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Lionsgate Calms Investors With Talk About Charlie Sheen, … Chris Silbermann has been going to a number ICM movie agents asking them to take a “voluntary” pay cut of 25% because the studios have so drastically slashed production. 
This because of, not in spite of, ICM’s post-WME merger hiring spree of about 20 agents over the year which has put pressure on those already in the department. “He’s happy to bonus, but only if their base comes down,” an insider tells me. “It’s all motion picture for now, especially motion picture lit. He says he loves the team ICM has there and wants to keep as many as possible — as long as it’s rational.” So why did I put “voluntary” in quotes? Because of what this other source tells me: “Chris frowns upon it if you don’t take the cut. You’re told about it in the morning, and, by the end of the day, Rick Levy has sent a piece of paper up to your office asking you to sign it ‘as discussed’. It’s not really optional.”
ICM Film Agents Asked To Take 25% Cut
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so happy to be out of that place…silberman is destroying whatever chance that agency had left
If times are tight, I assume he is leading by example?
that’s what happens when you have a PE firm with a stake in your company. they say cut salaries, and stop the bleeding of our investment and salaries then get cut.
Twenty five percent of what?
I mean if they are giving up 25k that’s a lot.
But if they are making 250-500k is that a big hit?
On my research from the govt site.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos093.htm
“In May 2006, actors, producers, and directors held about 163,000 jobs. For example, of the nearly 100,000 SAG members, only about 50 might be considered stars.”
How many agents are there in LA and/or ICM.
Are they still buying scripts at the studios, or are they just stalling until 2012.
The BLS says, their are 160 agents at $33.30/hour. The mean Salary $91,250. Twenty five percent of that in LA and well you couldn’t live where Ari does in Entourage.
What is the truth Nikki?
25% of any paycheck in the world is a hit. imagine losing 1/4 of your disposable income tomorrow without warning. not saying it’s justified, but people adapt to whatever bracket they are in, so 25% of anything is painful.
I am not an agent. I worked as an assistant there and walked away from a promotion in that department for personal reasons unrelated to the agency. I know it must make you feel good to refresh D.H. every 10 minutes so you can feel like an “insider”, but when you actually post a comment, you sound like an uninformed douchebag trying to break your screenplay in from the comforts of your suburban Ohio residence. Or you’re here in town and BITTER like so many others that post on this site.
Agents are a necessity and anyone who disagrees is either uninformed, uneducated, un-produced or Charlie Sheen. (And believe me, Charlie didn’t package “2 1/2 Men”.
Let’s keep the agent-hating to a minimum. These agents you all seem to hate, for the most part, have endured years of Hell to get to where they are which is a different Hell in and of itself. I worked it. I lived it. I’m no longer in it (by choice). So please…PLEASE…just shut the F up.
Wow. Anyone asked to take a pay cut of 25 percent is taking a bit of a hit. But I remember from my old business finance class that the key question here is 25 percent of WHAT? If the take home salary is 50 or 100 grand then that’s a big lifestyle blow. If it is north of a million-a-year, then it stings but that just means maybe flying commercial instead of NetJets or something.
The salaries of professional athletes often gets out. The salaries of actors and actresses per movie are easy for the public to learn.
But I’ve always wondered what the pay range is for an agent (keeping in mind that their salary may be contingent on commissions or bonuses) But does anyone know how salaries run for Hollywood agents and what a “typical” agent makes in a big firm. Are we talking big-lawyer firm partner money? Mayor money (about $150,000 or so)? The NBA veteran minimum (about $1.2 million)?
An inquiring mind outside of Hollywood would love to know!
