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Personal managers took it on the chin Tuesday in U.S. District Court when Judge Dean Pregerson wouldn’t touch California’s Talent Agencies Act. Instead the judge threw out an outrageously broad lawsuit filed by the National Conference of Personal Managers seeking to overturn the state’s ban on managers “procuring” employment. That provision has effectively allowed clients to void their management contracts and not pay commissions even if the managers obtained a job for them. (Managers are unlicensed whereas talent agents must be licensed by the state to procure employment.) Pregerson rejected the managers’ claim that California has created “involuntary servitude” for them. “Not being compensated for work performed does not inevitably make that work involuntary servitude,” the judge ruled. “Plaintiff’s members have choices.” He also rejected claims that the Talent Agencies Act violated the Commerce Clause, the Contracts Clause and the First Amendment.
Federal Judge Throws Out Lawsuit By Managers Challenging Talent Agencies Act
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Rick Siegel’s email this morning read:
“The District Court Judge was asked to rule on three issues: did we sue the right people? Did they have immunity? And did we state triable claims or was there no controversy worthy of moving forward.
The Court found that the Labor Commissioner was the proper party to sue and that there was no immunity from suit; two wins for us. However, the Court found that we “failed to state a claim” and dismissed the suit with prejudice.”
Anyone care to comment? Why is Deadline seem so slanted against Managers?
as a friend of Rick, and a former manager ( Jay Leno and Bette Midlrer among others) I am truly disheartned by the ruling. No agency would touch Jay or Bette when they were starting out, and it was only after I got them jobs and exposure did the agents show up. The law is much too one sided and onerous. Rick fought a long , costly and valiant battle. My jaded heart goes out to him
Budd Friedman
is there an attorney in the house to explain what the ramifications of this are? Or is it still business as usual and we all pretend managers dont do half the work….
I am confused. If Managers have such a difficult time collecting payment:
1) Why do they continue to be Managers?
2) Why do so many Agents from Big Talent Agencies leave to become Managers?
Agents leave but often tend to continue to rep their “agency” clientele; while that “clientele” continues to be rep’d by their former employer. It’s like the spreading of a virus. Agencies are no longer just happy with procuring their clients work. They now have their fingers in every aspect of the business; which includes representing casting directors… the vary people that actually hire the talent. If you’re an actor working outside of the “big agencies” or “big MGMT” system; to be frankly honest, you don’t stand a chance. Stop bar tending and get on with your life. I believe these “big agencies” and “big mgmt companies” have found a major loop hole in the labor commission’s standards and they’re exploiting it. Even big-time managers/producers are rep’d by “big agencies.” It’s a vicious circle. I’m a former agent/manager. I no longer rep talent –
Hollywood is like no other biz. They make their own rules. Always have. Always will.
This fight has been going on for years. I’m surprised at the lack of coverage in this venue, especially.
Because managers can take more than 10% from their clients which agents are prohibited from doing by the various unions WGA DGA SAG AFTRA…Managers can produce the work of their clients which agents and agencies are prohibited from doing by federal law After a great massage an actor/actress can make his or her masseuse their manager An agent needs to be certified by the state and a signatory of the various unions Any other questions?
Managers bust their ass for their clients. And the legit ones only take 10%. Why should they get gipped just because a client decides they don’t want to pay for work already performed, or contracts they already have with their managers?
Yeah, how much does it cost to get licensed as an agent in the state of california?
Here’s the answer, too–500.00.
Yeah, that’s really meaningful.
The laws are ancient, they don’t apply to the modern world and need to be updated for everyone’s protection.
well thats not true but close. 500 for the bond and 250 for the license.
THIS RULING IS SUCH BULL… I dont know why the State of California wont acknowledge the laws as they exist are as antiquated as 8 track tapes. Managers do at least as much for clients in this business as Agents , yet we have no legal protection for our services. we are the Pot dealers of this industry. Such a load of crap!!!!!!
