Agents Switch Up on Stiller, Apatow, Others

Mon., Apr. 7, 2008 5:21 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Some guys go where the action is. Ben Stiller, for one, is following the firebrand in the suit.

The Meet the Parents star's longtime rep is one of three veteran agents making the cross-boulevard leap from United Talent Agency to rival powerhouse Endeavor, in what could turn out to be a major shakeup among the you'll-never-eat-lunch-in-this-town-again crowd.

UTA partners Nick Stevens, Lisa Hallerman and Sharon Sheinwold revealed over the weekend that they were moving to Endeavor, which was established in 1995 by former ICM agent Ari Emanuel, the wheeler-dealer who inspired Jeremy Piven's Entourage character, Ari Gold.

"I think Nick Stevens is a unique entity in this business: an agent with integrity, a point of view and most of all, humanity," Stiller said in a statement referring to his longtime guy behind the guy. "He's Jerry Maguire at the end of the movie. I would be with him if he was working out of the Sunglass Hut at the Beverly Center."

Stevens had headed the talent department at UTA since 1995.

Although Stiller is the only one who has confirmed he'll be going along for the ride, Jack Black is reportedly expected to follow suit, and if the departed agents' other clients opt to switch, it would leave a noticeable dent in UTA's A-list roster.

Should they decide they don't mind entrusting their cars to a different valet, possible additions to Endeavor's Rolodex could include Owen Wilson, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Patrick Dempsey, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jason Schwartzman, Superbad star Jonah Hill, Steve Coogan, Jason Lee, Jason Bateman and a host of Saturday Night Live castmembers such as Amy Poehler and Andy Samberg.

Endeavor, which like UTA is located in Beverly Hills, is also currently home to Adam Sandler, Sacha Baron Cohen, Steve Carell and David Spade.

If a mass exodus occurs, it would further weaken UTA's big-screen talent lineup (not to mention its comedic-talent chops), which, for unrelated reasons, also lost Vince Vaughn, Kate Bosworth, Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell not too long ago.

Not that everything's coming up roses for Endeavor, however. It lost Chris Rock on Thursday and Ashton Kutcher's departure was reported Monday.