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EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: I’m told that Jon Hamm is going “nowhere right now. He’s finishing up Mad Men and then will take [agency] meetings in early December.”
PREVIOUS: The leadership of ICM Partners made a calculated – and now clearly foolish – risk when it decided not to offer longtime agent Carol Bodie a partnerership during its management buyout completed last May. Last week the agency exited Bodie. And today its marquee client, AMC’s Mad Men star Jon Hamm, followed her out ICM’s door after a decade there. So did Bodie’s Lincoln and Jack Reacher actor David Oyelowo. It’s not clear yet whether the 41-year-old Hamm will stick with Bodie and/or sign with another agency. But what Hamm’s departure does spotlight is that ICM partners’ ruling duo Chris Silbermann and Rick Levy couldn’t hang on to one of the agency’s highest profile actors who has a long career ahead of him as a high-earning movie and/or TV star. But his movie career has been thwarted by the shooting schedule of Mad Men. Once the Lionsgate show ends, then the versatile Hamm who is equally adept at comedy and drama will have the luxury of choosing from a broader array of film roles to no doubt become a movie superstar – as well as keep his hand in TV if that’s what he desires. It’s like watching prestige depart through the tenpercentery door – not to mention dollars that ICM Partners desperately need to keep funding its financial restructuring. (The agency keeps lagging WME, CAA, UTA in new scripted TV packages at recent upfronts.) Bad news travels fast in Hollywood, and this client loss was kept under wraps for Friday’s end along with an agent shuffle.
Related: ICM’s Andrew Francis Joins UTA Licensing
Related: Longtime Agent Carol Bodie Leaving ICM
Related: Jeff Berg Leaving ICM To Start Own Agency In Month’s Time
Related: ICM Management Buyout Complete
Also expected to leave ICM are Al Pacino, Roman Polanski, and other Jeff Berg clients now that the longtime Chairman took a buyout and is setting up his own boutique agency. Hamm has received 5 Emmy nominations playing Don Draper on AMC’s Mad Men. His other recent TV credits include comic turns on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live and his recent film credits include The Town, Bridesmaids, and Friends With Kids.
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Carol is a beautiful artist…her oil paintings are shockingly good…she should quit this ugly business and start painting full time…i would love to own one of her paintings.
Jon Hamm could be a huge movie star he needs to do a big action movie to get to Bruce Willis or Harrison Ford level. I’d love to see him do the Matt Helm movie he looks exactly like the Matt Helm of the novels and they have a great script for Matt Helm. It’s stuck in limbo at Paramount because it was developed at DreamWorks. At one point Spielberg was interested in directing it. Jon Hamm is Matt Helm.
Carol Bodie is a classy agent with too much taste for ICM. An agency where the so called head (silbermann) walks around yelling and cursing all day long is not a place which can actually be taken seriously anyways. Who does actually run that joint? For the sake of all their employees they better hope it’s not levy, I’m still not even sure who he is or what he does.
Silbermann also wears tight t shirts while yelling and cursing. And pushing people. Bully.
Stick with Ms. Bodie, Mr. Hamm – as you already know, there is no one classier, more intelligent, sophisticate and sensible – and NO, I don’t share a client with her, nor am I related – just a long term fan.
The ICM brand has such a bad stink on it there is no way any of the agents there can sign new clients. The bad news just keeps piling on…
While Bodie continues to guide the career of an actual star, ICM will continue to pretend they can sign stars.
Hey, at least Levy and Silberman had their names mentioned in this piece. Maybe more people will know who they are now.
No matter what you say, Chris Silbermann is a stand up guy which is more than you can say about most agency heads. That plus his intelligence and persistence will make ICM Partners successful for a long time. Your loss Mr. Hamm.
Stand up guy? He loses all of his young agents and clients. Is that because they just don’t see how much of a stand up guy he is?
Does anyone actually even consider Silbermann to be an agency head?
ha ha ha. the only head he is, is bald. standup guy? he’s a poser, homophobic and only cares about the next party and getting himself a table. He’s done nothing for the community, hasn’t given his time or money to charity and his track record at ICM speaks for itself.
Jon Hamm on the market! We will get a meeting.
ICM will be forced to merge with another agency by the end of 2013. There’s no need for ICM any longer. They would all be better off if they merged with UTA to form a much bigger and better agency.
or gersh, or apa, or paradigm – they are all mediocre as well and could use a boost. c’mon sam, get out your brothers checkbook.
