Manager Layoffs At Anonymous Content

COMMENTS (21)

• Hmm, does this REALLY mean that talent is done at Anonymous? Seems like they continue to bulk up on the lit but now w. Joaquin walkin’ the line instead of actin’ the roles, and Beverly seeming to have a big crowded list that appears hard to service (not to mention her sparkling personality…). Perhaps it’s time for the talent side of management to start consolidating after all.

  Comment by I. — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 4:07pm PST  Reply to this post

• HOLY SHIT! I have a friend that works there!

  Comment by JACKTHERIPPER — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 4:28pm PST  Reply to this post

• I thought Anonymous Content produced music videos and commercials? This only goes to show that companies should stick to what they know best.

  Comment by Wondering — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 4:29pm PST  Reply to this post

• It’s funny. Every Tom, Dick and Harry or manager calls themselves a management production company. Ever hear the one about the manager who just started a company and is also going to be a producers. Wake up people!

  Thank you.

  Comment by anHonestAnswer — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 4:37pm PST  Reply to this post

• Anonymous produced BABEL and ETERNAL SUNSHINE… You’re an idiot. Stick to what YOU know best and stop posting.

  Comment by Anonymous — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 4:45pm PST  Reply to this post

• Wondering needs to stick to what he/she knows best: being an idiot.

  Comment by Biff — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 4:50pm PST  Reply to this post

• They are so lucky to get Adam Shulman. What a mensch!

  Comment by one who knows — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 5:04pm PST  Reply to this post

• Hey “Anhonestanswer”– Anonymous Content is run by Steve golin who has made around 50 movies and accepted a golden globe for Babel. Partners in the company include David Fincher, Mark Romanek and Gore Verbinski. There is also a talent department which reps Sam Jackson and Maura Tierney and a bunch of others. Their clients include Steven Soderbergh. Maybe you should read the trades or watch the credit roll on movies before you make your dopey comments

  Comment by tellitlikeitis — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 5:19pm PST  Reply to this post

• Hmm… I don’t think you guys have any idea what you’re talking about.

  A quick check of filmtracker will reveal that Anonymous has about the same amount (if not more) of managers as BGE, 360, Mosaic, 3Arts etc.

  Comment by NY — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 5:33pm PST  Reply to this post

• They are hands down the classiest shop in town. A pleasure to deal with. Shulman is an incredible addition to the team. Letting go of dead weight is never a bad thing. Nuff said.

  Comment by Hollywoodie — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 5:43pm PST  Reply to this post

• I am not surprised at these layoffs. Anonymous Content should thank the AMPTP for having to make these layoffs in the first place. Had there not been a movie lockout staged by the bratty AMPTP simply because the SAG will not accept a lame “final offer,” I don’t think these layoffs wouldn’t have happened.

  Comment by Jessy S. — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 6:59pm PST  Reply to this post

• Holy crap are you guys defensive today.

  I was asking an honest question. I’m not really sure what this story is even about. Is Anonymous Content in financial trouble? I wasn’t aware that they were a management company. I have always known them as a company that produced television commercials (good, quality ones, including Fincher’s latest) and music videos. (Okay I am aware that they produced “Babel” and “Rendition” now that I think of it).

  So let me try this another way:

  If they either sell off or merge their management company, what does this mean for the production company as a whole? I was always under the impression that Anonymous Content was doing really well (that it was one of the top commerical production companies in America), so this comes as a bit of a surprise to me.

  Is it only the management side that’s having economic difficulty? If so, I stand by what I wrote: that a company (any company) should stick to what it does best. Since weak performing divisions within companies usually bring down the more profitable side as well.

  That was my point and ultimately what I was wondering about.

  Is that okay? Am I allowed to breath again? Or should I still jump off a bridge?

  Comment by Still Wondering — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 7:06pm PST  Reply to this post

• In response to Still Wondering:
  Where are you getting the idea that there are any economic difficulties? All you need to do is look at the client lists of the three people they let go. That should be enough to explain you that this is clearly about letting go of dead weight and streamlining a successful business.

  Comment by Hollywoodie — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 9:21pm PST  Reply to this post

• Thanks Hollywoodie.

  That answers my question. The thing that threw me was the mention of a possible, but denied, merger with 360 Management and talk about “laying off” managers.

  Ultimately that was where I was getting the idea that there were some economic difficulties. But letting go of dead weight makes sense, and is probably a good idea in these times.

  Now, could someone nicely explain to me whether the company itself is doing well. It hasn’t really produced many hit films, but it has produced many well-known commercials, which I assume pays well.

  Does this company make most of its money from its management side or for producing commercials, films and music videos?

  Comment by Not wondering so much — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 10:22pm PST  Reply to this post

• My previous post helps explain the situation as well, and that situation is that there isn’t much work to be had because the AMPTP has a lockout on movie actors due to srrike fears by insurance companies. This isn’t economy related by far.

  Comment by Jessy S. — Friday November 14, 2008 @ 11:10pm PST  Reply to this post

• To Not wondering so much:
  I don’t know a ton about Anonymous’ commercial division per se but I do know they lost their top commercial rep maybe a year ago when he left to start his own firm. I’ve also heard the commercial biz in general is having tough times these days as companies have decided to just re-jigger last year’s commercials in favor of making new ones. Since the managers who were laid off had mostly, if not all, a TV actor business, I doubt the AMTPT effected them much since TV is still going strong, so who knows what the real deal is. Probably just “dead weight” as someone else said…

  Comment by Lucy — Saturday November 15, 2008 @ 11:40am PST  Reply to this post

• Lets face it Beverly Strong is a kids manager. Scale plus ten does not pay the bills. All you have to do is pull her IMDB list up and its speaks for itself. She has to be one of the meaniest,nasty women in showbiz. try having lunch with her…Mine as well kill yourself. She is clueless and really has no idea. Time for her to think about all the people she has pissed off thru out her years…Far too many it catches up with you.

  Comment by knows beverly too well — Monday November 17, 2008 @ 9:16am PST  Reply to this post

• Also know Bev very well. Have not ever seen the nasty side of her. also have had lunch — very pleasant ones — with her quite often. So there are other opinions out there. Maybe she did not choose to rep your kid..sorry bout that. As for “dead weight” — again, I disagree.
  Anyway, it is my understanding that this is not a layoff, but a mutual decision for these folks to leave. Anonymous intends to concentrate on production and literary representation.

  Comment by also knows beverly well — Tuesday November 18, 2008 @ 10:21am PST  Reply to this post

• I have never seen or heard anything mean or nasty from Beverly. She is a fabulous manager and a great lady. Beverly doesn’t need Anonymous. Come to think of it Beverly doesn’t need an office or even a damn desk. Beverly will be great wherever she lands. Just give her a cell phone and let her rip! GO BEV!

  Comment by Know & Love Bev — Tuesday November 18, 2008 @ 12:33pm PST  Reply to this post

• According to my information, Beverly Strong left on her own. Additionally, Anonymous is jettisoning their talent and focusing elsewhere.

  Comment by media-man — Wednesday November 19, 2008 @ 6:20pm PST  Reply to this post

• Beverly did leave on her own – or at least in a “mutual” agreement with Anonymous. She is a generous, strong woman in a powerful position, so it doesn’t surprise me to hear her called names.

  Comment by insider — Monday December 7, 2009 @ 11:17am PST  Reply to this post