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Also, writer/director Billy Ray has fired his longtime Broder/ICM agent Bruce Kaufman to sign with CAA. Kaufman helped him become an in-demand screenwriter and then a writer/director. It’s “a display of shocking ingratitude,” one source outside ICM told me. “Evidently, Ray has to blame someone besides himself for why no one will finance his uncommercial dramas. What makes it even more ironic is that Ray’s father was an agent, so you’d think he would have taught his son something about loyalty.” Harsh.
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The dunce who suggests Billy Ray is anything but loyal doesn’t know the guy. Ask anyone who has worked with him or spent any time with him and you’ll get the truth. He’s a stand up guy who is loyal to a fault.
This sounds similar to the Ryan Seacrest deal. The more money he was paid, the less % he wanted to give his agents.
Loyalty? To an agent? Those bloodsuckers are truly delusional.
Grrrrr….I’m a bitter unemployed writer who is upset because nobody will read my screenplay….Grrrrrrrrrr
that’s unfair regarding Billy Ray. he has been loyal for years to Broder/ICM. unfortunately ICM does not have the feature talent or reach to give him the director opportunities he deserves. at what point is it okay to be loyal to yourself instead of your agent and not get panned for making a move?
Kaufman is the greatest agent and nicest guy. He didn’t deserve that.
To the source outside ICM who was critical of Billy’s move.
1. Billy stayed a LONG time with Bruce. He could have left a long time ago. Staying this long showed loyalty. Billy’s a good guy. Give him a break.
2, Bruce, while a decent guy, is not the most aggressive agent in the world, nor the savviest. Who knows what career Billy would have had if he had left long ago…
3. Does pursuing what is best for you mean you have to stay with the same agent forever? What if remaining hurts you? Should you still stay?
4. In the most fickle/absurd/egocentric business in the world which rewards whatever is the most current and dispenses with yesterday like a used rag, why is the talent excoriated for doing what the rest of Hollywood does on a daily basis.
5. ICM is losing other clients like rats jumping the proverbial ship nor does ICM have the packaging or indie financing power of other agencies. Leave while you can…
6. Some relationships over time run their course and a change is just part of the natural course of events.
7. Stop whining. It’s business.
As a client, I have to totally agree. The indie financing situation at ICM and the talent depth chart are truly awful. I’m not repped at UTA but I get far better service there. And at CAA. And at WME. I love my agent, but I have serious concerns that the nature of the corporation doesn’t allow him to do his best work. Which means eventually he’ll leave or I’ll leave. Either way, Billy Ray isn’t ungrateful. He’s just plain fed up.
This is a business. If the agent that started you out isn’t helping you to continue moving forward in your career it’s time to shake his/her hand, thank them for everything they’ve done, and move on. If they have any class they’ll be gracious to you on your way out. It’s not always personal.
What a surprise! A guy signs with Guymon and then leaves his current agency to go with Todd Feldman. This has certainly NEVER happened before.
Todd’s a pizzaboy (fact) turned super agent (debatable fact) who happens to be close to Guymon. Todd could very well reinvigorate his career and has a knack for pairing writers with directors.
And you are correct, this never has happened before now and never will happen again…
Todd’s one of the best lit agents in town. He also owes me seven dollars.
pizzaboy (fact), wow! Crazy!
Someone at one point had to work an unglamorous job that pays more than assistant wages to move onto something better. What?!
Is that how it works? That’s crazy!
Is that another urband legend like Indrid Cold?
Note: I would much prefer to see Brian Fellows: The Movie Starring Tracey Morgan than Cop Out 2.
Does anyone still sign with ICM or is it a a slow exodus out the door? With this many clients leaving, seems like it might be time for an overall management shakeup. After Limato left (and won his lawsuit) things haven’t been so rosy at this once powerhouse agency.
Hilarious to hear an agent complain about “loyalty.” How loyal is an agent to clients who aren’t currently “hot?” Writers/directors/actors need work and momentum in order to earn. If an agent is focused on her hotter clients, the talent needs to go elsewhere. Stop whining, agents, when you lose a clent, and instead pat your play-it-safe self on the back for having an inherently more-secure job.
Unfortunately that’s the way the business goes. If Ray was the exact same writer with the exact same talents but luck had gone the other way in his career, his agent/cy wouldn’t think twice about dumping him. They helped him get big, he made them a bunch of money.
To say Bruce isn’t one of the savvier or more aggressive agents is incredibly ignorant. You’ve either never worked with him, or if you have, sadly mistake his kindness for weakness. Billy has collaborated with the biggest names in the business and this is largely attributable to his longtime agent. Billy’s talent is immense but CAA will still face hurdles in getting his movies off the ground. It is especially hard these days if he wants to continue directing smart, elevated films like Shattered Glass or Breach (both of which Kaufman put together) and not just take jobs helming strictly commercial fare that is easier to finance.
Umm. Relax, buddy. I’ve known Bruce since his days at Triad. Done lots of business together. I do not mistake his kindness for weakness. I said he was a decent guy. To say he’s not the most aggressive agent in town is something I think even Bruce would agree with… And well regarding being saavy, let’s put it this way… he’s been agent at Broder/ICM for 20 some years. Yet, he’s still not a partner. But I’m ignorant, right? Have no clue what I’m talking about….
Agents are that way – it’s a one-way dumpfest when they do the dumping. Look at what WME has been up to w. the merger (and from what I hear, again). As for GS, 360 and CAA are connected like Siamese twins. Surprise, suprise. They do the same with their actors. As for ICM – isn’t lit supposed to be their strong suit?
Agents are that way – it’s a one-way dumpfest when they do the dumping. Look at what WME has been up to w. the merger (and from what I hear, again). As for GC, 360 and CAA are connected like Siamese twins. Surprise, suprise. They do the same with their actors. As for ICM – isn’t lit supposed to be their strong suit?
