Seems like an awful environment in which to run a business. Does being a douche make you a better agent, or something?

What was an approximate breakdown of people who were JD, MBA, or just Bachelors degrees? (among agents and or assistants, whatever)

Among agents, it was about 1/3 JD, 1/3 MBA and 1/3 no grad school. Among assistants, maybe 2/3 no grad school, 1/6 JD and 1/6 MBA. Honestly your chances of getting promoted aren't at all different based on education, though obviously the degrees can come in handy as an agent and older people are generally more mature.

As an aside, entertainment lawyers are the most overpaid people on the planet. Usually the agent will negotiate the material deal points, then the lawyer will 'agree' to whatever boilerplate the buyer throws in. They may spend an hour or two arguing about how many plane tickets the talent gets or how big their trailer is or whatever, but it's a pretty good gig.

At the tiers below the big four, the answer to this is yes. If you represent lots of A listers people have to put up with your bull**** to get to your clients. But at my level producers/casting directors/business affairs etc actually have somewhat of a choice of who to deal with and would rather call me than the jackholes who are my peers.

Do you look anything like a white Romeo Crennel with Michigan gear because thats what I picture.

Haha Falcon never misses.

What management company did you work for?

How are agents paid? It was my understanding that the 10% doesn't go directly from the client to agent but to the company and the agent is paid commission monthly on some sort of sliding scale based on how much they brought in.

How many clients did your boss have and what % of them did he actually give a **** about?

What is the perception of the agents at WME of the other big agencies (CAA, UTA, ICM)? Is it hatred and all out war or is there some degree of friendliness, cooperation with some and not others?

Interesting that you say entertainment lawyers are the most overpaid. I've always felt like the whole agency business was a bit of a racket. It seems like, at least at the higher levels, agents aren't actually getting their clients work. Clients get work on their own based on name recognition, networking, etc. Then the agents step in and negotiate the deal and charge 10% for that. Which a lawyer could do just as easily. At least in the world of TV writers, I feel like once you get to a certain level, you could pretty much fire your agent and still work just as much as you would have with him. The packaging opportunities is the only thing you would miss out on, and admittedly that's probably a lot when it comes to the big agencies. What are your feelings on that? (LFS, this doesn't apply to you as you are probably actively getting people auditions and pitching them and getting them opportunities they wouldn't have without you.)

edit: One more, how much are agents actively trying to steal clients from other agencies? How aggressive are they about this and what's the furthest you've seen someone go to steal a client? My partner and I had two guys, I won't name names, from WME coming after us, trying to take us out to dinner, saying they would sell our pilot that our agent hadn't been able to sell, etc. Even when we were making it clear we weren't interested, they kept pushing. I found it all kind of gross and off-putting. Is this totally standard?

yeah why was this thread not immediately closed after the first response?

Don't forget the part where after we work our butts off to get them their big break they leave to sign with an agent who just sits and waits for the phone to ring.

1. How agents are paid depends on who you are. Junior agents, whose main function is covering, are paid a salary and year-end bonus that is based upon their perceived performance. A great covering agent is really valuable but often overlooked as the benefit to the clients is indirect. Many, many times I saw good, aggressive coverage get someone a job. Of course the point agent takes all the credit when this happens, but he/she also appreciates the help. You'd be surprised how often really, really big names are effectively desperate for work.

Anyway, that's the covering agents. Higher-level agents will negotiate a 2 or 3 year contract with the owners of the agency. This goes for partners who are not owners as well. There is a generally accepted formula for how this compensation is calculated, but I don't know what that formula is (everyone is very hush hush and agents generally don't like people knowing how much money they make). The owners (at WME this is like 5 people) obviously divide what's left among themselves however they see fit.

2. My first boss had about 20 clients and cared about every one of them. He was a lower level agent trying to break people. He was very smart and hard working, but as a young agent you just take so much abuse. While trying to build your own list, you are constantly getting yelled at to get more senior agents' clients jobs in your coverage. Nobody wants to talk to you, because you don't rep anyone big, so your days kind of suck.

My second boss had about 25 clients and cared about 20 of them. He really, really cared about 2 or 3 of them. He was a mid-level guy who really focused on the few clients he had who were legit earners (at WME this means you can make $500k+ per job) while doing enough to keep the rest while hoping they break. This worked as when I worked for him he had someone go from basically unknown to a huge movie star. Also in talent agents like to keep people on their list just in case they land on a hit TV show, where there is huge money to be made and it's a total crapshoot.

