Back at those CAA HQs, Nikki Finke hears about a mandate to cut expenses by a whopping 20 percent. That means no more flying on first class; from now on, CAA agents will have to slum it in biz class. They're also being told to get their clients jobs - if they want to keep getting paid, that is. Who knows whether the cuts are for real (beware of Hollywood promises to spend less), but Finke says the austerity program - or what passes for austerity in that crowd - is a long time coming.

CAA can't keep spending like drunken sailors without having cash flow issues: buying a bevy of agents from other shops and wooing clients by the hundreds, and moving into swank new headquarters while still paying rent back at the I.M. Pei building, and starting a money pit of a sports division where most of the endorsement deal money will be heading back to IMG for years, etc.