CAA’s Jenna Adler On Business, BLM And #StopAsianHate: ‘You Have To Talk About It’

Jenna Adler: The role of the agent has evolved over the past 10-15 years, where before we were just “the booking agent” per se. But now, with so many other platforms to play on, whether it’s streaming, producing, there’s so many with virtuals. We’re at the center of it all.  Some agents, they just like being the booking agent, but I think to evolve into that next generation of talent agent, you’ve got to keep up with your clients and pop culture and technology to be relevant. And that’s only if you want to be relevant. The old-school agents are great, they book tours and are great at it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You need to be self-aware and know what you’re good at and what your skill set is. But I’ve never been that. I’ve always wanted to play on all verticals. That is the role and that is what’s being morphed into what we’re calling “today’s agent.”  I’ve always sought out different opportunities, not just staying in the lane of booking shows. I can do it with my eyes closed; I’ve been doing it a long time, but there’s just so much more.

I can’t do it alone. There’s a team of people on every one of my clients. Sometimes I’m a supporting cast member, but it’s always about a team for us, and it really allows us to explore other opportunities in other areas, and just be really curious about things. What artists look for, they want to learn something, they want to be on the forefront of whatever it may be. They want to know what’s the latest and greatest. 

It’s all about being creative in different ways. I want to learn, I’m a sponge. We put together the Green Day “American Idiot” tour on Broadway. That was incredible. I’ve never done a Broadway show, Green Day never even thought about a musical. If you’re a good agent, you have to be able to know who your client is, what works for them and doesn’t work for them. You have to be smart about it. What I did was sit in more meetings, brainstorm, think about outside-the-box ideas. Every day has been different, and I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones. I was able to parlay a lot of deals and make artists… happy, (laughs) right? Part of it is being honest, telling a developing artist “no.” You have to be honest with them and have that hard conversation, that “Here’s what I would do if I were you, we’re not going to get a half-million dollar branding deal because we’re not there yet.” Part of it is having the insight and not over-promising on things you can’t deliver and aren’t possible. 

When (CAA founder Michael) Ovitz left, the world was shutting down. But we’re still here all these years later, we’re bigger and better than ever. Tom Ross left, and that was supposed to be the end of the music department. Then, with Sillerman when SFX was buying up the promoters, that was supposedly the end of the agent. I’ve been through so much of it, and come out so much stronger and with more experience. That did allow me to lean into it more and be comfortable. Because that’s what I did.

So much of it has to do with the people I work with, too. We’re all in it together. I know it sounds cliché and you’ve heard it a million times, but I really believe it. The stability was such that we didn’t have to worry about – what’s going to happen next, am I getting laid off? The transparency was so clear, there was never a moment where we thought otherwise. When we did have to let some people go, it didn’t happen overnight, it was communicated clearly when we had to make some tough decisions. Communication is so key, and I know from friends and outside the walls at CAA there was no communication a lot of times, there was just wonderment of what is happening next. 

We’re not making any decisions until probably early May. We’re not going to go out if the guidelines are such that we can’t. We want everybody to go out safely and make sure that every municipality is in sync with one another. I think that’s been the challenge. Where Texas and Florida are wide open, the West Coast isn’t. It’s really keeping an ear to the ground and listening. For our industry shutting down, there hasn’t been a day where I haven’t been busy, it’s still every day. The days are going by faster, I don’t know how that’s possible but they are. We are all going to see such excitement as we go back, carefully. I come from a very glass-half-full mentality so I’m going to go with it. It’s worked for me.

I remember March 13, when the announcement of the shutdown came. I was the person that thought we’d be back in two weeks. I was going to Vegas for the opening of the Shania Twain residency, the second leg of it. I really thought it was this very temporary situation. I kept going along with my normal life until a couple weeks later, and, “Wow, this really is not going to be two weeks.”

I think for the first time it was at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the social injustices we’ve all witnessed toward the Black community. I’m Asian, I’m 100% Korean, so I’ve also dealt with it, but not like the Black community has had to. But in terms of going out and using your voice and being with like-minded people supporting, it just meant so much, the camaraderie. Being together, I felt, was so needed and so important for us, for me.

We just saw a man being murdered on TV in broad daylight, what more do you need to support and go out and use your voice, and be part of community? And then, going back a week ago, in Atlanta, that really hit home. I ask myself every day, what more could I be doing? As recently as two days ago, there was the Boulder shooting. When is it enough?

We’re thought leaders. We are in the center of entertainment where people look to us as well. We have to take it upon ourselves to put out the right message and to lead by example. You can’t stick your head in the sand. Where does that get us? I just want to pay it forward. I want to mentor the next generation, I want to educate people. I want to educate people about what we’re facing in terms of racism today and where we are. It’s 2021 and we’re still dealing with hate crimes. Not to make this political, but it’s been four years of him opening the floodgates of saying it’s OK, we support racism and want to bring this back. CAA, more than everybody, in terms of agencies and entertainment companies, has taken so much initiative in creating programs like Amplify, creating mentorships, really tapping into what’s needed in today’s landscape.

It brings back childhood trauma. All these years later, we’re still here. To say that it wasn’t a hate crime, was really hard for me to digest. There were six Asian women that were killed. It’s the first time that my kids are faced with the ugliness of Asian hate. They’re half Asian. It’s an education process for them, too. It really stems from education and we have to lead by example and try to undo. My kids are 19 and 21, and they’ve been lucky enough to be raised in a community where everybody had different backgrounds and ethnicities but we were the same, we’re all just humans, ultimately. They’re seeing the elderly getting senselessly beat for no reason. And you hear about it every day. Every single day. 

Growing up in a very traditional Asian household, we’re told to work hard, do your job quietly and don’t complain. And for so many years of my life, that’s what I did. I worked hard, put my head down and fought for my clients but never really fought for myself or advocated for myself. And that took years of working on myself to get to this point. There’s a lot. And then the events of last week in Atlanta just opened it all up. The positive is that it’s now a nationwide headline as opposed to sweeping it under the rug a little and having it be a little more localized, I  would say.

 You have to talk about it. It’s real life. It’s what I’m dealing with right now, and top of mind, and very important to me, too.