Presumed Innocent (1990)

Bob Bookman sold the motion picture rights to Presumed Innocent, the bestselling legal thriller by Scott Turow, a lawyer-turned-author who had previously written One L (a well-received nonfiction book about his first year at Harvard Law School). The book was soon adapted into the acclaimed 1990 film starring Harrison Ford, marking the beginning of Bob’s professional relationship with Turow and playing a pivotal role in re-cementing his reputation as a motion picture literary agent.

In 1986, Bob transitioned to CAA from Columbia Pictures, where he had been executive vice-president of production following his earlier tenure as an agent at ICM. Unlike ICM, CAA did not have a New York-based literary department, so Bob had to establish relationships with independent literary agents who controlled high-value book rights. One of the first agents he reached out to was Gail Hochman, a partner at the independent agency Brandt-Hochman Literary Agents. Hochman, acknowledging Bob’s legal background, introduced him to Scott Turow. Bob read the book that weekend, and immediately saw its great potential as a film.

CAA had an internal system for producing synopses of submitted books. If Bob had relied on the lukewarm assessment provided for Presumed Innocent by the reader who wrote the CAA synopsis, he likely would have never represented the book or Turow. But having read the book, Bob trusted his instinct leading to his making a great deal for the film rights, news of which landed on the front page of The New York Times Arts section, and thus helping to relaunch his career at CAA. To this day, when you ask people about Bob they will often say words to the effect of , “Oh, Bob Bookman. You know he reads.” In an industry driven by the written word, reading has ironically proven key to Bob’s extraordinary career.

Following the publication of the New York Times article, CAA co-founder Mike Ovitz approached Bob with a note stapled to the article from prominent talent manager Sandy Gallin, who represented high-profile CAA clients like Michael Jackson and Madonna. Gallin’s note questioned why Presumed Innocent hadn't been submitted to him before the rights were sold. Turow, still practicing law and being a seasoned litigator, had been clear to Bob from the outset that he wanted his book submitted equally to both CAA producer clients and non-CAA producer clients. Thus, Bob had carefully balanced his submission list between the two groups. When he presented the list to Ovitz, the question was answered.

Bob’s approach to literary rights negotiations has always been strategic, understanding that relationships in Hollywood are just as important as the deals themselves.

As he often likes to say, one of his signature “Bob-isms”, “It’s easy to sell the rights to a book for a lot of money. It’s hard to sell the rights to a book for a lot of money and not make enemies.”

Harrison Ford, Bradley Whitford, Bonnie Bedelia.