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UPDATE: ICM assures me that none of the support personnel will get screwed out of a week's pay. "We have remedies which we're communicating on a one-to-one basis so that our people aren't financially affected by this, " I was told just now. (No emails, because they go straight to websites like mine.) The agency wants it to be known that it's not engaging in strike-timed "war profiteering"; rather, it says this is a company-wide payroll policy change that was originally planned for January but then moved up to November because of the WGA walkout. "We used to pay people a week in advance, and now we'll be paying people a week in arrears which is the norm. It's a shift in timing that makes more sense. Our goal is to protect our company and the people who make up the company." Hmm. Meanwhile, I just heard ICM will have a security guard make sure no one stays past 7:30 pm and incurs overtime.
Previous: I'm told a major tenpercentery's Human Resources dept -- aw, to hell with that anonymity, it's ICM -- has informed all employees, including agents, that the company would be "withholding" a week of everyone's pay. Assistants especially were in an uproar over this because "we get paid little enough as it is. 
Agents make enough money to deal with this, but most assistants live paycheck to paycheck." On Wednesday, HR said this by way of a "Payroll Notification" explanation: "On Friday, November 16th, all employees will receive a paycheck that reflects one week's pay, as opposed to the usual two. This is not a salary reduction. It is simply a change in the timing of when we pay our employees. We had planned to implement this change to a more customary payroll schedule at the end of December, but with a potential strike on the horizon, implementing this payroll change immediately provides the agency with more financial flexibility. We know that, for some of you, this may cause some short-term financial challenges, and we wanted to give you as much notice as possible. " So if the assistants answering ICM phones sound cranky today, you know the reason...
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Do these people not realize the holiday season is coming up? Do people not have to buy their kids Christmas gifts out there in L.A.?
A quick call to the California State Labor Board and the CA state Attorney General’ office will straighten this out for everyone affected as these sorts of arbitrary payroll changes are usually unlawful without 30-60 days notice to the affected employee.
this has ari gold written all over it….
I’m guessing: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/
The law isn’t well written on this: (taken from their website’s FAQ section)
“3. Q. I am currently paid biweekly (every two weeks). My employer wants to change the payroll period to semimonthly (twice a month) and pay on the 10th and 25th of the month. This change will cause a delay in the payment of my wages. Is this legal?
A. Yes, as long as the employer gives you prior notice of the change and meets the payday requirements of the law.”
Why not borrow a month’s pay from all their employees and get really financially flexible?
Christmas gifts? Christmas is a Christian holiday.
Hollywood isn’t run by people who believe in Christmas.
Silly Marcus
This is ICM. This is a new low. Honestly, what a bunch of schmucks.
So long as all of your wages have been paid based on the below scale, then there’s nothing that can be done… zoom to 201.5(3)(a)
CA Labor Codes 200-243
201.5. (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) “An employee engaged in the production or broadcasting of
motion pictures” means an employee to whom both of the following
apply:
(A) The employee’s job duties relate to or support the production
or broadcasting of motion pictures or the facilities or equipment
used in the production or broadcasting of motion pictures.
(B) The employee is hired for a period of limited duration to
render services relating to or supporting a particular motion picture
production or broadcasting project, or is hired on the basis of one
or more daily or weekly calls.
[…]
(3) “Next regular payday” means the day designated by the
employer, pursuant to Section 204, for payment of wages earned during
the payroll period in which the termination occurs.
204. (a) All wages, other than those mentioned in Section 201, 202,
204.1, or 204.2, earned by any person in any employment are due and
payable twice during each calendar month, on days designated in
advance by the employer as the regular paydays. Labor performed
between the 1st and 15th days, inclusive, of any calendar month shall
be paid for between the 16th and the 26th day of the month during
which the labor was performed, and labor performed between the 16th
and the last day, inclusive, of any calendar month, shall be paid for
between the 1st and 10th day of the following month.
