#CAA Power Agent Risa Gertner to Retire

Longtime Creative Artists Agency motion picture agent Risa Gertner is set to retire, the firm announced Wednesday.

After around 27 years at CAA, she will depart the talent agency after it acquired a new majority owner in Jan. 2024. Gertner’s A-list talent roster includes Tony Gilroy, Barry Jenkins, Kenya Barris, Ron Howard and Simon Kinberg.

During her tenure at CAA as a power agent, she has been an internal board member and co-head for 20 years of the Motion Picture Group. Gertner first joined CAA in 1996, representing, among others, Seth MacFarlane, Alex Kurtzman, Susannah Grant and J.C. Chandor.

She also hired many Motion Picture Literary Department’s agents, including Maha Dakhil, Todd Feldman, Joel Lubin, Dan Rabinow and Ida Ziniti.

“I am profoundly grateful to have worked with artists whose brilliance and creativity has shaped popular culture for decades. And to have done so surrounded by the most inspired and passionate colleagues has been a gift,” said Gertner in a statement.

She is leaving CAA after the talent agency giant led by Bryan Lourd, Kevin Huvane and Richard Lovett sold a majority stake to Artémis, the investment firm controlled by François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of fashion firm Kering and the billionaire scion of a French luxury goods fortune.

CAA co-chairman Lovett paid tribute in his own statement: “Risa is a world-class agent and leader. She has not only been a guiding force in the motion picture department, hiring and mentoring great agents and executives, but has impacted our entire company. We are forever grateful.”