Getting signed by your first agent is always thrilling. However, many actors, in their excitement, don't look closely enough at the contract they sign. Still more actors looking for an agent feel adrift in murky contract laws and restrictions required by the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Association of Talent Agents, and each state's Department of Labor. With few places to turn, most thesps put their faith in the one person who should know all the rules: their agent.
That's what some actors decided to do when asked to sign with SAG- and AFTRA-franchised talent agency Zanuck, Passon and Pace in Sherman Oaks, Calif. According to the Internet company IMDb Pro (www.imdb.com), ZP&P partners and theatrical agents Michael Zanuck and Jerry Pace have cast their clients in guest appearances on network shows House, Commander in Chief, Boston Legal, Malcolm in the Middle, ER, Friends, and General Hospital, among others.
According to one actor, who requested to remain anonymous, ZP&P sent a contract that included several questionable terms, such as instructions to clients not to contact their agents, not to ask casting directors questions, and to ensure that all paychecks be sent directly to the agency. Back Stage obtained the contract from the actor and proceeded to investigate it further.
ZP&P's contract does not state that it has been approved by California's labor commissioner—a legal requirement for all talent-agency contracts in the state. California Labor Code Section 1700.23-1700.47, otherwise known as the Talent Agency Act, states: "Every talent agency shall submit to the Labor Commissioner a form or forms of contract to be utilized by such talent agency in entering into written contracts with artists for the employment of the services of such talent agency by such artists, and secure the approval of the Labor Commissioner thereof. Such approval shall not be withheld as to any proposed form of contract unless such proposed form of contract is unfair, unjust and oppressive to the artist."
The Talent Agency Act further states: "There shall be printed on the face of the contract in prominent type the following: 'This talent agency is licensed by the Labor Commissioner of the State of California.'" ZP&P's contract does not include this phrase on any of its pages.
Earlier this month, Dean Fryer, spokesperson for the California labor commissioner, confirmed that the contract obtained by Back Stage has not been approved by his office. "This does not meet the requirements of what should be submitted if they are seeking to become licensed," he said.
However, Fryer said ZP&P does indeed have the necessary license from the labor commissioner, which will expire in June 2006. The agency also has a contract approved by the commissioner. "Their original contract from September '94 remains in place and is still current through June 29 of '06," he said, and added that ZP&P submitted another contract for approval in October 2005, which the commissioner denied as "insufficient."
Why would ZP&P submit another contract to be approved when it already has one? "The typical reason why people submit an additional contract is they may want to change some portion of the contract," said Fryer. "But their original contract…still stands. That's the only contract they should be working from at this point."
A Contract or a Preliminary Agreement?
Agency founder Zanuck confirmed via an Oct. 20 fax sent to Back Stage that his agents had sent the questionable contract to nonunion actors they wanted to sign. In his fax, however, Zanuck identified the contract as "an agreement [that] was used as a preliminary agreement, rather than starting with the 'guild contracts' that we use after an actor begins to work. This has been generally used for non-union actors or actors with little film/television experience…. Normally, on the first major booking, we sign the actor to the appropriate guild contract." Zanuck did not define in his letter what constitutes "little film/television experience" or a "major booking."
Three actors who were given the contract by the agency told Back Stage that their ZP&P representative did not call the contract a "preliminary agreement," nor were they told they'd be given a different contract after booking work.
Two of the actors signed the contract, the third declined, but all three said they were alarmed by language in ZP&P's contract. The first paragraph under the heading "New Client Information" states: "We are an EXTREMELY busy office and we handle a large volume of casting director requests, therefore we ask that you do NOT ring the bell when you are dropping off. Just leave it in the CRATE…. Do not send me e-mails or call unless it is extremely important."
Under "Audition Information" the document states: "Please do NOT ask the casting director any questions. If you have a question about the project call me on ext. 10 at ZPP."
Twelve paragraphs later under the same heading, the contract states: "Make sure that you fill out your contract so that your paycheck goes to: Zanuck, Passon, and Pace, 4717 Van Nuys Boulevard, Suite Number 102, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423."
What Is Standard?
Is it standard for agents to send "preliminary agreements" to actors they seek to sign? Is it common for agency contracts to stipulate that clients not contact their agent nor ask casting directors questions, and ensure their paychecks are sent directly to the agency?
The term "preliminary agreement" does not appear in the Talent Agency Act or in SAG's Rule 16(G), which outlines the regulations for SAG-franchised talent agents.
ZP&P is not registered with the Association of Talent Agents, nor is it required to be. However, ATA Executive Director Karen Stuart pointed out that members of her organization do not issue "preliminary agreements," and contracts sent by its members in California always comply with the Talent Agency Act. "If you look at any of the agreements that ATA sends out to our agencies to sign with clients, all of them state that the contract has been approved by the labor commissioner," she said.
SAG Steps In
"The Screen Actors Guild had some concern about this preliminary agreement," wrote Zanuck in his fax. "We have changed the agreement, and the new agreement has been accepted by SAG."
Zino Macaluso, head of SAG Agency Relations, said he was concerned about the agents' commissions stated in the pact when he reviewed it in 2005. Above a space provided for the client's signature, ZP&P states: "I understand that commissions will be 10 percent on gross commercial booking for SAG actors and 20 percent on gross commercial bookings for non-union actors if the project is non-union."
"The 20 percent is there to cover print jobs, sometimes done at very low money, and some low-paying non-union jobs such as music videos," Zanuck explained in his fax. "In many cases, and usually with print, this '20 percent' is a 'plus commission' and not taken from the actor's pay."
The Talent Agency Act does not set the amount of commission an agent may receive, but the commissioner must approve the agent's commission fee in the contract. Section 1700.24 states, "Every talent agency shall file with the Labor Commissioner a schedule of fees to be charged and collected in the conduct of that occupation." As Fryer pointed out, the commissioner has not approved this ZP&P contract.
SAG's Rule 16(G), aka the SAG Agency Regulations, states, "Your agent may not collect more than 10% of your commissionable income." Macaluso said he asked ZP&P partner Pace to revise the portion of the contract stating ZP&P agents' commission fees, which Pace did without argument. However, neither Macaluso nor Zanuck specified how the contract was revised, and a copy of the changed contract was not made available to Back Stage by press time.
On Feb. 8, SAG spokesperson Seth Oster said the Guild has never heard the term "preliminary agreement."
A New Deal
In his fax, Zanuck wrote that ZP&P will no longer send the contract obtained by Back Stage to its prospective clients. He wrote, "Even though this preliminary agreement has been accepted by SAG, we have decided to now only use the state-approved 'general service agreements' and guild contracts for guild members. These are the standard guild contracts used for years."