(http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=00001-01000&file=200-243)
Sad Times,
Don’t be an ass. Most everyone celebrates the holidays with copious gift-giving. Your thinly veiled antisemitism is not very clever or logical.
Since this ‘timing change’ was supposedly already planned for December, does that mean they were always planning on taking a week’s pay from every employee?
Or is it possible that the November 16th check will be for only one week, but that on November 23rd employees will be getting their normal two-weeks’ pay? That would mean that a week of pay has merely been postponed, not recinded.
I’m glad I quit working at ICM in time to get my accrued vacation check.
This is such a bad idea when ICM in in big need of new blood and wants to try and hire new agents. So stupid. I wonder what their water bill on that stupid fountain is.
“Christmas gifts? Christmas is a Christian holiday. Hollywood isn’t run by people who believe in Christmas.”
Huh?
Obviously, you haven’t been to the Rite Aid on the corner of Western & Franklin: They’re already busting out the Christmas decorations!
We’re a solid front in the “War on Christmas” here in Los Angle-eez.
Q: Should I go to the WGA meeting tonight… or the Pogues? Please advise.
#
Sad Times,
Don’t be an ass. Most everyone celebrates the holidays with copious gift-giving. Your thinly veiled antisemitism is not very clever or logical.
Comment by Anonymous — November 1, 2007 @ 10:27 am
You know I actually meant it was run by money, with no religious affiliation at all. I didn’t mean it any other way.
I hope that it is clear that it was not intended as an anti Semitic remark.
BJS,
Go to the Pogues. Saw them last night. Fantastic.
I guess all the money they made on the package of Friends among other things doesn’t give them enough financial flexibility?
Thanks. I will. Saw the Pogues during the last run at the Wiltern. I have a feeling that tonight’s event at the Convention Center will make me mental… ‘coz I’m sick of all the posturing and PR moves on both sides.
BJS, I love me some Pogues, but the Pogues ain’t gonna affect your career for the next 20 years. Go to the meeting.
And by the way, is it just me or has ICM turned into Douche Central ever since they acquired Broder?
Hi Nikki,
Your coverage is amazing. Thank you.
Quick question to everyone: has anyone ever thought of forming a union for Agent and Producer’s Assistants?
I think this would be an excellent way to fight for better treatment in the work place and a decent wage. Sure, it might be harder to get that job – but the turnover would be less and it would force higher ups to treat people humanely and not take out their stress on these people who inhabit the low rung of the ladder.
And I know there are tons of people who are tired of the abuse, but still love movies and want to be a part of this industry.
Any thoughts?
Ps. Great site Nikki. Thanks for keeping us informed.
There has been talk about forming unions for assistants. The problem is that unless you are career assistant, most people don’t want to take the time and effort to form such things. The idea is to graduate from being an assistant to being an agent. Leading the charge to form a union would certainly hurt that individual’s effort to be promoted. Some of the studios, which do employ career assistants, do have unions.
sounds like a poorly written memo to me. it is one thing to say, hey, we are deducting a week’s pay, sorry…then to say, we are changing the payroll system, so on the 16th, your check will reflect only one week’s pay, but don’t even trip because on the 30th, you will be paid for that week in addition to your regular pay…go back to work, bitches!
Famine in Darfur. Thousands dead in India. Shootings in Baghdad and Iraq. Hundreds without homes in San Diego.
Meanwhile back in Hollywood, Studio Writers are worried about their residuals !!!!
Good times
Oh horrors! Audience participation members don’t get paid!!! Is Nikki on the story? Audience Participation pumps up productions throughout Hollywood, contributing to the ambience of late night, game, and talk shows.
Glorified extras, yet no pay.
Aren’t they entitled to all the benefits of writers?
Not to defend ICM (I don’t work there), however if you read in closely they are not losing a weeks pay at all, however the checks are being adjusted so that they are not paid in advance of a weeks work. They are not losing a weeks pay, however that pay is being deferred a week.
