CAA Loses Agent--and Top Star--to Ovitz

In a move sure to fuel the war between Hollywood talent agents and managers, Michael Menchel resigned from Creative Artists Agency to join former boss Michael Ovitz in his new management company, sources said Wednesday. And Menchel is taking some key clients with him, top among them actor Robin Williams.

Williams, who stars in Universal’s current box-office hit “Patch Adams,” is one of Hollywood’s highest-paid movie stars, making $20 million a picture. A star of his stature is a big loss to an agency, which commands a 10% commission on every job an actor gets.

It is unclear whether Williams intends to also retain his longtime manager David Steinberg, but it seems unlikely he would pay full fees to both. Managers typically charge a 15% commission.

Menchel’s move to leave agenting and take his clients to Ovitz’s newly launched Artists Management Group (AMG) will no doubt trigger all-out war between Ovitz and the management of CAA, the agency he co-founded and built into Hollywood’s most powerful talent house over the last decade.

Ovitz and his two former CAA co-founding partners, Ron Meyer and Bill Haber, are still the principal owners of the I.M. Pei-designed building occupied by CAA in Beverly Hills.

Neither Ovitz nor Menchel could be reached for comment late Wednesday.

CAA partner Bryan Lourd confirmed that Menchel had resigned and that Williams and some of his other clients would be leaving. He declined further comment.

Menchel, who started in the mail room and has worked at CAA for 22 years, also represents Dennis Hopper and directors John McTiernan and Joe Johnston--all of whom are expected to join him.

The 44-year-old Menchel is the first senior hire made by Ovitz since officially launching his new management company a few weeks ago with the young brother and sister-in-law team of Rick Yorn and Julie Silverman Yorn.

Rick Yorn represents such young Hollywood stars as Leonardo Di Caprio, Cameron Diaz and Claire Danes.

Daily Variety recently reported that Ovitz’s former CAA director clients Barry Levinson and Martin Scorsese are also joining AMG. According to the trade paper, Scorsese will retain CAA for his agency representation, while Levinson has not had an agent for a while. He was previously at International Creative Management and before that was a longtime Ovitz client.

Ovitz left CAA in 1995 to become president of Walt Disney Co. He left that job after a rocky 14 months.