Primary Talent International Exists the CAA for Indie Climes

 With the takeover deal for ICM Partners finally inked, it seems the ramifications have yet to play out in full. This week we see UK-based Primary Talent International, previously an ICM-owned talent agency, break away from the new CAA leadership to go back to its previous indie model. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, has the full details. 

Brandon Blake


Returning to Roots

Primary Talent International was founded in 1990 as an independent agency, but was bought out by ICM just before the disruptions of the pandemic hit. While the CAA’s $750M deal to acquire ICM Partners completed last year, the smaller talent agency will now breakaway once again, with a buyout offer made to the CAA for the firm. With them will go 460 clients, mostly in the music industry and including names like Lana Del Rey, The Cure, and Patti Smith.


The original acquisition was part of a bid by ICM Partners to extend their international reach, especially in the live events and touring arenas. It’s a small portion of the assets CAA acquired, but it is worth noting that Endeavour, a key rival, posted their live entertainment division as one of their big earners in the last quarter. 

Returning Officially to their Own Banner

Despite the acquisition by ICM, Primary Talent International continued to trade and run independently instead of being absorbed into their ICM Music banner. The firm will not be taking on outside financing after the split, either. While this is possibly the largest split we’ve seen as a result of the CAA/ICM merger, they aren’t alone, with several other ICM agents of various profiles opting to leave for boutique firms or other management firms. Some of this can be blamed on the lengthy stalemate in the acquisition caused by a lengthy antitrust review from the Department of Justice. While it is understandable for such a high-profile merger, the effective unofficial hiatus on ‘business as usual’ for key parts of ICM it caused made for a lot of resentment.


Will this be the last of that fallout? It’s hard to say, with many still a bit bitter about the long period of uncertainty they operated under. It’s certainly making for some interesting shifts in the representation landscape.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Kung Fu Panda 4 the Key to a Reinvigorated 2024 Box Office?

Image
 With Dune: Part Two having finally powered up the 2024 box office, it's time to build on that impetus if the wider box office recovery is to continue. There could be another strong contender lurking in the wings for this weekend’s releases- but it will doubtless surprise you to learn that this hope lies with the fourth installment of the animated Kung Fu Panda saga! Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, has more on this ironic twist for us.                                                                          Brandon Blake Two $40M Grosses on the Cards For the first time since July 2023 and the Barbenheimer dual release, we have a chance at not one, but two, films grossing over $40M this weekend. In fact, those figures may top $50M! While Dune: Part Two...
Read more

Netflix Ad Tier Turns in Fantastic Growth

Image
 What a difference half a year can make! With Netflix’s ad-supported subscription tier first launched only 18 months ago, the streamer has managed to nearly double its subscriber base since the start of 2024. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer , Brandon Blake, fills in the details. Brandon Blake Impressive Subscriber Gains Netflix’s total subscribers for the ad-supported tier now number 40 million monthly active users. In January 2024, it was 23 million. The streamer was understandably gleeful to reveal this news at its first in-person Upfronts presentation in New York earlier this month. At its first-ever Upfronts presentation, which was held digitally in 2023, the ad tier had 5 million monthly active users.   Additionally, we were told that 40% of active signups now opt for the ad-supported plan, in countries where it is currently available. Of course, much of this can be attributed to a rather kind price ($7 domestically) for this tier, well below most of ...
Read more

Hulu on Disney+ is Officially Here

Image
While the Hulu on Disney+ Beta bundle has been live since last year, we have officially reached the point of full integration. Intriguingly, much of the executive focus on the new bundle has been around the technical advancements needed to unite the two platforms. You could take a look at entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake, from Blake & Wang P.A., looks in more depth at the united offering.                                              Brandon Blake Technical Advancements While few viewers are likely to know (or care, frankly) about the backstage technology that powers their viewing experience, Disney executives have been keen to hammer home the potential for happier, healthier subscriber engagement and retention with the new tech shift. They have gone as far as to call it the “most extensive technical advancement” since launch. At this point, it is clear that they ...
Read more