The agency is now paying for time worked, instead of advancing a weeks worth of pay.
This is now two comments sections that have come down hard on agents. So let me say this, agents have a responsibility for survival as well, and this strike is going to have to amount to sacrifice by everybody, be it agents, assistants, etc…yes, agents are well-compensated, however we are only compensated based on the amount of money that comes in. When that cashflow comes to a halt, agents too need to worry about how to pay for their kids schools, mortgages, and also their job security.
Most agents I know have clauses in their contracts that in the event of a strike their companies can reduce their salaries by as much as 40%, and many cases they are the sole bread-winners in their families. Agents are people, too (contrary to popular belief), and for every package they have, also have another set of clients that they believe in that aren’t bringing any money into the agency, and they are essentially working for those writers for free.
To knock agents, when in the end it will probably be an agent, agency or someone of power that will end this deadlock is just misplaced anger.
The focus should be on a AMPTP that was never willing to have good faith negotiations in the first place, and on a WGA who in trying to makeup for being f’ed over in the past has been banging the war drums of strike for the past 60 days, and anything that the AMPTP proposes, short of putting themselves in a position of financial disparity, would have been rejected.
It will be very interesting to see the agents be forced to remember that they work FOR the talent, not the other way around, when the talent unions form their own production and distribution entities so they can bypass the AMPTP, the agents and the distributors, keep their percentages and create a new order of independent filmmaking. Now that technology is cheap and accessible enough for people to make their own TV shows and movies and the internet is becoming a proven method of distribution, the studios and distributors can kiss those DVD residuals they’re trying so hard to hoard goodbye. It’s just a matter of time before the rules about how this town works are rewritten.
“Famine in Darfur. Thousands dead in India. Shootings in Baghdad and Iraq. Hundreds without homes in San Diego.
Meanwhile back in Hollywood, Studio Writers are worried about their residuals !!!!
Good times”
Oh don’t be high and mighty, Maxine. Writers in Hollywood still have a right to try to earn a living, little as it seems.
“Famine in Darfur. Thousands dead in India. Shootings in Baghdad and Iraq. Hundreds without homes in San Diego.”
Meanwhile, Maxine is writing comments on a blog. What a blowhard.
fuckdaagent:
you’re right, the talent should get together and form their own studios and employ themselves. Remember United Artists. How do you think it started. The name United Artists actually means something. Nowadays there is nothing united about any of the talent. If you pass on a job over money, instead of the studio coming back with more money they just find someone else to do the job cheaper. Studios want to shop for talent at Wal-Mart.
But don’t come down on agents. We’re looking out for our clients when no one else will. We don’t make money off productions. Check with your manager who is also producing your movie or tv show. Isn’t he negotiating against you as producer and for you as your manager.
That’s the true conflict.
Follow up on original thoughts – this is just a really stupid memo for a somewhat stupid policy, but not Employer abuse as originally thought.
I don’t think ICM ever paid in advance, they pay on a 2-week basis. Now it’s 1 week. Basically, this friday their assistant’s will get a check for 2 weeks of work. The next friday, they’ll get a check for this week’s work and then it will go like that ad infinitum.
And an Assistant’s Union is ludicrous – that would be like forming an apprentice union. Assistant’s can and do quit whenever they want with little to no career fall-out, it’s expected. We all work in entertainment here. But it would be a good idea to invest in your personnel’s state of mind at work. Agents are on the phone or in meetings all day – they must work and they must have help in the home office to keep the ship running smoothly. The job is impossibly difficult for both people and it takes a rare set of skills (and some would say personality defects) to make it work – again I’m talking about assistants AND agents. Obviously, giving assistant’s more vacation time, wouldn’t make a lot of sense and for the most part, no two agents are the same. Some desks are infinitely easier than others. But it would be good, since you’re a company with an office and not a boutique garage shop, that ICM should make the home office as conducive to good work as possible. From what I hear about ICM, their culture is toxic and people burn out really fast there.
