ICM's Walker takes a hike over to CAA

Clients walk with Walker

By DANA HARRIS

Walker

Bart Walker, who has headed the motion picture division of ICM's New York office since 2000, is joining Creative Artists Agency. He's expected to start at the tenpercentery's New York office this week.

Walker spent much of Tuesday discussing the move with his client list. Among those who have confirmed they will join him at CAA are Sofia Coppola, Mira Nair, Jim Jarmusch, Julian Schnabel, John Turturro, Steve Shainberg ("Secretary"), Tamara Jenkins ("Slums of Beverly Hills") and Thomas Vinterberg ("It's all About Love").

Clients whose representation is still to be determined include Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope, Julie Taymor, Todd Solondz, Lisa Cholodenko ("High Art") and Sally Potter ("Yes").

Walker has long been regarded as one of the lynchpins in New York's film scene. His shift in allegiances is expected to do much for the profile of CAA's nascent Gotham office in the Flatiron District. CAA launched that outpost after poaching top theatrical agent George Lane from the William Morris Agency in March 2003.

Walker served two stints at ICM. The first came during the 1980s, when he worked in business affairs under Sam Cohn, who was then the agency's co-owner. In 1991, Walker joined ICM as an agent.

In between, Walker served as executive VP at Cinecom Entertainment Group, an indie distributor that handled titles such as "A Room With a View." Prior to his first tour at ICM, he was an attorney at the firm of Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo.

In addition to repping a diverse lit list, Walker is known for helping clients secure financing and distribution for their films.

Walker played a key role in helping Sofia Coppola create a financial structure for "Lost in Translation" that allowed her to maintain full creative control as well as hold on to the film's copyright.