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The Endeavor Talent Agency was a
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
-based talent agency founded by
Ari Emanuel Ariel Zev Emanuel (born 1961) is an American businessman and the CEO of Endeavor, an entertainment and media agency that owns the UFC. He was a founding partner of the Endeavor Talent Agency and was instrumental in shaping its June 2009 merger w ...
, Rick Rosen, Tom Strickler, and David Greenblatt. It was launched in March 1995 and went on to represent a wide variety of acclaimed film and television stars. In April 2009, Emanuel and Endeavor executive
Patrick Whitesell Patrick Whitesell (born February 4, 1965) is an American businessman and executive chairman of Endeavor, an entertainment and media agency. He joined the Endeavor Talent Agency as a partner in February 2001, where he was a member of the company ...
orchestrated a merger with the
William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...
, resulting in William Morris Endeavor. William Morris Endeavor was renamed Endeavor in October 2017.


History


Formation

The roots of Endeavor can be traced to
ICM Partners ICM Partners is a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C. and London. ICM (International Creative Management) Partners represents clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publi ...
, where founders Emanuel, Rosen, Strickler, and Greenblatt were all top television agents. In early 1995, they formed a plan to start their own agency, which was ultimately discovered by ICM Chairman Jeff Berg. On March 29, the four agents were fired from ICM and immediately formed Endeavor. The agency began operations on March 30, working mainly with television clients from an office above the former Islands Restaurant in South Beverly Hills. Co-founder Ari Emanuel and the Endeavor Agency were the basis for the character Ari Gold, and his Miller Gold Agency, on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
's ''
Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collect ...
''.


1996–2003: Expansion / Whitesell joins

In 1996, Endeavor moved to a new high-rise building at 9601 Wilshire Boulevard in
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
. Three new partners from CAA quickly joined the company: David Lonner, Doug Robinson, and Adam Venit. Lonner's clientele included the feature directors that Endeavor needed to solidify its standing as a full service agency. Robinson and Venit were the first actors' agents and had a client list that included
Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Sna ...
,
Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...
, and
David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...
(all of whom are now represented by WME). The Endeavor talent department grew dramatically during the next eight years, mainly with the 2001 addition of former CAA talent head,
Patrick Whitesell Patrick Whitesell (born February 4, 1965) is an American businessman and executive chairman of Endeavor, an entertainment and media agency. He joined the Endeavor Talent Agency as a partner in February 2001, where he was a member of the company ...
. Whitesell led the development of the agency's list of feature film headliners, with a talent pool that included
Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...
,
Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including ...
,
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
,
Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
, and
Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary C� ...
. The group also signed several comedy stars during that period, including
Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...
,
Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), better known by his stage name Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. In television, James played Doug Heffernan on ''The King of Queens'' from 1998 to 2007, and receieved a Primetime Emmy ...
, and
Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), '' The Th ...
.


2003–2009: Continued growth

By 2003, Endeavor had become one of the industry's fastest-growing talent agencies. In June of that year, they relocated to 9601 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, which is now the current headquarters of WME. The Wilshire office was designed by
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
professor and architect Neil Denari with wall graphics by 2x4 of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. For this project, ''NMDA Inc.'', the company of Neil Denari, and associate architect ''Interior Architects'' received the ''2007 Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture'' from the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to sup ...
(AIA). In 2006, agent Nancy Josephson left ICM after the company went through an ownership change. Endeavor quickly brought in Josephson and her clients ''
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lis ...
'' creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane,
Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-born American comedian, actor, writer, and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show '' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2005–2014), for which he won ...
,
Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...
, and director David Frankel. Soon after, ICM agents Matt Solo and Robert Newman joined as well. Solo's roster included ''
The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt poli ...
'' creator Shawn Ryan, while Newman's brought esteemed film directors
Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films '' Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for ...
,
Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...
,
Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...
and
Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
. 2008 brought four key additions from UTA, including talent agents Sharon Jackson and Nick Stevens. Their clients,
Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular chara ...
,
Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), '' Shallow Hal'' (2001), '' Orange County'' (2002), ''School of Rock'' (2003), '' ...
,
Jonah Hill Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including '' Superbad'' (2007), ''Knocked Up'' (2007), ''21 Jump Street'' (2012), '' This Is the End'' (2013 ...
,
Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy tro ...
, and
Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
, bolstered the agency's comedy department.


2009 - Present

In 2008, Emanuel and Whitesell began preliminary discussions with the William Morris Agency about a company merger. By April 2009, the announcement was made and William Morris Endeavor was formed. WMA ultimately relocated to Endeavor's Beverly Hills office and Emanuel and Whitesell retained the titles of Co-CEOs. Their successful partnership ultimately led '' Fortune'' to name Emanuel and Whitesell on their 2010 "Businessperson of the Year" list. Following the disappearance of Washington Post journalist
Jamal Khashoggi Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and '' The Washington Post'', and a g ...
on 2 October 2018, and reports that a Saudi hit squad had assassinated him, Endeavor vowed to sever its ties with Saudi Arabia. Emanuel reportedly called White House senior adviser and Trump son-in-law
Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a priv ...
to relay his frustration and discuss withdrawing the agency from a $400 million financial deal with the regime in Saudi Arabia.


References


External links

*


Further reading

* {{cite book, title= The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up, author= Rensin, David, ISBN =978-0345442345 Companies based in Beverly Hills, California 1995 establishments in California American companies established in 1995 Entertainment companies established in 1995 Entertainment companies based in California Talent and literary agencies