John Burnham, one of the most senior talent agents in Hollywood, has left the William Morris Agency (WMA) to become head of the motion picture department at International Creative Management (ICM).

He is known to have clashed with WMA's new chairman Jim Wiatt, who himself defected from ICM last year. Burnham began his industry career at ICM in 1981, so his new position marks a return to the agency. The announcement was made by Ed Limato and Nancy Josephson, co-presidents of ICM.

It is unclear how many of Burnham's clients will be joining him at ICM. Among them were Woody Allen, Stephen Frears, Gus Van Sant, Peter Chelsom, David Cronenberg, John Cusack, Sean Penn, Diane English, Buck Henry, Harold Becker, Phil Kaufman, Diane Keaton, Hugh Wilson and Roger Spottiswoode.