 michael s. ovitz (born december 14, 1946) is an american talent agent who co-founded creative artists agency (caa) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. ovitz later served as president of the walt disney company from october 1995 to january 1997. ==early life== ovitz was born to a jewish familynew york times: "michael ovitz is on the line" by lynn hirschberg may 09, 1999 in chicago, illinois, the son of a liquor wholesaler. raised in encino, california, he attended birmingham high school in van nuys, a classmate of sally field. while a pre-med student at ucla, he began his entertainment career as a part-time tour guide at universal studios. upon graduating from ucla in 1968 with a degree in theater, film, and television, he secured a job in the mailroom at the william morris agency. within a year he was promoted, becoming a highly successful television agent. six years later, he and four other young colleagues left william morris to found creative artists agency. ==creative artists agency== ovitz founded creative artists agency in 1975 along with fellow william morris agents ron meyer, bill haber, rowland perkins, and mike rosenfeld. borrowing only $21,000 from a bank, the agents rented a small office, conducting business on card tables and rented chairs, their wives taking turns as agency receptionist. under his direction, caa quickly grew from a start-up organization to the worldâs leading talent agency, expanding from television into film, investment banking, and advertising. ovitz was known for assembling âpackage dealsâ, wherein caa would utilize its talent base to provide directors, actors and screenwriters to a studio, thus shifting the negotiating leverage from the studios to the talent.{{citation|last=cieply|first=michael|title=inside the agency - how hollywood works: creative artists agency and the men who run it|newspaper
1946_births American_media_executives American_talent_agents Businesspeople_from_Chicago,_Illinois Businesspeople_from_Los_Angeles,_California Disney_people Jewish_American_art_collectors Living_people University_of_California,_Los_Angeles_alumni