JOB AT DISNEY HAS OVITZ TRYING TO UNDO HIS PAST.

Byline: Bernard Weinraub and Geraldine Fabrikant The New York Times

The setting was a private dining room at DreamWorks on the Universal lot. At the luncheon table sat two of the most formidable power brokers in Hollywood, Michael Ovitz, president of Walt Disney Co., and David Geffen, the billionaire mogul and a founding partner at DreamWorks.

``I heard you've been saying bad things about me,'' Ovitz began.

``It's because I think bad things about you,'' responded Geffen, who has tangled with the former talent agent for years.

The recent luncheon was said by one person to have quickly deteriorated into a shouting match, becoming a failed effort by Ovitz to make peace with a longtime foe, an effort that the once most powerful agent in Hollywood has mounted in his difficult, some say, painful, transition to Walt Disney Co.

More than one year after Ovitz abruptly quit his job as chairman of Creative Artists Agency to take over the No. 2 job at Walt Disney Co., the 49-year-old executive who was once as feared as he was secretive has not only made missteps and antagonized executives in and outside of Disney but is still struggling to carve out his role and define his relationship with Michael Eisner, the chairman.

In doing so, people close to Disney said, Ovitz has found that the masterful but imperious management style that created the aura of intimidation at Creative Artists was inappropriate at a corporate culture such as Disney, whose merger last year with Capital Cities/ABC created one of the largest entertainment company in the world.

In his short time at Disney, Ovitz's aggressive style and hubris have alienated both ABC and Disney studio executives, as well as spawning a torrent of private and public badmouthing. Some negative speculation comes from those he angered in his agent's role and who no longer fear him. More than any other power broker in Hollywood over the years, Ovitz managed to offend some of the most powerful in town, from Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, a partner in DreamWorks, to Lew R. Wasserman, former chairman of MCA, and Ray Stark, a veteran producer. ``Mike isn't certain of the meaning of the word friendship,'' Stark said.

Without his agent's role and power, Ovitz now finds himself in a position of courting old enemies in Hollywood to shore up his own image - obsessively nurtured through the years - and to protect Disney's interests with program suppliers like DreamWorks because, as Michael Wolf, a partner and head of the media department at Booz Allen & Hamilton, said, ``This is a small industry and to be an effective executive you need to have good relationships.''

Even critics acknowledge that it is far too early to make definitive judgments about a power broker making the leap from running a talent agency with an estimated $200 million in sales to serving as president of the world's 39th-largest publicly traded company with 1996 sales of about $20 billion.

Over the long term, Ovitz's performance will be crucial. Today, Disney is in solid financial health. Even after paying interest on debt related to its $19 billion purchase of Capital Cities/ABC, Disney still will have more than $2 billion to invest in new businesses.

The total value of Disney's stock has risen 22 times since 1984 when Eisner took over. But that growth took place under stable management. Now, as Eisner tries to integrate ABC - a network whose ratings have slumped severely - his plans to continue the growth have been shadowed by recent turmoil.

In recent years Eisner has suffered a serious heart attack; his No. 2, Frank G. Wells, died in a helicopter crash; his chief financial officer, Steven Bollenbach, quit after 18 months, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the longtime chairman of Disney Studios, left in an acrimonious fight and is in litigation over his severance package.

``It is essential to the company that Ovitz succeeds because to go back and restructure the senior management, where there has already been so much change, would be debilitating,'' said Emanuel Gerard, a partner at Gerard Klauer Mattison, an investment firm.

Ovitz's new role at Disney - still not clearly defined - is now centered on expanding Disney abroad, especially in China, where he has sought to make inroads for distributing the company's television, film and consumer products. It is a role far more limited than that of Wells, who was deeply immersed in every major labor negotiation, budgetary issue and personnel matters.

Eisner - in a move many saw as a mistake - did not name Ovitz to Wells' old post of chief operating officer, denying him a power base and specific responsibilities. People close to Eisner said he did not see Ovitz as suited to the nuts-and-bolts demands of that position. But one top Hollywood lawyer said: ``I don't think either Eisner or Ovitz knew how tough the situation would be. Ovitz's position is very unorthodox. He's basically a troubleshooter. Eisner tells him what problems to solve.''

At the same time, a sense of mystery and elusiveness still surrounds Ovitz, an image he enjoys. Several top Sony executives as well as rival studio chiefs are amazed that, despite his job at Disney, Ovitz apparently has advised Nobuyuki Idei, the president of the Sony Corp., who is expected to appoint John Calley, a longtime producer and studio executive, to take over the troubled Sony studios. Many believe Ovitz may even be angling for the top job there. Ovitz has told friends that his dealings with Sony are only related to joint ventures with Disney.

Eisner, in an interview, discounted any hint of dissatisfaction with Ovitz, although three people close to Disney said Eisner was not entirely pleased with Ovitz and had bluntly said so to close associates. Eisner denied this; Ovitz declined to comment.

``From my point of view he is a talented, strong and effective executive,'' Eisner said. ``I have been at ABC, Paramount and Disney and I am pretty good at taking the temperature from the inside. Performance is the key. In my opinion we are performing so spectacularly and it is under the management of Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, chart

Chart: Disney's world (revenue and income 1995 an d 1996)

Photo: (1 -- color) Eisner

(2 -- color) Ovitz