I don't think it extends to distribution. That's a corporate thing for publicly-traded companies. The personal relationships I describe are local. The people on the set or in the meetings all know each other and work for each other. Distribution is handled by thousands of people spread around the world who never meet the people in production. Streaming is just another form of distribution. I doesn't touch the personal relationships that underpin production.
As for agents, sometimes they are just a tax dodge. The ultra-rich are always worried about moving money between generations without taxation. Calling your kid, your nephew, your agent allows you to move a chunk of money to the next gen without worry of estate taxes. It's part of estate planning. A similar tactic works with jobs such as personal assistants, trainers or "producers" whereby a slightly lesser rate is paid to a celeb in exchange for a child being hired on. That money comes into the 'family' at a lower tax rate and avoids estate tax.
As for agents, sometimes they are just a tax dodge. The ultra-rich are always worried about moving money between generations without taxation. Calling your kid, your nephew, your agent allows you to move a chunk of money to the next gen without worry of estate taxes. It's part of estate planning. A similar tactic works with jobs such as personal assistants, trainers or "producers" whereby a slightly lesser rate is paid to a celeb in exchange for a child being hired on. That money comes into the 'family' at a lower tax rate and avoids estate tax.