William Morris Endeavor

In possibly the worst kept secret in Hwood history, the William Morris Agency and the Endeavor Talent Agency voted to merge today:

The new agency will operate under the moniker William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment as it positions itself as a challenger to dominate industry agency CAA.

The combination, uniting the venerable WMA, founded in 1898, and the upstart, 14-year-old Endeavor, will recharge WMA’s film and TV departments. Endeavor reps a wealth of talent, while WMA will bring its strengths in music, publishing and corporate representation to the party.

Endeavor started out in the mid-90s as a boutique lit agency, then evolved into a major player. William Morris is, well… William Morris.

The coupling will require months to become official due to regulatory review. Plus, it will take time to sort out all the bruised egos and trampled souls. In fact, that process has already begun:

On the Endeavor side, motion picture agent Tom Strickler, one of that firm’s founding partners, announced his resignation Monday morning. On the WMA side, motion picture agent David Lonner, who moved from Endeavor to WMA in 2003, is also leaving.

How this move shakes out with talent will be all the rage the next few months as WME attempts to fend off CAA, ICM, and UTA from poaching their clients.

Fun times in Bev Hills and Century City!

UPDATE: An LA Times article.

UPDATE #2: And a Daily Variety article to put things in perspective:

Meanwhile, the “majors” have reason to gloat. They have substantially beaten back the talent guilds. They have orchestrated major job cuts. They increasingly monopolize the key release dates. They have cut budgets of films and TV shows and sliced gross participation deals.

While production chiefs are keenly aware that the superstar talent pool is both finite and fragile, they believe they have the weapons to enforce their new cost structures.