Get a license. Problem solved.
then they would be agents not managers smart guy
This is ridiculous. How often do managers have to do the work of agents? Sorry agencies, but managers are out there HAVING to get work for their clients, big and small, because agencies are (a) too overwhelmed by the amount of work out there and usually a lack of agents to cover, or (b) too busy concentrating on their important 2% and thus ignore the other 98% of their clients, or (c) cutting deals in some other area like corporate or sports to care about actors and writers, or (d) too lazy to care in the case of some boutiques that live off their commercials department. If agencies are a necessity then guess what, so are managers having to do agenting work. California judicial system – wake the F up!
Well said, XYZ
As managers, we are not only guiding our clients we are holding them together during the storms of agents dropping them, casting directors not “getting” them and their plight when they are thrown into the morass of despair as they struggle to validate their talent and uphold themselves in this industry. I’m so honored to represent my clients. I am there 24/7 in ways that always surprise and humble me. Its the journey I’m always reminded of. I am inspired by my clients’ brilliance which energizes me to pitch constantly and champion what I know to be the value of their worth and talent. I love my clients. I spend years scouting for a diamond in the rough and develop them and when they step into this industry they are ready as artists and can face being loved or trivialized with an intelligent self worth.
The courts are either ignorant to the industry or have a predisposition that is prejudice. Agents pay a small bond fee and can still package and get around the producing agenda if they desire. Together we should be a team. Agents don’t have the time to develop and mentor. We all have our positions and we all run for the same goal and its a great moment when we can pull together for a great negotiation for our client.
My friend recently spoke to an agent and the top 10 about signing someone with few credits. The guy said (close to this statement), “I’m not gonna waste my time taking on a new client even if she’s got more talent than my average actors. I can’t even get them work. Besides I spend 99% of my time pushing my top people ’cause that’s where the money is. Call me when she’s famous, then I’ll consider meeting her.” Money talks. Notice lately the lead FBI agent on White Collar gets to be the religious nut father of a family whose daughter wound up the killer of her sister on The Mentalist. Or the actor bad guy – real name Cusick – on the Mentailst plays a bearded bad guy on another CBS show. WTF. And the network execs wonder why no one watches their shows? Same actors in different series on different channels. HOW CAN THESE ACTORS BE BELIEVABLE… Good guy on one show, bad goy on another, etc.?!
it seems that the California courts want all managers to become licensed agents if they expect to enforce their agreements. We all know that “managers”, record labels, and music publishers “procure” work for artists.
All we need is a fair hearing. This judge didn’t rule on the Plaintiff’s fundamental issue: how can one be penalized without notice of penalty. The determination completely ignores that issue; it also ignores the Plaintiff’s claim that the TAA does not define conduct because there is no statute limiting procurement to licensees. It ignores several of the Plaintiff’s issues relating to interstate commerce, and it twists the 13th amendment argument. And Jim, your shorthand version of the law is as one might expect, completely flawed, though commonly thought. I suggest that there’s a debate: let’s find attorneys, or representatives from the Labor Commissioner and let’s put them in a room with me for a debate. I bet hundreds of managers and other interested parties would come. And lets see how people feel about the state of the law at the end of the debate.
So everyone commenting that the law is unfair to managers are okay if agents are allowed to produce? I mean you can’t really have one without the other, right?
Since managers are not regulated by the state and feds as agents are, and not governed by the same restrictions by the major labor unions, seems to me like it is a business built on contract law, so wake the eff up managers and build a better contract! Managers can’t solicit work, so their compensation is based on a % of client’s compensation, regardless of who or how it was brought in, so long as it came in during the term of the management contract. Period. And you can get sophisticated and include sunset clauses and exclusions for pre-existing deals, etc. if you want to. Make it as ironclad and clear about payments as a union or studio contract and you shouldn’t have trouble collecting if you have to go to court.
to “two sides of this story” and “Jim” – The agencies do produce. Their way around it is their “independent” film division – whereby they package, finance and distribute feature films through various controlled entities. And not to mention their own source of funding which each big agency has (example -every heard of The Raine Group? If not, check it out). But staying on topic, Siegel is spot on and has been fighting for what is fair and equitable for years. Managers are a necessity on so many levels. We do the heavy lifting.
