Michael Orvitz returns to Hollywood

Back when he was running creative Artists Agency, founder Michael Ovitz would hand out copies of Sun-tzu’s The Art of War to his staff. The ancient Chinese book of combat philosophy was his operating manual, and it looks like he’s still thumbing its pages.

Making the most of such Sun-tzu preachings as ”A wise general feeds off the enemy,” Ovitz, 52, made a surprise return to Hollywood last fall, forming Artists Management Group (AMG). Since then, he’s taken on CAA in one of the bloodiest wars in recent Hollywood history, catching Claire Danes, Lauren Holly, Minnie Driver, Marisa Tomei, Mimi Rogers, Sydney Pollack, and Martin Scorsese, among other current and former CAA clients, in the crossfire.

After unsuccessfully casting himself as a Disney president, a theatrical producer, and, lately, a football-team owner, Ovitz — no doubt inspired by another Sun-tzu saying, ”Turn misfortune into advantage” — has carved out a new role for himself, that of personal manager. Considered the new Hollywood moguls — everyone from Harrison Ford to Jackie Chan has one — personal managers can be financial partners with their clients on projects, whereas agents function more like employees. Shortly after forming AMG, Ovitz partnered with hotshot manager Rick Yorn and recruited Yorn’s sister-in-law, Julie Silverman Yorn, away from Industry Entertainment, essentially becoming the overlord of such sizzling talents as Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Anna Paquin, Danes, Matt Dillon, and Samuel L. Jackson. Not a bad start. At the same time, according to CAA prez Richard Lovett, Ovitz told him he wouldn’t handle CAA clients.

As Sun-tzu says, ”All warfare is based on deception.”

Ovitz began to raid his old stomping ground in mid-January when he signed such CAA-repped talents as Scorsese and Pollack. Things might have ended there, but then Ovitz lured away Robin Williams (and his heavyweight agent Michael Menchel), forcing CAA’s Young Turks to mount an intifada against their ex-boss. In a surprisingly bold maneuver, CAA announced it would not represent any client managed by AMG. Already, Scorsese, Tomei, and Rogers have decided to jettison CAA and stay with Ovitz. Danes plans to leave longtime manager Yorn and stay with CAA. At press time, there’s been no word on what Holly, Driver, or Pollack will do.

The squabble between the agency and Ovitz’s management company has prompted Hollywood’s talent guilds and California lawmakers to examine the largely unregulated world of personal management. Managers usually earn 15 percent for providing more one-on-one services and often receive additional fees for producing their clients’ films and TV shows. Agents, on the other hand, are licensed by the state, can take only 10 percent of clients’ income, and are legally prohibited from producing projects.