Creative Artists Agency is in trouble. They’ve laid off 90 agents and executives, and furlough 275 employees. They’ve also moved out of their offices in Century City, a building known as the Death Star that they built, completely replacing the Century City Mall and movie theater (where I once lost my car in the parking lot on a first date, but that’s another story).

CAA, as it is known throughout the world, holds itself out as the number 1 agency, the Big Guys on the block. But they are human, just like WME, ICM, and everyone else. Right now, Hollywood is closed. There are no deals, very little is shooting or even in pre-production. This news is not unexpected but pretty upsetting. Below the following Universal item I’ve printed the message to CAA employees.

Universal Pictures made a deal with AMC Theaters so their movies can play there if we ever return to business.  AMC has agreed that Universal can put their big movies on streaming and VOD just three weeks after they play in theaters. There are undisclosed sums that will travel from Universal to AMC to compensate them. Also, Universal can only put the films on VOD for $20, they can’t put them on DVD or stream them on Netflix. But all this is a BIG deal, and will probably spread to the other studios. Will it be all their films? Not really. But if Universal has  good mid level picture that isn’t picking up physical audiences and has really good reviews, this is a way to get it to broader audiences.

“The theatrical experience continues to be the cornerstone of our business,” said Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. “The partnership we’ve forged with AMC is driven by our collective desire to ensure a thriving future for the film distribution ecosystem and to meet consumer demand with flexibility and optionality.”

Here’s the CAA message to the troops:

“CAA began working remotely earlier this year due to the pandemic. Everyone at the company participated in reducing compensation with the hope that we could keep all employees financially whole through the end of our fiscal year, September 30th, 2020.

We are honoring that commitment, including for those impacted by today’s announcement.

But, with greater visibility into the COVID-19 challenges of fiscal year 2021, we have made the difficult decision to implement workforce reductions, in addition to our ongoing cost-saving measures.

Effective this week, approximately 90 agents and executives from departments across the agency will be leaving. In addition, we are furloughing approximately 275 assistants and other staff. The company will continue to fully pay the health plan premiums for those being furloughed.

This is a painful and unprecedented moment, and words are insufficient. Today, we simply say that we extend our sincere appreciation and deepest gratitude to our departing colleagues.”

If anyone wants talk about this from the agency, confidentiality guaranteed, send me a message at showbiz411@gmail.com

Some updates on the crazy world of movie releasing:

Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” is still without a release date in the US. But Warners will unveil it around the world in about 70 countries at the end of August, on the 26th. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom are on the list. China, so far, is not. No word on whether they’ll be an “Inception” screening in those places a week or two before.

The word is some theaters in North America will get “Tenet” on September 2nd. Toronto? They’re in North America. But if Warners can’t open the movie in New York or Los Angeles, the whole thing could backfire. And we don’t want that!

Two time Oscar winner Frances McDormand stars in Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” for Fox, er, Disney Searchlight. The studio will show it at Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals, somehow. And Telluride will have a drive in screening in Los Angeles. McDormand just won an Oscar two seasons ago with Fox Searchlight’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Sounds like she’ll be in the running for another one!

Zhao adapted “Nomadland” from journalist Jessica Bruder’s 2017 non-fiction book “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century.”  McDormand and producer Peter Spears’ acqured the literary adaptation rights shortly after publication. The film follows Fern (McDormand), a woman who, after the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. The film features real nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West.