Powerhouse

The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency

By: James Andrew Miller

Narrated by: James Andrew Miller, Kirby Heyborne, Ann Richardson

Length: 25 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

An astonishing - and astonishingly entertaining - behind-the-curtain history of Hollywood's transformation over the past five decades as seen through the agency at the heart of it all, from the number-one best-selling author of Live from New York and Those Guys Have All the Fun.

In 1975, five young employees of a sclerotic William Morris agency left to start their own strikingly innovative talent agency. In the years to come, Creative Artists Agency would vault from its origins in a tiny office on the last block of Beverly Hills to become the largest and most imperial, groundbreaking, and star-studded agency Hollywood has ever seen - a company whose tentacles now spread throughout the world of movies, music, television, technology, advertising, sports, and investment banking far more than previously imagined.

Powerhouse is the fascinating, no-holds-barred saga of that hot-blooded ascent. Drawing on unprecedented and exclusive access to the men and women who built and battled CAA as well as financial information never before made public, acclaimed author James Andrew Miller spins a tale of boundless ambition, ruthless egomania, ceaseless empire building, drugs, sex, greed, and personal betrayal. Powerhouse is also a story of prophetic brilliance, magnificent artistry, singular genius, entrepreneurial courage, strategic daring, foxhole brotherhood, and how one firm utterly transformed the entertainment business. Here are the real Star Wars - complete with a Death Star - told through the voices of those who were actually there. Packed with scores of stars from movies, television, music, and sports as well as a tremendously compelling cast of agents, studio executives, network chiefs, league commissioners, hedge fund managers, tech CEOs, and media tycoons, Powerhouse is itself a Hollywood blockbuster of the most spectacular sort.

©2016 James Andrew Miller (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Solid Story, Questionable Voice Work

Here's the good: excellent insight into the business of Hollywood, TV and broadcast sports. You won't come away with a ton of hard business skills from this book other than be nice to people and value relationships over everything, but I found great value in the telling of CAA's early years led by their founders. In short, the origins of the CAA story is about the American Dream, friendship (or lack thereof) and hustle. I appreciated the multiple voice actors as well. The interviews are consistently candid in the first 3/4 of the book. Here's the bad: the last 3rd of the book could be chopped off. It's essentially a long form advertisement for their advisory services and sports arm. The voice acting is robotic and needs more variety. I love JAM but he is not a terribly gifted voice over actor. Oddly enough I would have appreciated more editorial commentary or 3rd party data to properly verify aspects of this story.

Epic. The history of CAA

An epic telling of the CAA story not told by Michael Ovitz. It zooms right along as it entertains, informs and educates. A big negative is one of the narrators needs to really work on his enunciation.

Good book, flawed by technical and narrative issue

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The topic of film agency was fascinating, well-researched and thorough. The book is very well written as well.

What other book might you compare Powerhouse to and why?

The Agency by Frank Rose. Similar topic and scope.

Did the narrators do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

There are three readers. Two males and one woman. The female and one male are professional, enjoyable and clear. The other male is the author, who has a voice like a cartoon dog. He is given the least to read--transitional topics and chapter introductions, but it doesn't help that his phrasing is jarring and odd. He doesn't understand commas, which is odd since he wrote the book, and often pauses at odd places within his sentences. Perhaps the producer was afraid to correct him because he is the author. He is gravelly and annoying, and I cringe when he opens his mouth. Otherwise, cool book!

Any additional comments?

The audio production could be improved. All hard consonants, B's, CH's, TH's etc. are lopped off the front of words. Give it a listen, and calm the filters down, boys. Very obvious in many books I've recently listened to.

Fascinating story, painful narration

The main narrator reads like a 5th Grader reading aloud in class. even mispronounces the name of the ad agency that CAA worked with. the two character narrators we're a little better, but way overdid it. the woman sounds like she's reading a story to elementary school children. Too singsongy, and over-pronunciation of words. it really took away from the hard-hitting nature of this incredible story of extreme Darwinism.

Magnificent History

Having worked with CAA over the years, it is amazing to read the history behind such a giant, the stories that shaped its creation and the impact that is has had on the creative industry. Without a doubt, this is worth the listen.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Great read. A little long especially near thre end

Nice story of the original founders.three recent history interested me less, and frankly I could had done without much of the current political battle stories. still enjoyed it very much.

Interesting inside look at "the biz"

What made the experience of listening to Powerhouse the most enjoyable?

Not much - did not like any of the readers, particularly the author

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ovitz, of course

What three words best describe the narrators’s performance?

Terrible

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end - signifying the end of the entertainment business as we know it

Any additional comments?

Whoever produced this recording should lose their job immediately. Did no-one listen to it?
Numerous mis-pronunciations, like Sue Menjers, Guy McELLwaine, etc., and what on earth is Variety Fair?

Makes you miss a non corporate Hollywood

Being in the industry so long you tend to forget how much fun it was in the mid to late 90's. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and recommend it to anyone who is in media today.

Good info..bad structure

Some cool stories and behind the scenes info on Hollywood agencies and the players. Slow structure with tons of short quotes from pieces of interviews and very repetitive.

This. Was. AMAZING.

What a remarkable book. I couldn't stop listening--in the car, while eating, in the shower. A fascinating look at the rise of CAA. Of power, business, the entrepreneurial spirit, and human psychology. Where you're interested in entertainment, film, TV, acting, or business this is a must read/listen.