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The reps had 6 months to go on their 2-year contracts with Creative Artists Agency. But CAA nevertheless cut loose their top licensing agents Mike Stein and Dana Smith after only 1 1/2 years of employment. They’d been hired from an Orange County firm by CAA partner Kevin Huvane for the so-called Lifestyle Department that builds businesses around clients through licensing, endorsements, branding, etc. An insider tells me: “They’d come highly recommended and were nice enough guys and seemed like a great addition. But they did not fit in at all culturally.” UPDATE: Among the inside-the-agency complaints alleged were that things they said were perceived as un-PC.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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That’s what you get for hiring people from Orange County. Bush Country, hello?
Its actually Nixon Country. Get your facts straight TOM!
Duh, Reagan. Winning!
Reagan country is Simi Valley not OC
For a moment there I thought you said “get your fascists straight” which would have been awesome!
Get your fascists straight, would have been better.
No that’s not everybody at a hollywood talent agency; that’s everybody in orange county! Kevin Huvane should have known better!
Haha. True!
They were my agents by default after the entire licensing team was let go when they came in to “reinvigorate” it. The WORST agents ever. They would always say “we’re the big dogs..people come to us! We’re CAA!” and I finally just said, “so do Big Dogs also have small penises or something?”
Dudes had to go.
That’s what you get for driving a Lexus.
And what do you drive? The generic brand for unrepresented “talent?” hahahahhaha.
Looks like the Bentley guys are safe for now.
Bye-bye suckers!
OMG hilarious comments people – glad we can all conclude Lexus, Orange county and douche are synonymous.
Good riddance.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dana-smith/5/4b4/b96
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mike-stein/4/968/9a8
At Linked-In, Mr. Smith said he was a principle at his former company. Fortunately for him, he’s been working a spell and not spelling to work.
Reagan Country. Let’s try the 80s this time, and see if that tired joke works.
Most of the commentary is shallow and bitchy. I know both of these guys and they are smart licensing pros who are more about substance than the shallow flash and schmoozing necessary to survive at that ridiculous marble pit of plastic dreams and candy coated celebutards. Who cares about their politics or their choice in automobiles? last time I checked, licensing was a marketing tool. Were they getting the job done? That is all that matters.
Wow!!! is all I can say. What a bunch of little children you guys are. Grow up and grow a pair.
I think the real reason they got fired, not because they were from Orange county , but it was because of what’s going on in the world, news in the last few months, and many more to come, the human suffering, turmoil, rising death tolls in practically every part of the world, the worries over nuclear radiation in every country and perhaps more natural disaster coming, domestic tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding, international earthquakes etc….right now is not the right time for celebrity lifestyle, or enodorsements, branding etc….so they cut budget and saved money from salaries not being paid….it’s that simple, CAA shouldn’t have lied and said something else, even wall street, billionare, to multi millionares, investors are selling off like mad! It had nothing to do with where they’re from, I know for a fact there are agents working at CAA born, raised in the midwest, and immigrants from other countries as well, some surf in Huntington beach, not so posh or cultured, but they didn’t get laid off! Only lifestyle section got canned, they needed solid ground to fire or else they had to keep them on! Don’t believe everything people tell you!
Un-PC?. Anti-tolerance strikes again- if they only want people that fit in “culturally” then their stupid culture will never change. I get the sense from the comments that the only people that are welcome in Hollywood are those that think ONE way, tow the PC line, and bow at the alter of liberal religion. Boring. Where’s the love for diversity?
I had the opportunity to cover Mike Stein’s desk for 2 months. Both he and Dana were two of the kindest and amicable agents in the office, hands down. Not a modicum of sleaze, racism or sexism from either one of them. They were, and still are, good guys. I hate to see them go. I never worked with them on the business end, so I can’t speak on that behalf, but as individauls each had great character.
Mike took an interest in my career, which he certainly didn’t have to do, and helped me land my next job. It truly is sad when people log onto this site and bash people they don’t know…
William Morris had a great licensing and marketing guy heading up this area before they outsourced it to a licensing agency. The internal guy knew what he was doing, and was both strategic and creative. The outside agency was a disaster and they’ve never refocused in on it. Could be very lucrative. The CAA guys had huge egos and didn’t produce shit.
we really don’t know the facts here…but what we do know is that people who have associated with these guys in the past have an opinion ……i am one of those people and i can honestly say they suck and i am not suprised what goes around comes around!!!