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Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Talent and literary agency |
Founded | 1975Century City, Los Angeles, California, US | in
Founder | Marvin Josephson |
Defunct | 2022 |
Fate | Acquired by Creative Artists Agency |
Headquarters | Constellation Place Century City, Los Angeles, California, US |
Area served | Represented clients in the fields of film, television, music, publishing, live performance, branded content, and new media |
Website | www |
ICM Partners was a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., and London. [1] The company represented clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publishing, live performance, branded entertainment and new media. Its corporate headquarters were in Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles. [2] [3] [4] In 2022, ICM became part of Creative Artists Agency. [5]
International Creative Management was formed in 1975 through the merger of Marvin Josephson's International Famous Agency and Freddie Fields' Creative Management Associates (CMA). [6] [7] [8] [9] : 51 ICM's first president was Freddie Fields, [10] although he didn't last long in the role. [11] Other important figures in the merger were Sam Cohn [12] and Guy McElwaine of CMA.
In 1985, ICM acquired London-based talent agency Duncan Heath Associates, which in 1991 merged with ICM London, with Heath became chairman of the merged company. [13]
"In 1992, Josephson passed control of ICM onto Jeff Berg, Sam Cohn, and Jim Wiatt, though Josephson maintained a leadership role and continued to represent personal clients." [8]
In 2005, the company raised a financing round of $75 million from Rizvi Traverse. [14]
In 2006, ICM acquired the literary agency Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann. [15]
In 2012, the agency completed a management buyout and formed a partnership with the new name, ICM Partners. [16]
In March 2018, ICM acquired the Just For Laughs comedy festival, as part of a partnership with Howie Mandel. [17] [18] A 51% majority was later sold to Bell Media and Groupe CH to maintain a primarily-Canadian ownership. [19] In June that year, ICM formed a partnership with esports-focused talent agency Evolved. [20] [21]
In December 2019, ICM Partners sold a one-third equity stake in the company to Crestview Partners, with the expressed goal to grow the company within the representation business with an emphasis on International growth. [22]
In March 2020, ICM partnered with Primary Talent International, a London-based music touring agency with over 700 touring clients. [23] In August, they bought a significant minority interest in Albatros, a literary agency based in Stockholm and moved partner Pete Stone to Sweden to run ICM Europe. [24] In October, the agency purchased Stellar Group, the largest football/soccer agency in the world and rebranded it ICM Stellar Sports. [25] (Stellar Group CEO Jonathan Barnett was listed by Forbes as the No. 1 sports agent in the world by Forbes magazine in 2019.) [26]
In July 2021, ICM Partners and ICM Stellar Sports purchased one of the leading NFL representation agencies, Select Sports Group, a Texas based company headed up by Jeff Nalley and Erik Burkhardt. [27]
In September 2021, it was announced that ICM would be acquired by Creative Artists Agency (CAA). [28] The deal closed in June 2022 at a value of $750 million. Following the acquisition, 105 positions from ICM were set to be eliminated, with about 425 staffers and agents joining CAA. [29]
ICM Partners' television and motion picture departments represented film actors, actresses, directors and writers. The departments also featured a division dedicated to production professionals such as cinematographers, editors, second unit directors, composers, production designers, costume designers and visual effects supervisors. The television department also represented on-air and creative talent. [30] [31]
ICM Partners represented writers and editors including Patricia Cornwell, [32] Thomas Friedman, [33] Anna Quindlen, E.L. Doctorow, Walter Isaacson, Carl Hiaasen, Tom Bissell, [34] Anthony Swofford, Chris Cleave, Candace Bushnell, John Feinstein, [35] Ann Patchett, Carol Higgins Clark and Steve Martin. In addition, the agency represents the estates of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Arthur Miller, [36] E.B. White, and Tennessee Williams, among others. [37]
ICM Partners' concert and live appearances department represented artists in music and comedy as well as lecturers.[ citation needed ] ICM Partners acquired New York City speakers agency Royce Carlton, Inc. in 2017. [38] From the acquisition until late 2019, the lecture division still went by the Royce Carlton name. On October 16, 2019, the division rebranded to ICM Speakers and relocated to the Washington, D.C., office. ICM Speakers' division services included the management and representation of professional public speakers. A few notable clients included author Mitch Albom, [38] author Jon Meacham, TV host Karamo Brown, [39] and activist Nadia Murad. [40]
ICM Partners' global branded entertainment division's services ranged from celebrity endorsements, product placement, and music tour sponsorship [41] to brand integration, such as the creation and packaging of original branded films and television shows. [42] The agency's celebrity endorsements department serviced all ICM Partners' film and television talent for on-camera, print and voiceover commercial work as well as for paid media campaigns. [43]
Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With more than 3,000 employees in 25 countries worldwide in June 2022, CAA is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business, and manages numerous clients.
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The Endeavor Talent Agency was a Beverly Hills-based talent agency founded by Ari Emanuel, Rick Rosen, Tom Strickler, and David Greenblatt. It was launched in March 1995 and went on to represent a wide variety of acclaimed film and television stars. In April 2009, Emanuel and Endeavor executive Patrick Whitesell orchestrated a merger with the William Morris Agency, resulting in William Morris Endeavor. William Morris Endeavor was renamed Endeavor in October 2017.
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APA is one of the largest diversified talent agencies in the entertainment industry with headquarters in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto, and London. Founded in 1962 by a group of former MCA agents in New York, the company represents actors, writers, producers, showrunners, directors, performers, physical production services, film studios, as well as luxury and lifestyle brands across all media platforms worldwide. The agency also packages feature films and television series such as Away on Netflix, The Dublin Murders on Showtime, All Rise on CBS, and For Life on ABC, as well as classic TV series Home Improvement and Roseanne. APA was one of the first among the top 5 packaging agencies to sign The WGA's new franchise agreement on January 21, 2020, when the agency integrated its Television and Motion Picture departments under one APA Scripted Literary banner.
Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The company was founded in April 2009 after the merger of the William Morris Agency and Endeavor Talent Agency. Endeavor represents artists in film, television, music, theater, digital media, and publishing. It also represents the NFL and NHL. Endeavor owns Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and is majority owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) through TKO Group. In collegiate athletics Endeavor-Learfield IMG represents The American, A10, Big 12, Conference USA, Horizon League, MAC, MEAC, OVC, SEC and WCC.
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Marvin Josephson was an American talent agent and executive. He was the founder of International Creative Management.