Like many studio heads, Medavoy began his career working in the mailroom at Universal Studios, where he eventually became a casting director. In 1965, he was hired as an agent trainee and subsequently became one of the leading talent agents in Hollywood, with a client roster that included Jane Fonda, Michelangelo Antonioni, Karel Reisz, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Aldrich, Jeanne Moreau and George Cukor. As vice president and head of the motion picture department at International Famous Agency (from 1971-74), Medavoy was involved in packaging such films as the Oscar-winning