I wonder if this email is an example of their HR’s ineptitude or a greater indictment of the company’s environment as a whole.
Fuckdaagents:
It’s amazing how Nikki and others are coming down so hard on the agents, we want this strike to be avoided at all costs as well, and realize the WGA is perfectly within their rights to feel like they are the bastard children of the industry (they are, especially in features). However, agents do work for their clients (talent, as you put it), and our job is to make sure our clients are working…period!
This strike is eventually going to end, and we are trying to make sure that our clients have jobs to come back to when it is over. Whether it is advising our clients who are co-producer and above to keep working, or making sure there is an independent conduit in which our writers can still have cashflow to keep their kids in school and keep their houses…THAT IS OUR JOB!!! Why fault agents for doing their jobs, and protect their clients.
One of the things I always tell new writers, as well as writers who have been working for a while is NEVER ENTER INTO A NEGOTIATION FOR YOURSELVES. This is why agents have lawyers do their deals when their contracts end, since negotiations can get very personal (we’ve all had frustrating experiences buying a car for ourselves). Writers need agents, and agents need good clients, and any advice we are giving is both for the good of the client, and for the good of an agents well-being.
You may hate Ari Emmanuel and what he says, however he is 100% correct. This negotiation has become more about who’s dick is bigger, rather than what is the best deal.
Writers need to remember, the 1988 strike didn’t end because the producers came back to the table wanting to make a deal…the last WGA strike ended, because writers in the WGA ranks threatened to go Financial Core and were going to cross the picket line in a matter of days. 72 hours later the strike ended.
I’m sorry, I know there are good, hard working people out there who are also agents, but if you look over the history of agency heads’ systematic encroachment upon the rights and revenue of writers and actors, you can see a clear path. The minute Michael Ovitz squeezed everybody’s nuts with the creation of packaging, the agents became the bad guys (and Ovitz was just continuing the work started by Lew Wasserman and his then SAG president client, Ronald Reagan, who concocted the SAG waiver that eventually led the Justice Department to break up MCA in the early ’60’s).
I’m sure you all remember how hard SAG and the ATA (and the NATR) recently fought over the agencies wanting to partner with production and distribution companies. How can people not come down hard on the agents when they’ve carved themselves an exclusive, monopolistic niche as producers? Just prior to Merv Griffin’s death, the William Morris Agency became a part owner of Merv Griffin Productions. Innovative Artists recently received $300 million in financing specifically so they could start developing shows. Talk about conflict of interest. Agents now have control over their clients, who have become almost helpless, unless they’re on the A-List, which means they’re also producers. Non-A-Listers are pretty much completely out of the equation when it comes to getting work, let alone actually getting an agent anymore.
Speaking of SAG — and this is very pertinent to the WGA — it’s quite telling that they just named as national executive director a 20-year NFL Players Association veteran, credited with founding Players, Inc., the extremely lucrative licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFLPA (also affiliated with the AFL-CIO).
I think it’s possible that this cycle of regulation and de-regulation is going to be replaced by a New Hollywood Order, because for the first time, it’s actually possible. I certainly don’t want an agent-producer negotiating my contract, just as much as I don’t want a writer-producer at the head of WGA’s negotiating table — which, as we all know, has been the biggest problem for the unions during the initial negotiations pertaining to the evolution of DVD production, sales and marketing: Hyphenates in union power positions.
negativity toward this agency and agents in general which is directly stemming from sheer ignorance. read between the lines. realize what the company is doing and that it’s NOT an issue of how they treat their employees. we’re talking about the early implementation of an inevitable policy, already set to occur in 2 months, to strengthen the core in a time when it’s needed and in a way not different than some other 10%-ers. if you read the trades regularly, you’d know this is a company HIRING agents, NOT firing them. what they’re doing is better than simply “cutting the fat” like other agencies may be gearing up to do.