Without going into too many specifics, here is the main thing you need to know – these days it takes about 7 or 8 or 9 years (including time spent in the mailroom as an assistant and as coordinator) before you start making $100k as an MP lit agent, and many agents don’t even start the clock until they are in their mid 20′s. Before anyone backlashes this statement, there are obviously exceptions. The “younger” agents are the ones who will feel the blow the worst and have no negotiating power because management already knows who they represent and how important their clients are or not (and whether or not they can keep that client if their agent walks away). Any agent with a solid and profitable list of clients that easily justifies their salary will not be receiving this talk from management = the reason is obvious as that agent will take their clients to a competitor where they will be treated and compensated fairly.
The problem here is that the business is in the toilet and many of the agents who used to have a great business (and therefore hefty salaries) have not been able to justify their current earnings. They have settled into a comfortable lifestyle, house in the hills, private school for jr., etc. – and yes this will really hurt – it takes a long time to build these “large” salaries and obviously no one thought the biz would get this bad, but it has, and a deal is a deal – so ICM if you don’t believe in the agents you are telling to be “team players” then pay them out their contracts and let them go somewhere else, but by pulling this crap you deserve whatever backlash you get.
Informed is spot-on. I would only expand a bit to say that at the big agencies, a first-year agent makes approx $45k – $55k, with monthly expense accounts from $750 – $1k, health ins., 401k, etc. So, really, it’s incredibly low considering how long it takes to get to that level.
As their careers progress, the general rule of thumb is that an agent should generate revenue (either in bookings, or client signings) equal to 3 times their salary. And then there are the elite handful of star agents and owners who upwards of several million per year.
Also keep in mind that an agent who represents stars today could easily lose those clients if they defect to another agency, or if the clients fall out of favor with the public, or when those clients get too old. And therefore a once-star agent could lose his salary justification on any day.
My guess is that the agents being asked to take the pay cut are either newbies, who are essentially ‘covering agents’ or mid-level agents who’ve lost clients or whose fee generation has otherwise stagnated. My heart goes out to them: that’s a significant hit. But it just underscores a very basic truth: no matter what profession you look at, from Cardiac surgeon to auto mechanic, for every available position there are 100 people who can do the job, but only 2 or 3 who can bring in business.
Moral of the story is: be that guy who’s bringing in the business and you won’t have to worry about taking a pay cut or losing your job.
ICM = Income Control Management
I assume that Berg, Levy, and Silbermann are also volunteering to take 25% salary cuts as well. That would be the right thing to do, yes?
For those who want to know what agents make – here’s the basic math
Take the total amount the agent booked that year – let’s say it’s 1 million dollars.
the commission to the agency is $100,000. Now of that $100,000 the agent gets about a third – so $33,000 give or take depending on the agents overhead.
So in order to be making $100,000, he or she has to book at least 3 million. Many agents book more than that, much more – many – do not.
former icm agent.
Charlie,
You are wrong about that salary equation. That kind of stuff is reflected in the bonus, if at all.
The clients’ worth is reflected in an agent’s salary, of course.
But not in that manner.
the top ones, “not the principals” make over 10 MM a year if they are at CAA, WMA, ICM, UTA, the principals make about double to triple that number but that number goes back into the company,
the mid level ones make 1MM a year below that around 100 – 500k a year
that is why they are so secretive about it
25 percent cut means less homes to buy, less mistresses to have on the side, less strippers, hookers to hook up with, also vegas is now out,
make no mistake, agents are very very very well paid I have seen their “production fees” in contracts over the years and I was shocked that if “so and so” was not onboard the star would not be in the movie and we would have to cover their fee “greedy greedy”
They do pay about half in taxes though
it’s only a matter of time…er…days…er…seconds before the other agencies and management companies use this as an excuse to follow with their own “voluntary” pay cut plea. Happy Holidays everyone…be lucky you still have a job?