How dare you… Gersh is not mediocre!!!
you’re both tasteless. Hamm is a phenomenal actor
He’s a great actor, but it’s not like he’s Brad Pitt! This article makes it out like the future of ICM has been put in jeopardy now. If they aren’t able to weather the loss of Jon Hamm they should fold it in.
first step is admitting there is a problem and the partners there dont actually believe there is a problem. let them keep praying for tv packages and dancing with the stars musical tours.
The only people loyal to Silbermann are that pudgy kid who is now a baby tv agent and levy. Everyone else knows he is a fool.
Parts of this article feel like they were written by a mental patient–especially the part that insists Jon Hamm will most certainly go on to be a huge feature star. I’ve met and spoken to the man and a) he doesn’t seem to have that ambition at all abd b) he seems very aware that the massive critical and cultural success could be a peak for him. He’s not trying to be the next Clooney, that’s for sure, and ICM got him a pretty great episodic fee given MM’s low viewership. In the long run Shonda Rhymes is going tombe worth 10-20 times as much as Hamm to an agency.
Not every agent belongs in administration. Although they think because they are income producers that they should be in such positions. That was a big problem with the old WMA not only were there agents on the board that didn’t belong there but there were to many of the old guard as well. Agenting and administrating an agency are two completely different skill sets. There are of course some agents that do both well but most agents can’t even read a profit and loss statement. The majority of them don’t come from a business administration background so they lack the skill set. The other problem agents have is they tend to think of themselves first as opposed to the community of the company. That is not a good trait for the management of other business people. What many agents only find after their departure due to not getting what they want is that they can struggle for years after that trying to get their agenting business back up to speed because they enter into new companies that don’t always provide them with the same environment that played such important roll for them from the start. That’s not to say that all don’t make the transition.
I agree with this completely (and would say the same applies to any service business, including law firms, investment banks and advertising agencies), but I don’t necessarily agree about the old WMA (depending on how far back you’re going). Pre-Wiatt I thought that WMA’s administration typically came up through the agency’s accounting and legal departments, which do have the administrative chops to run an agency from a business point of view. Would you mind clarifying your point; I’m genuinely curious.
Agents are vampires.
I don’t get Jon Hamm at all. I think he is actually quite boring and average. I also don’t think he will be a huge film star. He is lucky he got Mad Men, I know he was toiling around for a number of years before he finally got his break.
If i were carol bodie, i’d be dancin. she hasnt gotten this much play in her entire career. after reading all these comments, i think we can all agree on the following:
1) ICM partners is in serious trouble, due to lack of leadership and actual clients. the question will be, is there anyone smart enough there to stop the bleeding?? i think we can also agree that answer is no.
2) jon hamm should distance himself from this entire team, bodie included, and get some new blood on his team, perhaps even his management.
3) if carol bodie were that talented, she’d have a better list and be at a different agency long ago.
You must work at wme or caa… Oh and Bart Walker….really? Reallllly?
Rick Levy is the 2012 Irv Weintraub.
That’s a pretty low blow to Irv; I think he deserves better.
did i see hamm with berg the other day on the westside?
hey dancinwithoutstars:
Jon Hamm is doing just fine with his current team…he’s making a fortune with MadMen and he has movies lined up for his next two hiatuses…
Carol is old school in terms of shying away from Press at all costs…she believes her clients should be in the public not their reps so she doesn’t court the press as others love to do.
and 3) the other 3 agencies are awful places to work….she is brave and courageous to get out of ICM and start a new thing…how many people have the balls to do that?
ICM partners has been in serious trouble for some time now, stories like this just bring attention to it. Sinking ship…
Forever and ever, this is always how the agency business works. Look at the recent Bill Cosby defection to CAA, after 25 years at WMA. ICM will replace Hamm, who honestly has really been just a tv actor. His films have all been average at best – and he’s not in the “He can open a film” league yet. A fine actor no doubt. Jeff Berg’s new outfit is Hamm’s best bet. New energy, new blood, ability to make decisions on the spot, and all the connections needed. Berg’s biggest challenge in the beginning will be the whole “packaging” concept – where you can piggyback actors on to shows where they might not have other ways to get on those same shows. The packaging concept still rules today in film, tv and music. Onwards folks.
hamm a movie star? carol bodie a good agent? Seriously? Are you guys all high?