOR HILL/FILMMAGIC.The Business
AnalysisM
uch has been made about the
impact of deep-pocketed investors
on Hollywood’s talent agencies.
Endeavor, CAA and UTA all have taken on
majority or substantial stakeholders, and
Endeavor is seeking to go public. But manage-
ment, another key component of the talent
community, also is being reshaped by outside
money, and with the influx of cash comes
issues of control and direction.
Consider Rick Yorn, one of the industry’s top
managers, with a client roster that includes
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and
Martin Scorsese. More than a decade ago,
Yorn’s LBI Entertainment took a previously
undisclosed loan from billionaire investor Ron
Burkle, who is now using that leverage in a
push to combine LBI with other Burkle-backed
management entities, sources tell THR. A
spokesperson for Burkle denies any clash with
Yorn. “Ron and Rick have been great friends for
years and remain so,” the rep says. Yorn, who
has managed DiCaprio since the Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood star was a teen, also denies
any conflict and declines further comment.
The pressure on Yorn comes at a time of
great change for many management firms.
Long before agencies began dabbling in film
and TV production, managers learned thatFor Top Talent Managers,
Money Comes With Strings
Rick Yorn, who reps DiCaprio and Scorsese, faces a possible fight for control
of his business, which includes Ron Burkle as a key backera starry client list could lead to a fruitful
producing career. Top managers now regu-
larly produce shows and movies, creating
lucrative revenue streams that have made
their firms prime targets for investors. In
2018, Lionsgate acquired a majority stake in
3 Arts Entertainment, which reps Chris Evans
and Robert Pattinson and has produced such
shows as 30 Rock and Louie. Laurene Powell
Jobs’ Emerson Collective holds a major stake
in Anonymous Content, which reps Emma
Stone and produces shows in conjunction with
Paramount Television. Propagate Media, run
by Howard Owens and Ben Silverman and
backed by merchant bank The Raine Group,
recently took a majority interest in Artists
First, home to Tiffany Haddish. While some
firms have chosen to remain independent,
others are said to be seeking cash or are
exploring strategic team-ups such as the
arrangement Management 360 struck this
year with production-finance outfit MRC in
which the companies will produce content
jointly. (MRC is owned by Valence Media,
which also owns THR.)
But as the agencies have learned, outside
investment also can bring headaches as back-
ers demand results and sometimes control.
Lionsgate stock has been reeling, putting
added pressure on 3 Arts to deliver proj-
ects featuring its clients. “Even though the
revenue streams at 3 Arts are relatively smallcompared with Lionsgate’s revenues, [the
acquisition] adds an element of more stabil-
ity and less volatility to their balance sheet,”
says analyst Hal Vogel. “Given the difficulties
Lionsgate has had in the movie business of
late, they are looking for scale as a stabiliza-
tion factor.”
At the same time, insiders at Anonymous
express trepidation about its future in the
wake of the April death of founder Steve Golin
and believe Jobs is poised to assert more con-
trol. A company rep says the firm is being
well managed by its division leaders. “That
team continues to build upon the legacy Steve
has left behind and has engaged an outside
search firm to evaluate opportunities to add
additional leadership to the team,” the rep
adds. At Artists First, Silverman is said to be
using his ownership interest to pitch himself
as a producer of new client projects in meet-
ings around town.
“The truth is, there are no management
companies anymore. They’re all production
companies,” says veteran attorney Schuyler
Moore. “The same consolidation is going on
throughout the film industry, the same con-
trol issues.”
As for Yorn, sources say Burkle wants to
combine LBI with two other representa-
tion companies he backs: the U.K.-based
Independent Talent Group, with clients
including Daniel Craig and Felicity Jones, and
Independent Sports & Entertainment, with
a roster that includes baseball stars Miguel
Cabrera and Justin Verlander. (That firm was
known as Relativity Sports but rebranded
following Burkle’s $30 million investment in- Through that loan, Burkle ultimately
wrested control.) Despite its name, IS&E has
no significant footprint in the
entertainment space, and natu-
rally Burkle would see DiCaprio as
a lure for other talent. (DiCaprio
has no agent.) Burkle has devel-
oped a relationship with the
star, sources say, though it was Yorn whom
DiCaprio sat next to at the May 21 Cannes pre-
miere of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
A source with knowledge of Burkle’s think-
ing believes that the investor will end up
imposing his will on Yorn, who, after all, took
money from “a profit-margin guy.”
And he’s not alone. Golin himself knew the
ups and downs of outside investment. In 2013,
the late producer told THR why Anonymous
had, to that point, withstood the siren call.
“There’s tons of money out there right now:
There’s private equity; there’s Wall Street;
there’s rich individuals. Money is not the prob-
lem. The problem is having a solid business
plan and knowing what you’re doing, whether
it’s a movie, a TV series or a company.”
FINANCE | TATIANA SIEGEL AND KIM MASTERS
TATI ANA SIEGEL is deputy film editor and
KIM MASTERS is editor at large at THR.Leonardo DiCaprio (center) has been represented for
decades by Rick Yorn (right), who is said to be under pressure
from backer Ron Burkle (left).Powell Jobs