Welcome to Hollywodd 101 in ’09. Whether or not Silberman & co. are taking a paycut is irrelavent. They are in this position to make this call because they have earned it.., welcome to capatalism you cry babies. What is relevant, if you are not covering your “nut”, either take the deal or good fucking luck. There is no other home for you “fence sitters” at this time..,and if you think there is, good fucking luck. Read the tea leaf’s my small minded trolls, ICM is telling you that they will stick with you but put up or shut up. Thank your lucky stars in this environment that they have even approached with such a deal vs. your walking papers.
grrr. ‘good fucking luck’. LOL
thanks to the above posters who gave this Hollywood outsider fascinating insight into the agent compensation business. The only insight I had was “Swimming with the Sharks” and “The Player.”
The biz is really is no different that a lot of other businesses other than that agents are dealing with a truly volatile commodity — “stars” whose fortunes can rise or fall in a capricious blink.
To the insiders out there, i do have one last query for this thread — are agents and managers essentially the same thing in the Hollywood pecking/respect /salary order? (And what percentage of agents or managers would you guess are also bar-approved lawyers?)
thanks again, all.
– bobby the saint
It’s a simple question you’re asking, but a complex answer. In terms of ‘pecking order,’ there are name brand management companies, just as there are big agencies. And there are star managers, just as there are star agents, but probably fewer. This is primarily because: every star can have upwards of 7 or 8 agents on his or her ‘team,’ but there’s typically only one manager in the client’s life.
Managers (who, unlike agents, don’t have to be licensed and bonded with the state) tend to be closer to the clients and be more involved in their day-to-day lives, and therefore it’s more rare for a client to leave his manager than it is for him to leave an agency. Not saying it never happens, but it’s more rare. Some managers even run interference with the agencies and make the agents give them all the info first and then the manager relays the info to the client (arguably it’s a control move to marginalize the agent’s contribution to the client’s career while the manager takes the bulk of the credit).
Also, unlike agents, managers can produce projects, which allows them to have another avenue of revenue generation. (If you look at virtually any movie featuring a star, you’ll see their manager listed in the credits as a producer).
Finally, I couldn’t even guess at percentage for how many managers or agents are also attorneys, but keep in mind that if one is an attorney and then jumps to the agent path, they’ve just slapped an extra 3 1/2 years (and student loans) onto the time it will take them to make agent (or manager), so that’s a huge downside. Better idea is to just go straight to the agency right out of college, since all the contracts go through Business Affairs before they’re signed anyway and most big clients have an atty on their team anyway.
To
– bobby the saint
to even get considered for a agent job in hollywood it is a good idea to have a law degree, so get one, start off in the mail room and you will have all of your questions answered in about 5 years or so,
Most agents don’t have law degrees. Whoever gets a law degree to help them become an agent is wasting their time.
Agent is much, much better defined than manager. Any one can say they are a manager. Being an agent is a question of whether or not you have a license or not.
Because of that, “managers” are all over the place in respect and pay. Like anything around here, a few make all the money. And because a manager has no barrier to entry, you have a good deal more lying around than you have licensed agencies or entertainment lawyers. I doubt that a bar-approved lawyer that’s any good has much interest in being a manager (unless they are independently wealthy and using it primarily as a title to score tail).
I’d add that there are a lot of good reasons for an attorney to not represent people as a manager. The thing about being a lawyer is you can create an attorney-client relationship without trying particularly hard. At which point you have entirely different concerns than as some free-wheeling meeting getter. For one, you can get your ass sued off if your management client took something you said as legal advice.
20 agents post merger? No way. Maybe five or six. Name them please.
On top of this, ICM is now removing all contractual bonuses in their renegotiations with agents. All bonuses will now be ‘discretionary’ and they have been cutting salaries of agents on their renegotiations even when those agents have been making their numbers. ICM will soon be Broder, Silbermann boutique again….but less powerful…as long as they have the wrong people running that sinking ship and coveting the wrong people.
there is not a day that goes by where i get outta bed in the morning and kiss the ground and thank almighty God for giving me the courage to leave the wretched mismanaged agency known as ICM. They’ve done this and asked this of every other department at this agency and it’s no surprise to me that they would ask the Mopiclit people. By the way, this is a great way (sarcasm very thick) to lure Motion picture agents and grow a department. Good luck guys and enjoy your stay at International Creative Mismangement.
