Rick Nicita (born Charles Richard Nicita, 15 December 1945) is an American entertainment executive,

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...

, and motion picture/TV producer. Nicita is a former co-chairman and managing partner of

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

Career

William Morris Agency

Before turning exclusively to

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and consultation in 2017, Rick Nicita spent five decades as a professional

and manager starting May 1968 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 a ...

(WMA),

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 ...

, and later transferring to WMA's

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. Bev ...

offices in 1976. At WMA, Nicita started in the

mailroom A mailroom (US) or post room (UK) is a room in which incoming and outgoing mail is processed and sorted. Mailrooms are commonly found in schools, offices, apartment buildings, and the generic post office. A person who works in a mailroom is known a ...

and earned his full agenting position over time, a traditional rite of initiation. In a 2003 interview, Rick Nicita detailed his early days with William Morris: "I had dropped out of

Fordham Law School Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test tak ...

when I realized that very little of the study and practice of law interested me. I spent many weeks trying to figure out what I wanted to do--- not what I ''should'' do, or what was easiest, or what society wanted me to do, but what I ''wanted'' to do. I always loved movies so I decided that I would be in the movie business. I called a fraternity brother who was temporarily working at William Morris and asked him to help me get a job there. I didn't even know what an agent ''did''. I loved it the minute I started."

Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Rick Nicita left the William Morris Agency in 1980 to join then four year-old

, this after being hand-selected by CAA's leadership of the time, which included founders

Michael Ovitz Michael Steven Ovitz (born December 14, 1946) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was a talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as preside ...

and

Ronald Meyer Ronald Meyer (born September 25, 1944) is an American entertainment executive and former talent agent. He co-founded Creative Artists Agency in 1975, and served as the President and Chief Operating Officer at Universal Studios Inc. from 1995-2013 ...

. Nicita was later named co-chairman of CAA and then managing partner, all of this within the historical era in which CAA was considered the world's dominant talent agency. During his time with CAA, Rick Nicita maintained a client list that included

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...

Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performanc ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

Debra Winger Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the Westerns on television, western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (19 ...

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...

, and others.

Morgan Creek and RPMedia

Rick Nicita left Creative Artists Agency in 2008 to become Morgan Creek's Co-chairman and

COO COO or coo may refer to: Business * Certificate of origin, used in international trade * Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official * Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process ...

. Nicita departed Morgan Creek in 2011, later returning to talent representation via his self-created RPMedia shingle. (RP is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "Rick and Paula").

Personal life

Rick Nicita is the son of Frances (née Scapolito) and ed Nicita. Nicita was born in

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, New York. He and his family moved to Larchmont, New York in 1952, where he graduated from Mamaroneck High School, class of 1963. Nicita later attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

, graduating class of 1967. In 1969, Rick Nicita married

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra (acting), extra for a particular role or part in a scr ...

/producer

Wallis Nicita Wallis (derived from ''Wallace'') may refer to: People * Wallis (given name) **Wallis, Duchess of Windsor * Wallis (surname) Places * Wallis (Ambleston), a hamlet within the parish of Ambleston in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, United Kingdom * ...

(née Lindburg). They divorced in 1983. They had a son, Jesse, born 1979. In 1984, Rick Nicita and

Paula Wagner Paula Kauffman Wagner (born Paula Sue Kauffman) is an American film producer and film executive. Her most recent credits include the film ''Marshall'' starring Chadwick Boseman, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown, and Josh Gad as well as the Broad ...

were married. Wagner was a fellow CAA talent agent who later moved to producing via

Cruise/Wagner Productions Cruise/Wagner Productions, also abbreviated as C/W Productions, was an American independent film production company. It was founded by actor Tom Cruise and his agent Paula Wagner in July 1992. Wagner had been representing Cruise for eleven years be ...

, a company she formed with her then client, Tom Cruise. For many years, Rick Nicita and Paula Wagner were cited in the international media as "Hollywood's Power Couple". Nicita and Wagner remain married as of 2021. They have a son, Zachary, born 1987.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicita, Rick 1945 births American film producers American talent agents Living people American mass media company founders