ICM Partners was a talent and literary agency with offices in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The company represented clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publishing, live performance, branded entertainment and new media. Its corporate headquarters were in Constellation Place in

Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Cent ...

, Los Angeles.Vincent, Roger.
Energy cells help power Century City skyscraper
" ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. February 5, 2012. Retrieved on February 5, 2012. In 2022, ICM became part of

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency, LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous client ...

History

Formation and growth

International Creative Management was formed in 1975 through the merger of Marvin Josephson's International Famous Agency and Freddie Fields' Creative Management Associates (CMA). ICM's first president was Freddie Fields,USA Today: "Legendary producer/agent Freddie Fields dies" by John Rogers
December 12, 2007 although he did not last long in the role. Other important figures in the merger were Sam Cohn and

Guy McElwaine Guy McElwaine (June 29, 1936 – April 2, 2008) was a Hollywood agent, producer, and studio head. McElwaine played Minor League Baseball as a teenager, pitching in the C league in 1955 and leaving the game to join Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's publicity ...

of CMA. In 1985, ICM acquired London-based talent agency Duncan Heath Associates, which in 1991 merged with ICM London, with Heath became chairman of the merged company. "In 1992, Josephson passed control of ICM onto Jeff Berg, Sam Cohn, and Jim Wiatt, though Josephson maintained a leadership role and continued to represent personal clients." In 2005, the company raised a financing round of $75 million from

Rizvi Traverse Suhail R. Rizvi is an Indian-American businessman and co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Rizvi Traverse Management LLC. He has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and sits on the W ...

. In 2006, ICM acquired the literary agency Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann.

ICM Partners

In 2012, the agency completed a management buyout and formed a partnership with the new name, ICM Partners. In March 2018, ICM acquired the Just For Laughs comedy festival, as part of a partnership with Howie Mandel. A 51% majority was later sold to

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

and Groupe CH to maintain a primarily-Canadian ownership. In June that year, ICM formed a partnership with esports-focused talent agency Evolved. In December 2019, ICM Partners sold a one-third equity stake in the company to Crestview Partners, with the expressed goal to grow the company within the representation business with an emphasis on International growth. In March 2020, ICM partnered with Primary Talent International, a London-based music touring agency with over 700 touring clients. In August, they bought a significant minority interest in Albatros, a literary agency based in Stockholm and moved partner Pete Stone to Sweden to run ICM Europe. In October, the agency purchased Stellar Group, the largest football/soccer agency in the world and rebranded it ICM Stellar Sports. (Stellar Group CEO Jonathan Barnett was listed by Forbes as the No. 1 sports agent in the world by Forbes magazine in 2019.) In July 2021, ICM Partners and ICM Stellar Sports purchased one of the leading NFL representation agencies, Select Sports Group, a Texas based company headed up by Jeff Nalley and Erik Burkhardt.

Acquisition by CAA

In September 2021, it was announced that ICM would be acquired by

(CAA). The deal closed in June 2022 at a value of $750 million. Following the acquisition, 105 positions from ICM were set to be eliminated, with about 425 staffers and agents joining CAA.

Departments

Television and movies

ICM Partners' television and motion picture departments represented film actors, actresses, directors and writers. The departments also featured a division dedicated to production professionals such as cinematographers, editors,

second unit A second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming s ...

directors, composers, production designers, costume designers and visual effects supervisors. The television department also represented on-air and creative talent.'

Publishing

ICM Partners represented writers and editors including

Patricia Cornwell Patricia Cornwell (born Patricia Carroll Daniels; June 9, 1956) is an American crime writer. She is known for her best-selling novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, of which the first was inspired by a series of sensational murders ...

Thomas Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman ( ; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global ...

Anna Quindlen Anna Marie Quindlen (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, journalist, and opinion columnist. Her ''New York Times'' column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. Quindlen began her journalism career in 197 ...

, E.L. Doctorow,

Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American journalist who has written biographies of Henry Kissinger, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Jennifer Doudna and Elon Musk. As of 2024, Isaacson is a profes ...

Carl Hiaasen Carl Hiaasen (; born March 12, 1953) is an American journalist and novelist. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and by the late 1970s had begun writing novels in his spare time, both for adults and for middle grade readers. Two of his ...

, Tom Bissell, Anthony Swofford,

Chris Cleave Chris Cleave (born 1973) is a British writer and journalist. Biography Cleave was born in London on 14 May 1973, brought up in Cameroon and Buckinghamshire, and educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he st ...

Candace Bushnell Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for ''The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling ''Sex and the City'' anthology. The book was ...

, John Feinstein,

Ann Patchett Ann Patchett (born December 2, 1963) is an American author. She received the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, for her novel ''Bel Canto (novel), Bel Canto''. Patchett's othe ...

, Carol Higgins Clark and

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

. In addition, the agency represents the estates of Theodor Geisel ( Dr. Seuss),

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

, E.B. White, and

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

, among others.

Music, comedy, and lectures

ICM Partners' concert and live appearances department represented artists in music and comedy as well as lecturers. ICM Partners acquired New York City speakers agency Royce Carlton, Inc. in 2017. From the acquisition until late 2019, the lecture division still went by the Royce Carlton name. On October 16, 2019, the division rebranded to ICM Speakers and relocated to the Washington, D.C., office. ICM Speakers' division services included the management and representation of professional public speakers. A few notable clients included author Mitch Albom, author Jon Meacham, TV host Karamo Brown, and activist Nadia Murad.

Branded entertainment

ICM Partners' global branded entertainment division's services ranged from celebrity endorsements, product placement, and music tour sponsorship to brand integration, such as the creation and packaging of original branded films and television shows. The agency's celebrity endorsements department serviced all ICM Partners' film and television talent for on-camera, print and voiceover commercial work as well as for paid media campaigns.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.icmtalent.com 1975 establishments in California Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1975 Privately held companies of the United States Talent and literary agencies 2021 mergers and acquisitions