Top 10 of Hollywood’s most powerful Managers and Agents for 2020

Every year we see movement in who are the most influential Talent Agents and Managers in the entertainment industry. Even though this year was tough on the industry, because of the pandemic, which causing many projects and deals to be curtailed. We also saw many of the top agencies Sr. Management leave their agencies starting their own or being furloughed. In spited of all this, we were able to narrow our yearly list to the Top 10 most influential agents and managers in the industry.

As usual we reached out to many industry stake-holders for their views and opinions. The Agents and Managers listed below are responsible for representing and negotiating deals this year for their clients in the industry as well as moving their respective agencies forward during the pandemic which were tough endeavors and therefore are well qualified to make our list. It is important to note that being ranked in the top of the industry and helping their clients becoming successful, they also get a sizable chunk of the money that their talent receives.

Below is our official list of the 10 most influential Agents and Managers in the entertainment industry:

10 — SAM GORES — PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY

Sam Gores’ agency, Paradigm, may be small, but it is well respected and prestigious. He doesn’t personally represent many big-name stars, but he oversees all of the negotiations with his agency’s clients.

His famous roster includes Gary Oldman, Katherine Heigl, Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Garcia, Adrien Brody.Gore also represents many musical acts like Aerosmith, the Dave Matthews Band, and the Black Eyed Peas.

His deal-making skills have helped make him filthy rich and we estimate from publicly available information that his worth is close to $50 million.

9 — CRIAG ROGALSKI — CK TALENT

Craig Rogalski is the founder of the Agency; he is a Sr. Agent that is well liked by talent and respected by fellow professionals in the industry. Many of his clients call him a father figure to them. Little more is known about him publicly as he prefers to give his talent the spotlight instead of himself. However, we were able to gather some publicly available information which puts him and his spouses worth at over 200 million dollars, excluding his Agency holdings at CK Talent. The agency has risen to be one of the top and most respected international agencies in the industry.

This year under his leadership the agency was rated by Barrons and the WSJ as being one of the key players in talent representation in Europe. The same publications also raised CK Talent’s representation market share in the US to just under WME’s market share beating out three other agencies that have held those coveted spots.

He gained interest in the industry this year after signing Princess Diana’s Aunt, Mr. India (runner up) and a former Bachelor to a multi-year exclusive representation agreement with his agency. During COVID he also closed several multi-picture deals for his actors.

8 — JIM WIATT — (FORMER) WME

Jim Wiatt worked for one of the top four agencies — International Creative Management — for years, before shaking up Hollywood. Wiatt helped merged WME with Endeavor. His help with the merger made William Morris a worthy contender against the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Wiatt client list included Eddie Murphy, John Travolta, Tommy Lee Jones, Willie Nelson, 50 Cent, Ryan Seacrest, and Jenny McCarthy, among others.

7 — TRACEY JACOBS — UNITED TALENT AGENCY

Tracey Jacobs became the co-head of talent and one of the six partners at UTA . They way she manages has helped many talent in their comebacks including most notably Jason Bateman, and also managed to give veteran actor William L. Peterson a spot with the well-known show CSI.

6 — BRIAN SWARDSTROM — UNITED TALENT AGENCY

Brian Swardstrom has bounced around the industry a bit, but he’s always been well-respected within the community. The former head of Endeavor’s talent department, and he then moved on to a four-year stint with William Morris (WME). He is now a partner at United Talent Agency.

5 — PATRICK WHITESELL — WME

Patrick Whitesell is the co-CEO of WME. Whitesell and his other WME co-CEO have been credited with “rewriting the way things are done in Hollywood,”

4 — RICHARD LOVETT — CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY

Richard Lovett is considered by many to be the most powerful agent in the most powerful agency in Hollywood. He took over as head of CAA in 1995, at the age of 41. He’s credited with the success of many of the leading actors in today’s blockbusters, making him very, very rich. He is also credit with helping to re-shape the industry on how the industries unions work with talent agencies and also shaping how the industry will evolve post pandemic.

3 — BRYAN LOURD — CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY

Bryan Lourd, has been a partner, Managing Director, and Co-Chairman of CAA since 1995. He is also credit like his partner Lovett above, with helping to re-shape the industry on how the industries unions work with talent agencies and also shaping how the industry will evolve post pandemic.

2 — ARI EMANUEL — WME

Ari Emanuel though he is best known as the inspiration behind the foul-mouthed agent Ari Gold in the former show Entourage. He is credited with helping to put WME back to the forefront of talent agencies.

Ari Emanuel had his sights set on becoming the King of Hollywood ever since he famously planned to start his own agency with other top agents at ICM, was found out, and fired. Over the past few years he is credited with expanding Edeavor Group holding to finalizing a deal to hold a substantial stake in the UFC and various other sports related groups.

1 — KEVIN HUVANE — CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY

Kevin Huvane though he is co-partner of the biggest agency in Hollywood, Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Huvane has the most diverse, enviable client roster of any agent in Hollywood. He is credited with keep that famous roster in-line and keeping his roster intact while others rosters have a revolving door feel to them. His clients include Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Aniston, Orlando Bloom, Uma Thurman, Sarah Jessica Parker, and more.

He is a true super-agent and has a hold on Hollywood’s elite. He also is a great judge about who is in and who is out, more so than any other agent or agency. He is worth $50 million.