Hollywood mourns the loss of Michael Latt, a force for unity in an increasingly troubled world

The Hollywood community is in shock and mourning over the loss of Lead With Love lead director Michael Latt, who was murdered on his doorstep on Monday night.

Latt’s life was dedicated to selfless service, spreading positivity, and especially creating opportunities for artists and women of color. Among those devastated by this senseless crime are the countless artists who championed this cause. We often see good people before their time – you can read the details in my colleague Dominic Patten’s article on this tragedy – and Latt’s death is as devastating as any you will encounter. He was only 33 years old, had a fiancee, Hannah Lovingood, and his life was just beginning, although he had already established himself as a force for positive change.

This weekend, Michael was invited to serve on the artist committee for the Kennedy Center Honors, and he was excited to take his support of artists to a new level of recognition, according to his father, David Latt.

His ability to attract big names like Common, Ryan Coogler, Annette Bening, Barry Jenkins and Ava DuVernay to attend his events was aided by growing up in and around the company. Latt’s brother is Franklin Latt, head of talent at CAA and representative of many big stars. His mother is Michelle Satter, who will receive an honorary Oscar in January for her work on behalf of the Sundance Institute.

Kevin Huvane, co-chairman and managing partner of the CAA, has been grieving for a day and a half for a family he knows very well – Franklin is trained in his practice – and he also knows the grief of losing a loved one so suddenly to lose His brother, manager Chris Huvane, died last year. Everyone had so much more to give.

“I met Michael through Franklin, who was his big brother and who reminded me of my relationship with Chris in many ways, including how close they were,” Huvane said. “What I loved about watching them both, and it’s because of the way they were raised, is that they both have such a love for artists and crafts. But both believe in being good global citizens at the same time. They did their job with intelligence, determination and compassion. This was their mission; They wanted to help artists meet their needs, but they also wanted to do good in the world. That’s why it feels like such a great loss.

“I knew right away that Franklin would be a leader and a superstar agent here, but what I loved was his moral compass,” Huvane said. “His mother Michelle and Michael, the common thread that runs through them all is a love of discovering new artists and a love of community. When Michael started Lead With Love it was a perfect reflection of his whole family and my heart just breaks for them. Chris brought me so much of that. My relationship with him was as fatherly as it was brotherly. Franklin was actually Michael’s older brother and he took that role seriously. You would love to see them together because they were two good people who had that bond. It makes you think: How can such bad things happen to such good people? There is no real answer.”

Franklin Latt told Deadline: “Michael was my little brother and best friend. We traveled the world together, talked every day and always looked forward to our next adventure. To know Michael was to understand that he lived his life with intention. The love and support of everyone he touched brought indescribable joy to our family. He founded his company Lead With Love to support artists and create positive change for the entire world. His legacy will live on forever in all of us if we choose to live our lives with the same intention.”

In moments of inexplicable tragedy like this, all one can do is reach out to the closest loved one and realize how fragile life is. Because there is no honest explanation for what happened to Michael, who was just warming up to creating unity in an increasingly difficult world. Deadline extends its condolences to his family and friends.