So then, the managers should NOT be allowed to take more than 10% either.
Agents already produce. It is called packaging
“…the judge threw out an outrageously broad lawsuit filed by the National Conference of Personal Managers seeking to overturn the state’s ban on managers “procuring” employment.”
Dear DH team: if you don’t understand the claims, perhaps you shouldn’t call the lawsuit outrageous. The suit’s basic claim is that the state has no ban on unlicensed procurement, it is only enforced because that’s the way the Labor Commission and thereafter courts interpreted it. bases this enforcement on the notion that because procuring employment for artists is a defined activity of the regulated occupation, only those with licenses for the regulated occupation have the right to engage in the act of procuring employment for artists.
Were the defined activities of a regulated profession indeed the exclusive domain of licensees, every gardeners and tree trimmer would need landscape architect licenses, because they beautify and maintain outdoor areas, the defined activity of landscape architects; and every bookkeeper would need to become licensed accountants, because one of the defined activities of an accountant is one who keeps financial records. And anyone who uses psychological principles to affect another’s behavior without first obtaining a psychologist’s license would also be breaking the law. So tell me, what is so outrageous in thinking that the Labor Commission got it wrong in thinking that only agents can procure because its the defined activity of the licensed occupation. They also thought they didn’t have to consider severability, until the Marathon v Blasi case; and they also thought they didn’t have to allow complainants to go to arbitration, until the Supreme Court decreed they were wrong. Perhaps it is outrageous to assume facts and be insulting when you haven’t fully researched the issues involved.
As you so state: don’t get your facts wrong.
So unless I have a studio deal no agent to take ten %. So if I get a manager who can not solicit but cab produce me for 10 20 % I can then get an agent dump the manager ala Bradley cooper work Jen law Robert deniro get awards nominated for an Oscar. I like it I really like it.
who wants to be my manager.
ACTOR HERE! Spoiler alert – rant ahead – listen up.
We actors are entrepreneurs by instinct and training and dreaming. When we’re not working, we work out, honing our craft, and wait for the phone to ring. And wait and wait.
So, in frustration, we pick up the phone and call a casting director about a project we heard about, maybe from a writer friend, and a part we think we’re right for. She/he won’t take the call. We call the packager. Same thing.
We call Breakdown Services to buy a reasonably priced subscription to their researched data-base of parts, characters, and jobs available day by day. They won’t sell to us.
We’re SHUT OUT of OUR industry!
Remove all of us actors? What will be left is NOTHING…NOTHING…NOTHING.
Remove all of these agents and managers, then what’s left? Why, the world of entertainment and fantasy fulfillment for paying audiences happily humming away.
I’m eighty years old. I’ve been a part of our industry since I was a famous child star in England before the end of World War 2, and quite famous since (for all the wrong reasons.) I won’t be around much longer.
And I say FUCK YOU to agents and managers for preventing me from making direct contact with my goals.
I pass this advice to the next generation of actors. “Get in touch with your own self, and make sure there are no degrees of separation between you, your soul, your spirit, your sense of creativity, your business sense, and any roadblocks in and to your ability to GET WORK!”
Thank you judge, thank you SAG/AFTRA/EQUITY, and thank you Government for controlling the agencies by licensing them, and rejecting the “managers” of actors’ lives. If these “personal managers” really want to “represent” their clients, then they should marry them, and go all the way.
And that is my rant for the day. Good day.
WTF are you talking about? Because CD’s won’t take your calls, Managers shouldn’t be paid for the work they do for you insecure, ranting, miserable actors?
If you had half of a brain, you’d have made sure that the client’s checks, contractually, were made payable to you, subtract your commission, and then net it off to the client. But then you’d be a fiduciary, subject to the laws of fraud, and actors are smart enough to see that, and won’t let you do it. Which makes YOU an insecure, ranting miserable ex-hairdresser manager. Boo hoo.
Isn’t Hollywood filled with enough conflict of interest now. Why pile it on further. Too many business people an lawyers looking out for their cut while the talent is left in the dark.