Say you’re a tenpercentery with a hot agent who’s also a hot head. And say he walks off the job in a huff from time to time. Well, if you’re the Gersh Agency, you let John Buzzetti blow off steam and then welcome him back again and again. It’s because the New York-based partner and theatrical lit agent reps a bunch of quality musical theater and playwrighting talent. (Gersh’s theater department expanded in 2006 when it annexed the Joyce Ketay Agency.) So I’m told that last week he blew up because he thought one of his colleagues was giving him attitude and then walked off the the job. Not even Bob and David Gersh knew when or if he was returning to work. But Buzzetti was back in the office today. And this isn’t the first time he’s gone AWOL. Gersh agents recall that a month ago Buzzetti pitched a fit and walked out when the air conditioning system wasn’t working. ”He throws up his hands and says, ‘I’m done,’ over a ridiculous thing,” one insider tells me about Buzzetti. “He’s a hot head. But we’re not worried because he’s got many years left on his contract.” Question is: how long will Gersh stay cool with such behavior?
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Whe he was a kid, was his teddy a bi-polar bear?
another douchey, petty agent. surprise-surprise!
is there such a thing as a nice agent?????
If you worked at Gersh, you’d storm out periodically, too. They are majorally petty and asinine to work for.
That’s actually pretty funny. Nice to see someone has some personality at that place.
John is so talented — sorry to say, he’s worth it.
While I’ve only had limited interaction with Buzzetti, I found him to be a pretty good guy. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until I hear something concrete.
On a related note, the effect of an agent blowup is stunning in magnitude as: a) so little is thought of agents as people b) it shows the agent to be completely clueless, because if they had any clue as to their standing in the world, they’d shut the f up.
I don’t know why people tolerate such behaviour. If he pulls this with his employer and co-workers, does he throw fits with his clients and other agents?
A theater agent being dramatic? Shocker.
My estimate is about 5 seconds after he stops making enough money for them to justify his temper.
Then the proverbial knives will be out.
I hear that William Morris is looking for assholes in their talent department.
Gersh won’t let him go, no matter how much shit he loses. Because he makes money.
If and when he did really walk out the door — or get pushed — he’d be at another agency in a matter of hours.
He’s one of the most successful theatre agents there is.
Look they have sub-par agents like Jennifer Craig, Bernard Spektor etc. Not saying these people don’t work hard or are not nice people. But they are not go getters. They look to see if others are interested before taking a chance. They sit there and work to survive. They are interested in the day to day not the big picture. Gersh has never been recognized as a big picture agency. It’s a survivor. If they get some risk takers who look for new talent they may one day become powerful. As of now they have fallen way behind Paradigm who has become aggressive the last couple of years.
Dear “OneGirlsOpinion,”
I’ve had the honor of knowing BERNIE Spektor since we were fetuses in the WMA mailroom. He is, by far, one of the smartest, most solid, hardest-working agents I’ve ever met. He’s also one of the most steadfast and loyal agents I’ve ever met, which if anyone knows anything about this business, is like finding a virgin within 50 miles of Hugh Hefner. Please try to at least be accurate when you’re trying to be vituperative about people. You’re just embarrassing yourself otherwise.
Bernard Spektor is a hack. I knew the bald midget back in Long island. He was a hack attorney – a balding midget with an inferiority complex and bad hairline. Tell him to come meet me over at WME, where real agents work.
Hey Bernie – nice to see you went from mediocre human being, to mediocre attorney, and now mediocre agent….loser
Answer: For as long as John damn well pleases. Man’s hooked deeply into NY theatre scene like very few else. And super respected by his clients. Many agencies, if not all, would welcome him with open arms.
Maybe some agents are the creative types that we would tolerate and expect from certain artistic personalities. Anyway, it sounds like a good idea for a reality show.
But let’s be good to each other, friends. We don’t need to make harsh judgements on people any more. Change is in the air.
“how long will Gersh stay cool with such behavior?” …but how can they with no AC?!?!
In all seriousness, if John is half-as-talented at agenting as his clients are at winning Tonys, then he should go running from that place. Gersh is horribly stagnant(at best) and has been passed by Paradigm, who at least wants to compete. Goodluck to them.
Yeah let’s not disparage Gersh. They run an incredibly tight ship and keep afloat no matter what the mega-conglom climate’s like out there. Young actresses tend to flee the second they get a B movie, but the rest of the above and below the line clientele are very loyal. Extremely hard working agents, in my experience. I’d rather do business with them than just about anyone in town, frankly.
John’s a very good, upstanding guy. Plus, he’s really respected and well-connected in the theater business. I imagine he can write his own ticket.
Jennifer Craig is incredibly aggressive. Certainly wouldn’t be among the agents in the talent department whose ability I’d call into question.
He is negotiating to be head of another agency in nyc, specifically one that has been the subject of much vitriol on this board of late…
Oh, OneGirlsOpinion? Regarding Jennifer Craig and “Bernard” Spektor, you might want to make sure you actually work in this business and know who you are talking about before you start running your mouth off. The fact that you called him by the wrong name is the giveaway–do you also tell tales about Bernard Mac and Bernard Brillstein?
Bizgirl – the fact that OneGirlsOpinion mentions him by ‘Bernie Spektor’ shows that she IS in the business and does know him and by you referring to him as ‘Bernard’ shows that you do not.
bull czarina- no one at wma would be dumb enough to have a conversation with him. he is at a level of crazy that they wont even go near
Let me get this straight – when the guy gets into a snit he picks up and leaves the office and only comes back once he’s cooled down? That’s classy behavior as compared to most industry philistines. That’s far more polite than the ones who hang around during their meltdowns screaming and hurling desk accessories at everyone.
Bob, you weren’t much for reading comprehension in school, were you?