Latest in Association of Talent Agents

The Association of Talent Agents, which has been locked in an 11-month battle with the Writers Guild, has shut down its offices and its staff will be working from home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. "These are uncertain and unprecedented times, as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the health and safety of…

The Association of Talent Agents is calling out the WGA on its demand that agents turn over their writer-clients' contracts and invoices to the guild. "Agents have a fiduciary duty not to disclose a client's confidential financial information unless the client consents to the disclosure," the ATA said in a statement…

The WGA says it's been talking to a number of talent agencies – including "major agencies" – over the past two months in an attempt to get them to sign its new franchise agreement. It's been more than two months since the guild has signed a mid-size agency to its agreement, which bans packaging fees after one year and…

The WGA is reaching out to personal managers to connect them with writers who are looking for new representation. The move comes nearly five months after the guild ordered all of its members to fire their agents who refuse to sign its new Agency Code of Conduct. The guild is asking managers to fill out a questionnaire…

The WGA remains committed to reaching a deal with the Big 4 talent agencies, separate and apart from the Association of Talent Agents, according to John August, a member of the guild’s negotiating committee and an outgoing member of the WGA West’s board of directors. "Negotiations with the Big 4 agencies remains a…

After three membership meetings this week, it's abundantly clear that WGA West members overwhelmingly support the guild’s four-month fight with Hollywood's talent agents and the re-election of the guild's leadership. So if agents are waiting for a change in the guild's leadership to end the agency standoff, they may…

WGA West presidential candidate William Schmidt is calling on the guild to resume negotiations with the Association of Talent Agents to end their standoff, which is now in its 111th day. "We must return to the negotiating table immediately," he said in his latest campaign statement. In March, the guild asked its member…

The signing of the Kaplan Stahler Agency to the WGA's newly modified franchise agreement has been hailed as a win for the guild, but could it open the floodgates to other mid-sized agencies following suit? The new deal is far more flexible than anything the guild ever offered to the Association of Talent Agents, and…

The WGA has asked the judge in its antitrust lawsuit against the Big 4 talent agencies to delay a hearing on the agencies' demurrers and motions to dismiss the suit until after the guild's upcoming elections. The agencies, however are asking the court to reset the hearing date for August 27 "so that the important…

The 101-day battle between the WGA and Hollywood's talent agencies has surpassed the guild's 100-day strike against the film and TV studios in 2007-08. And while the current dispute technically is not a strike, it has all the acrimony of one — with both sides trading lawsuits and more than 7,000 writers firing their…

ICM Partners has filed a motion to dismiss an anti-packaging lawsuit brought by the WGA, calling the guild's claims "absurd." The WGA and writers Patricia Carr and Chip Johannessen sued the agency in April for breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud. ICM's demurrer, filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court…

With the ongoing battle between the WGA and Hollywood's talent agencies now in its fourth month, the guild's negotiating committee reminded writers tonight to be wary of fired agents offering to "help" their out-of-work former clients. More than 7,000 writers have fired their agents who refused to sign the guild's…