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

by James Andrew Miller

The five of us made sure to meet every day and we talked about everything and did whatever we had to do to help each other. We stayed close with our agents and always knew what was going on with them. This meant, for instance, if important writer clients wrote an unattached script, rather than sell it directly to a studio, we would put it together with a director and in some cases an actor or an actress, then sell it at a premium. Although we didn’t invent it, we did it very effectively and became known as a very strong packaging agency.

There were three ways to go through the entertainment business in the ’60s through the ’90s. One was to go for money; one was to go for power; and the other was to go for fun. I decided to go for all three. I wanted money, power, and fun.

That Ghostbusters package was mind-boggling. Mike really pulled that thing together, and it was a deal unlike anything else. It was a huge piece of cash. It was ridiculous.

So every Sunday, I would sit at my house and just start reading scripts. And 99.99 percent of them were atrocious. One day I pick up this script. All I know is an hour and

In the mid-’80s, I represented around fifty clients, including Jane Fonda, Cher, Meryl Streep, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand, Jessica Lange, Goldie Hawn, Madonna, Michael Douglas, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, and Warren Beatty. And I was in constant touch with them. It was my life. Mornings, nights, weekends, whenever they needed me. I talked to them professionally and saw many of them socially. I always felt like I had a business and personal relationship with most of my clients.

I didn’t lose a lot of clients. Agents lose clients for a variety of reasons: first and foremost, an agent not getting enough or the right work; second, not having a good enough relationship with the client; third, a client meeting another agent who convinces them they can do a better job no matter what; and fourth, some of these clients just having plain bad luck and holding their agent responsible. Shit happens.

Two days later the receptionist calls and says Shane Black was here to see me. He comes into my office. Now I am certain he hadn’t slept all week. Definitely wearing the same clothes. He drops a 130-page manuscript on my desk. I look at the cover. It is now called Lethal Weapon. I read the whole thing right there on the spot. And this truly was the best writing I had ever experienced.