Saw Rosario at a CAA party a few weeks ago. Thought that was already a done deal.
Todd Feldman gets followers as clients. Look down his list of writers. Most are not very good writers. I mean just look at the writing. Read the script. you’ll see.
Thank you.
Okay, I figured it out… You’re a troll, right? All of your posts are absurd or just plain wrong. Todd has one of the best (the best?) writers lists in the business.
Troll or moron. I’ve been thinking the exact same thing.
Sorry people. Truth hurts. You must be in your late 20′s and think JJ Abrams is God. You must be from the Ben Lyons gang of movie goers.
If you looked closely at his list and actually read the material, forget the box office but read the material you would see the truth.
Here is an example…Marc Forrester…is an awful director. Awful. In fact the movie he made before he broke through was arguably the laughing stock of the business. He rose through the ranks on things other than talent which I will not go into now. But guys like you think he’s incredible. Now he’s not the best example because Monster’s Ball was okay direction. The script was terrific. But take the example and use your little Ben Lyons brains to get what I’m saying. Smoke and mirrors fellas, smoke and mirrors. In fact, that is what this blog is about. THE TRUTH!!! Wake up. I guarantee your age is 25-35.
Thank you.
Old troll apparently.
Thank you.
I may have called Todd a pizzaboy in an attempt to take a little shot at the midget, but bro, the guy’s good at what he does.
“Followers as clients”? – Mangold
“Most are not very good writers?” – Benioff
“Read the script” – Spielberg did and (at the time) called TOY the best script he’s read in a long time. Maybe he was just trying to be in the Benioff business, but he DID say it. Not making this up.
Dude,
Benoiff’s father is a Goldman Sach’s man. The guy is connected three ways to China. If you read his material before you knew who he was you would not ever think he was great! Ever!
That said, he has written some stuff I do like. But is he Paul Schrader…come on.
Again, Ben Lyons has set the bar for our culture today. Just the facts my man. Just the facts.
Thank you.
Paul Schrader isn’t Paul Schrader anymore. Not sure what Benioff’s father has to do with anything. He’s a great writer. How about: John Logan, Leslie Dixon, Ryan Murphy, Koppelman & Levien, Ken Nolan, Andrew Kevin Walker and Andrew Niccol? Are they also follower clients?
Nah, just kidding.
“Read the Script” – what does he know?
I’ve known Billy Ray for almost twenty years. He’s a man of great heart and character. And I know for a fact he’s been debating leaving Bruce for eight years. We discussed it at length. In the end, he didn’t out of loyalty.
Well, the time finally came. Who knows what really transpired between them to force the decision? All I know from personal experience is that he stayed far longer than he should have out of the very sense of loyalty he’s now being accused of not having.
Billy Ray is one of the good guys. So is Bruce, by the way. Hopefully they will both one day be able to look at their time together not as something that was betrayed, but something to be cherished.
They both have the capacity to do so.
please please put that phrase, ‘one of the good guys’ out to pasture once and for all. it makes no sense as everyone is one of the good guys to someone and you have to consider the source for it to have any credibility. since we don’t know who you are, it rings very false
my old boss was ‘one of the good guys’. he fired me. does that make me ‘one of the bad guys’ or him a good guy behaving badly or what?
sorry, i’m not picking on you, i just ask that that phrase be put to bed forever as it would only make sense if there were specific lists to support it.
Fine.
Billy Ray isn’t one of the good guys. He was just nice to me and all the others who posted what a great guy he is. Since he isn’t one of the good guys, I wonder where the legion of posts labeling a prick are?
Your old boss fired you because you’re too jaded and obtuse to understand the phrase, “one of the good guys.” Which I guess really DOES make him one of the good guys.
ouch, someone’s got very thin skin. didn’t say billy wasn’t one of the good guys, just said drop the trite generic phrase. i didn’t make it personal, don’t know why you did.
For the win
So its like the mob over there now? You can’t part ways with an agent without them bringing a guys fathers name into it too? So pathetic. If I were them I’d do some damage control with a press release. They look like idiots and completely classless.
the “outside source” clearly does not know Billy and never met Billy’s agent Dad Rick. Rick handled the biggest writers there were, and when one of them said they felt they needed to move on for the betterment of their dreams or family, Rick was the first to say he understood… and often those clients ended up coming back to him, two and three times in some cases. Billy is an extremely honorable and loyal guy, and to know him is to know this decision was extremely difficult, formed over many years and influenced by many people– but ultimately, the hardest decision to live with is the one that in 10 years you didn’t get where you needed to go, and you know you didn’t try every avenue to get there.
So if a client stays with the same agent for years, making tons of money for both, and eventually leaves, that’s bad.
BUT if the client is constantly hiring and firing agents, that’s perfectly OK?
I’ve worked with Billy Ray. He’s one of the most honest, generous and decent people I know. Loyal? You bet. What’s was said about him here is unfair, outrageous and just plain silly.
Billy stayed out of loyalty, Bruce is a nice guy who had one client and now will have to find another……
Too bad he went to the monster CAA…what did they promise him? His own theme park??
Agents can be classy or classless and agenting is like golf, it does not teach character, it reveals it.
I’ve had the most vicious email sent to me by an ex-agent that virtually threatened to cast a ‘hex’ on my life and wished me nothing but failure, although said agent actively told me not to work with the producer who got my film made.
On the flip side, I remain friends with other ex-agents I left after many years together, when it was clear the professional relationship had run its course.
Agents dump clients and clients dump agents. It’s not blood, it’s business.
Clearly, writing “drama” or anything “uncommercial” makes you an arrogant prick.