The might of CAA notwithstanding, Hollywood is no longer a one-horse town and there are plenty of options for both up-and-coming actors and established A-listers seeking representation. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, for example, is home to Ari Emanuel, a lean 48-year-old with short, greying hair – and the brother of White House chief of staff Rahm. Emanuel, whose long-term clients include Mark Wahlberg, Larry David and Martin Scorsese, is probably the best-known agent in Hollywood thanks to Ari Gold, the character he inspired in HBO's hit show Entourage. Like Gold, Emanuel has a repertoire of colourful phrases; his reputation also rests on a willingness to go to extremes to get the best deal for his clients.

A former TV agent, he first struck out on his own in 1995 when he and three colleagues left ICM to form Endeavor, shaking up Hollywood much as CAA had done two decades earlier. The early days were modest, with Endeavor based in an office above a restaurant, but it quickly grew. The signing of CAA agent Patrick Whitesell in 2001 brought Christian Bale and Matt Damon into the fold, giving Endeavor real A-list credibility, while last year's merger with William Morris bolstered the agency's strengths in music and TV, giving it a client base to rival CAA.

While CAA and WME2 slug it out, opportunities have emerged for UTA and ICM. “Our competitors get into these brand wars like Coke v Pepsi,” says Zimmer at UTA. But agencies have to worry about more than what their competitors are doing: pressure is coming from other areas too – notably, the studios that pay their clients. Across Hollywood, studios are looking to cut costs to absorb sharp declines in DVD sales which, for the past decade, generated most of their profits. Talent pay soared in the 1990s thanks to an explosion in home entertainment and soon stars were securing “20 and 20” deals – a $20m fee plus 20 per cent of the gross. For a blockbuster movie this could be upwards of $100m for the star or the director – and a sizeable chunk would go to the agent.