Ari Emanuel has a new book, “Roll the Calls.” The famous Hollywood agent and entertainment business owner spoke with the Tribune’s Opinion section from Los Angeles. He will address members of the Executive Club and the University Club of Chicago on Wednesday night at the Harris Theater.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You’ve made a lot of forays into live entertainment through UFC, WWE and now ATG Entertainment. So do you think the rise of artificial intelligence is causing people to prefer to experience things in person?
With the advent of AI, we’re going to have time to do stuff. We’re social animals. People want to get together. I think they’re going more to the movies, comedy clubs, restaurants, and they’re going to travel. … I think real human experiences through concerts, movies and theater will become more important than they have ever been and more valuable. I started my new business, MARI, precisely to spotlight this.
What about AI in a broader sense? How much time are you spending worrying about that?
I think Thomas Friedman was right when he said this is potentially a new race, a new civilization that we’ve created. I think the Chinese are just as nervous as we are. And it might, in a weird way and depending if the rumors about AGI (China’s artificial general intelligence) are true, and if we can learn how to trust each other, help us have a real conversation about how to deal with this. The Chinese should be nervous about what could happen to their society; we should be nervous about what could happen to our society and society in general. We could get together and do something. And when you think about Yemen and how they are using AI now, this is a dangerous moment.
That being said, there is the opportunity for big advancements in healthcare and medical and other fields. We should come together on all those things. If you go back to the time of the atomic bomb, those people had big questions about what they had created, just like Elon (Musk) and all the people from Anthropic and Open AI do now. We must figure out with China how to frame this and how we can come together. It could be the deterioration of how people operate, and that would not be a good thing. But it could also be an opportunity.
You are probably the most famous Hollywood agent in the world. Will future agents be AI?
If you talk to certain people in the venture capital community, they’ll tell you that everyone is going to have to have their own AI agent to fight AI disrupters. I’m not sure I want to live like that, but I understand the concept.
In your book, you write generously of your young life in the Chicago and its suburbs.
I only have fond memories and things that made a huge impact on my life. My mom taking us to demonstrations. She was always active politically, and I think that had a huge impact on my brother Rahm and all of us. My father working in all the hospitals and taking us downtown on call with him. It’s an incredible city, and I think my brother made the city even better as a mayor. They could use another mayor like him. I think the last two have not stepped up to the plate in the way that was needed.
You also write about your dyslexia.
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I now have multiple businesses, and a lot of people come up to me for advice and tell me they have a kid with ADHD or dyslexia. It is not easy. I say that if you are a reader, you are a linear thinker, which is not a bad thing. But if you talk to most people who are dyslexic, they will tell you they have different ways of getting to the end. Being dyslexic has been beneficial for me, looking back. It’s a cliche that you learn more when you fail than when you win, but don’t look down on the downs of life. I’d rather have a meaningful life than a pleasurable life.
You also say the entertainment business is emotional and based on rage. But you seem more mellow.
Two days ago, I had plenty of rage about a situation. … When I am on the field for any of my clients, I am on the field. When I am off the field, I try and get off the field, which has made me productive on the field. I’m definitely not mellow; talk to any of my associates. But I have learned to get to that differential and not constantly play chess all day long in every relationship.
In your book, you talk about the Michael Moore movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” and the Mel Gibson movie “The Passion of the Christ” as examples of films that polarized Americans. You say that Moore’s movie actually helped the Republicans, politically, not Moore’s allies.
But I am still proud of Michael for what he did. It was an incredible film. And if you look back at it now, I think you can see that he was right.
Chris Jones is the Tribune’s editorial page editor and theater critic.
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