My third boss, a very senior agent, had about 10-12 clients and cared a lot about all of them. This person's daily life was much, much better than the other two because it's all incoming calls. All the clients get as much work as they want, the money is huge, everyone talks to you, etc. Whereas the first two guys have to wait a day to talk to some mid-level exec at Warner Bros, this person could get the head of the studio on the phone within an hour or two.

3. WME agents see CAA as the competition and everyone else as being inferior. I basically share this opinion. There is simply nobody working at UTA or ICM with the ability to get **** done that the top people at WME and CAA have, period. They just don't have the leverage. WME controls about half the top-tier talent in TV, so they can muscle people and get away with it. And they just have better relationships. Rick Rosen is best pals with Les Moonves, the most powerful guy in TV. That helps.

4. Agents are incredibly aggressive in trying to steal clients. They all say they don't do it, and they all do it. It's one of the things I really dislike about the business.

5. I have thoughts about the value of agents and whether or not they are overpaid, but I have to run for a bit.

Oh and since I know it's coming, yes some of the celebs are really, really good looking. Kate Beckinsale, Leighton Meester, Charlize Theron, Jessica Alba and Dianna Agron are all absolutely stunning. Kate Hudson - do not want.

Are you actually friends with any celebrities outside of work? A couple more cool celeb stories would be cool. Is being rich n famous all that from what you've seen?

Any casting couch stories?

what are people's social lives like? I picture it as lots of overpriced drinks/bottles/meals at whatever the hottest clubs/bars/restaurants currently are.

so you mean like normal young professionals in big cities?

cool thread, feel free to load it with interesting stories as I'm sure you have plenty

I'm... very sad to hear that Ashley Judd sucks

KENTUCKY BASKETBALL TEAM ISN'T THO.

She's a UK fan, big surprise there

yeah this is accurate, many assistants are trust fund babies who can afford this kind of thing but most are dirt poor living paycheck to paycheck, which creates an awkward dynamic

the company throws a number of open bar parties for the assistants each year and of course they are ****shows

awesome thread

You've mentioned tremendous benefits a few times next to the meager salary. What all does that encompass?

Well the healthcare is incredible, which was really nice for me because I'm married with a kid. My wife's pregnancy was completely paid for, not even a copay. Entirely free, top-notch health care at UCLA medical center, vision, dental, etc. Also there are TONS of vacation days. From mid-December to early January the place just shuts down for over 2 weeks, and the time is paid. Every holiday weekend, if the holiday is on a Monday, they give everyone the preceding Friday off, or at least a half day. And they recognize a ton of holidays. In the summer, everyone is done at 1pm on Fridays. When you leave the company, they give you all the time off you didn't use (sick and vacation days, and there are a lot of them) in a lump sum.

They also screen current movies for free in their screening room all the time, which is cool. They pay for lunch for everyone every Friday. The Christmas Party and assistant parties are really nice and completely free. 2 days a year, they pay for you to do charity work at a place of your choice.

I think almost all of this stuff is the result of Patrick Whitesell, the co-CEO, being an absolutely amazing guy. Can't say enough good stuff about him as an agent and person.

Also, they really work to help people get good jobs. This is partial self-interest because it's better for them to have relationships, but it's still a benefit.

Can you go more into the being bunt out from the job? IM guessing going in you knew it would be a soul crushing environment so you must be the type that doesnt burn out quickly or Id at least assume so. I just know that I wouldnt be able to make it in a job like that so I wouldnt try but going in for 2 years and deciding to leave must be a big decision givin the time you put in.

What are your future plans/hopes to find a new job? What kind of job ect.?

BTW this is a very interesting thread especially with Entourage just ending and many OOTers having at least a made for HBO look at that world with Ari Gold's viewpoint. I just wish I had more questions for you.

Casting couch does not exist, at least not for studio movies and legit indies. These films have casting directors, who are it seems exclusively obese, rude women or gay men. Now when a legit director's hot ****buddy is 'getting into acting,' they can land a minor role, but that's as far as it goes.

I am not friends with any celebrities though if that's your thing it's very easy to accomplish. Also, some people use the job to then become assistants to celebrities, a job that can be either horrid or incredible depending on the celeb. Pay for that gig is generally good, like up to $150k, but you are on call 24/7. The wilder celebs routinely have their personal assistants handling drugs, accompanying them on benders, etc., but that often doesn't last because in today's corporate Hollywood there seems to be little tolerance for such stuff.

Any stories about Brendan Fraser, Ashley Judd, or John Cusack acting crazy?

+1, especially Fraser and Cusack since I like some of their work a lot.



Also just something that been floating in my head. You know anyone you work with or socialize with that hooked up with any celebs/semi-celebs that you can talk about?