Thanks to all for “Hollywood Agent Pay 101″… very appreciated. A few clarifications, please:
RE: Mr. Big’s comment: “the top ones, “not the principals” make over 10 MM a year if they are at CAA, WMA, ICM, UTA, the principals make about double to triple that number but that number goes back into the company…”
How many true star agent earners are there estimated to be in Hollywood today? Has anyone ever calculated the total above-the-line talent bookings that occur in an average year this decade? Such info would help explain the economics of this shifting (and shifty) business.
Also, if a star agent is paid $10 MM a year, for example, how much does that agent really book in a year? $100 million???
And finally… What about the principals? If per Mr. Big, “the principals make about double to triple ($10 MM a year) that number but that number goes back into the company…” What does this mean? They earn $20 to $30 MM (equaling $200-300 MM in bookings) but most of the money goes to the agency? I find it hard to believe that all the partners at the top agencies are booking $200 MM+ per year. Is there that much above-the-line padding still in the business? Even with so many top people lamenting their pay cuts?!
Thanks again to all for sharing your industry smarts!
I work in the biz and thought those numbers seemed very high! Considering how few actors command salaries in the 10′s of millions these days, I’m thinking this information is old? And sure some TV packages can bring in 50MM but even that kind of number is reserved for very big hits which we don’t see all that often. RIght?
Dear Learning Curve,
Great questions! The true answer is, the formula is a hybrid of most of the above. 1/3 of the true commission (10% of booking fee) is considered to go back to the Agent by way of a bonus. However, with most upper level stars having 2-3 hands on Agents that fee is split amongst “the team” with the larger Agents taking the larger portions. There is a very large difference in pay from lower level “servicing Agents” and those whom actually sign and service A-listers! The true A-lister Agents do produce tons of money and most does go back into the Agency.
Thank you! Hope you are thriving in the chaos.
Partners can make $20M at the big agencies because they take a piece of EVERYBODY’S commission. Management co’s work in much the same way.
learning curve
if you do not have a college degree you will never ever get a job at a agency, even in the mailroom, they all have college degrees
if you do not have a law degree or an mba you will not have the discipline nor the fortitude to last
hence, the reason why the top agencies hire only those with law or mba degrees, of course there is always an exception
now how do I know what the agencies made ?
well I used to be in the movie business and when I was at some of these intimate weekend cocktail parties a lot of business was openly discussed, now mind you all there were agents, their bosses, stars and a few billionaires and at these parties many secrets are openly discussed, esp when they had been hitting the bottle to hard
LMAO on the mention of the Rick Levy sending a one page up to your office. can you just see him getting his jollies over this? chris silbermann should ask him to take a voluntary cut – right out of the agency altogether!
xICMr is spot on and anyone who has worked there in the last 5 years knows it all too well. The writing was on the wall in gigantic neon lights within a month of the buyout in 05/06. It didn’t take a psychic to predict that the bloated ship of ICM was beginning to spring leaks and begin its well-deserved descent into the abyss. It was hilarious watching those jackoffs try to figure out their asses from elbows after they bought that clunker.
Not long after, it started to become very apparent that the truckloads of money their bean-counters said would be coming in….wasn’t. That’s when the real fun began but unfortunately, that’s when their real true colors and ruthlessness began to emerge.
ICM deserves every bit of bad fortune and crappy reputation they now currently have. They’ve earned it so well.
ICM…Karma is a bitch, eh?
The sad thing is that ICM really doesn’t suffer. It is the people that have families. ICM doesn’t know what goes on in every household, with that said, a cut like that can really hurt! That company has been playing with people like dice… for those of you who have worked there, you know. Those that still work there, I am sure you are smart enough to figure it out. It just sucks!
This would have never happened if Steve Schimmel was still runnin the show…