The Agent Dance: Ari Poaches From ICM?
A concerned operative just sent word that ICM's motion picture agents have been called into an emergency meeting, the purpose of which was unknown to our informant. (Layoffs? Unexpected shortage at the baby buffet? Emergency recall of those cute little clocks everyone got for Christmas because their mechanical innards are carcinogenic?) But another source tells us that the meeting was to announce that motion picture head Robert Newman (rep of Francis Ford Coppolla, Jonathan Demme, and a bunch of other high-profile directors, according to Studio System) has been poached by Endeavor, but that's all we've heard. Developing...
UPDATE: The LA Weekly's Nikki Finke reports that Newman and ICM TV literary head Matt Solo have both joined Ari Emanuel's happy agenting family, where they will be partners. Bonus poaching points: Finke says Newman and chairman Jeff Berg were "very close," making Endeavor's agent theft even sweeter.