Hollywood was on red alert after CAA fired agent Dan Aloni and his top client, Christopher Nolan, left the agency as a result on Wednesday.
The veteran agent's other clients include Jim Carrey and directors Michel Gondry and Jay Roach, all of whom so far remain with the agency.
Also Read: Dan Aloni, Christopher Nolan's Agent, Fired From CAA (Updated)
Aloni brought Nolan, the writer-director of “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” to CAA from rival agency UTA in 2005. Nolan’s loyalty to his agent provides Aloni with considerable bargaining power if he is looking for another job.
News of Aloni’s firing sent shockwaves through Hollywood.
"Usually it’s the agent who leaves and surprises the agency,” a longtime former agent told TheWrap. “Now everybody in town is going to be going after Jim Carrey. It will go to a full scramble.”
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Several observers said that the agent didn’t seem to fit with the culture of CAA, which is known to require a team approach to representing clients.
“No one is above the culture,” a former client told TheWrap, adding that Aloni could be “impossible to work with.”
“When he is focused on you, it’s unbelievable,” the former client said. But he added that Aloni “thinks he’s a bigger star than the clients.”
Another former colleague said that Aloni had a "bullying" style that won him enemies among fellow agents, even if it was effective for his clients.
A former agent told TheWrap that CAA’s decision – and the way Aloni was publicly fired – was indicative of how seriously the company takes its culture. The agent was called out of a morning staff meeting and ultimately escorted from the building.
Now, the spotlight is on CAA and the next move by Aloni, his clients and Nolan in particular.
But Nolan is not the only high-value client who may be up for grabs. Others include directors David Dobkin, Luke Greenfield, Jay Roach, Michel Gondry, Robert Zemeckis, Tommy Schlamme, Morgan Spurlock and Tom Shadyac.
Aloni also worked on the teams of many prominent actors including: Brad Cooper, Robert De Niro, Will Ferrell, Demetri Martin and Jim Carrey.
Several individuals speculated that Aloni may land at WME – and said that he has already had conversations with that company’s chief Ari Emanuel.
WME had no comment Wednesday.
With a client like Nolan in tow, Aloni could write his own ticket and land at any agency, with the possible exception of UTA where he may have burned some bridges.
He also could set up shop on his own or move to a boutique agency such as Verve, where he would have little to no bureaucratic interference.
The upheaval at CAA comes two weeks after ICM opted not to renew the contracts of three agents in its literary department, Aaron Hart, Ava Jamshidi and Nick Harris. They will stay at the company through their contract periods.