Inside move

2 senior WMA reps ankling

By CHRIS PETRIKIN

While rumors of mass layoffs and staff changes at the William Morris Agency have been circulating since Jim Wiatt joined the tenpercenterys as president and co-CEO in August, the smoke has so far overshadowed the fire.

Two senior WMA reps are leaving the agency by the end of this year, however.

Frank Frattaroli, co-head of the William Morris Agency's East Coast motion picture department, and senior WMA lit agent Jim Crabbe will leave the percentery by the end of the year, spending the next few months transitioning their clients to other reps internally.

Frattaroli, who was upped to co-head of the feature talent department with Michelle Stern a year ago, confirmed that he was leaving the agency, but declined to specify his future plans.

While it's understood that Frattaroli is looking to become a manager, he told Daily Variety that "it is not appropriate to comment at the moment. I'm sorting through it as we speak."

Among the clients Frattaroli reps at WMA are actors Kevin Bacon, Stanley Tucci, Frances McDormand, Mira Sorvino, Sarah Polley, Oliver Platt, Alfred Molina, Mary-Louise Parker, Chloe Sevigny, Ian Holm and Lili Taylor as well as director Guillermo Del Toro.

Frattaroli also refused to discuss the circumstances surrounding his departure, allowing only that "I have been thinking about it for a long time. I decided recently that I am not going to renew my employment contract which expires at the end of the year."

Crabbe, who could not be reached for comment, is said to be retiring from the agency business as a whole. It's unclear whether he has any concrete plans following his scheduled departure at the end of 1999, but his departure from William Morris is understood to be unrelated to any anticipated changes planned by WMA's new management.

A WMA spokesman declined comment.