Olivia’s Complaints can be read HERE Its 2 parts, part one is beneath part 2.
I sent it to Dave The owner of Motley Models and he responded, which you can read below. But Olivia Austin isn’t well known for telling the truth. As you can see by reading the response below, she tends to bend the truth.
Motley Models is the top agency in the Adult Industry. A favorite at AVN awards, They are known for commanding the highest rates, explosive name branding, and ensuring the safety of their models. What an impressive roster, Performer safety, and commanding the highest rates for their modeling roster. Noticeable about this incredible agency is the consistency of top production company’s desire to film their models as the priority
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the opportunity to react to this submission to your site. It’s very unfortunate that Olivia has taken this route in an attempt to exit our agency. Part of me thinks she¡¯s trying to use your venue to advertise/promote herself and her new blog. You have been in this industry a long time and I¡¯m sure done business with the vast array of different< and sometimes challenging personalities we come across on a day to day basis. We have met/managed some amazing girls and like ANY agency, we have had our fair share of tough ones too.I do not want to bash Miss Austin. However, I can tell you that she is “VERY DIFFICULT¡± to represent. She is the type of model that would complain if she was only working 4 days a week. This current rant of hers is tantamount to a kid at Toy¡¯s R Us not getting their way…and this is her stomping her feet.
Here are facts:
From 12/6/2014 to when our relationship deteriorated in the last week of March she was booked 44 times equaling roughly $36k. She spent as quickly as she made despite our advice for her to sock some away for taxes and if/when there were slow spots. She continued to spend and badgered for more work even though from the numbers above you can tell she was doing better than most. We did our best to keep up with her unrealistic demands.She was indeed living in my home paying $50 per night for her and her 40lb bulldog (that she failed to mention). It included utilities, food and dog watching. Keep in mind she would leave her dog for 8 to 12 hours at a time, sometimes overnight¡¦even on her days off. When she began to take advantage of the dog watching, we gave her notice on 3/1/2015 that she needed to transition to a new place to live. Understand that she balked at this and was resentful for having to leave as she had a great set up to be< close to the agency and a caring home for her beloved dog. It’s unfortunate she is now throwing the cost of this service back in my face but of course she has to paint the picture of a victim. BTW, If you do research on model house pricing, I don¡¯t feel $35 for a shared room or $50 for a private (including food) is outlandish. It seems to be par for what others are charging and they don’t include food.
The $200 error on one of her call sheets she referenced was indeed a typo. It happens. I spoke to my booking agent, apologized to her and it was cleared up. There is no merit to her insinuation that this is something that was done on purpose or happens regularly.
Paying her balance – On occasion when models carry high balances, we ask that companies cut the talent checks to our agency. Miss Austin¡¯s balance was around $850 at the time and she “did not have the time” to pay it. Must be those lazy agents not doing their work by booking her too many jobs. Therefore, we asked the company and they had no problem doing that for us since we’ve ALWAYS been accountable for paying our models and have never not done so.
AVNS – Miss Austin was informed weeks prior to AVN about posters and 8×10’s we wanted to print on her behalf in order to promote her new career. We had locked down her trade show passes, a hotel to share with another model, a red carpet pass and tickets to the AVN show. At the time she was still on the fence about coming out to friends and family but we figured when the time came she would be ready to roll as she was shooting a lot and it was good promotion. However, a week prior to the AVNs she changed her mind and flat out told me she did NOT want to attend or be in the booth. She had concerns being that she had worked in Vegas prior to getting into the industry and was afraid someone she knew might see her. She said she was a ¡°maybe¡± for the White Party and AVN show. With many other of our starlets committing to the booth, events and AVNs, we opted to transfer her stuff to a model who was excited to be a part of the week.
Mike, she literally decided Friday morning to make the drive from LA to come to the White Party. She got to Vegas as I as supposed to be ushering in the talent to the White Party red carpet. Even so I scrambled, got her into the party, a pass for the convention for Saturday and a general admission ticket for the AVN show¡¦remember we transferred her ticket to sit upfront to another model that had spent the week there in Vegas promoting herself and our agency. Miss Austin did attend the AVN Awards with the general admission ticket provided to us by AVN.
Unfortunately, she was not able to walk the red carpet nor was I as AVN was limited on who could actually walk it. My hands were tied here though I would have< liked her to been able to participate in it.
Now to the buy-out which is what this is really about
Mike, she did 44 bookings in less than 4 months earning $36k, no joke. She earned the agency roughly $9k in those 4 months with booking fees and 15% commission. 20 of those 44 bookings came from 1/26 to her last one with our agency on 3/28 where she claims work was slow for her. She also took 4 days off in March as her parents were visiting and she couldn’t shoot. This is not a model had been ignored or misrepresented by any means.
Her contract is a 24 month with Motley. She has fulfilled 20% of her term with us and we stand to lose A LOT by her leaving our agency so early. Being that she is a high earner with a lot of work ahead of her, we assigned a $3,500 buy-out so she could move on to OC Modeling. I offered her a $2k upfront and the remaining balance of $1,500 at the end of 30 days. I told Sandra of OC that upon Miss Austin¡¯s $2k payment she could start work with her agency IMMEDIATELY. We have no interest in keeping her from working.
This $3,500 number does not come out of thin air. As I told Miss Austin, Motley has sold AND PURCHASED roughly 30 contracts over the past 5 years. This is not a very big number considering every agency has turnover. The buy-out is predicated on the model¡¯s past earnings, future earnings and length left on her contract. As mentioned earlier, she has made our agency roughly $9k in 4 months or $2,250 on average per month with 80% of her contracted time remaining. If she were to earn conservatively half of that over the duration of her contract we would make us around $22,500. Again, $3,500 is/was a fair number.
Let¡¯s move on to our contract that she claims ¡°a lawyer found nearly 10 things invalid¡±. Just more nonsense trying to paint herself as a victim. Attached is a copy of Miss Austin¡¯s agreement with Motley Models. Also attached is the stamped, CA Department of Licensing approved, version direct from is Motley Models agreement. They are identical. You can verify the legitimacy of this information by contacting Jeanie at the CA DLSE @ (415) 703-4846. If Miss Austin, and from what it appears, her non-retained< lawyer have issues with what DLSE requires and approves for us to use as a contract, that’s a bigger fight than with Motley. We are just following the guidelines they put forth for us.
In conclusion, I believe this is nothing more than a a stubborn model with an extreme case of “the grass in greener¡± looking for a cheap way out. She has written many untruths to try and paint us in a bad fashion…I really< hope you don’t give this kind of story relevance. We have not acted maliciously nor inappropriately in any way with Miss Austin, quite the< opposite in welcoming her into my home, taking care of her pet as if it were my own and getting her career to a point where anyone would care about any of this. We are happy to allow her to move on but are standing firm with the buy-out as this is a major loss for us.
Thanks again for the opportunity address this. She’s actually been threatening “go public” with the above for a week if I didn¡¯t give her what she wanted. I don¡¯t feel we acted out of line so I turned her $2k away and said ¡°do what you must¡±. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what you do as I strongly believe that talent needs a voice too. Unfortunately, not every talent deserves that venue free from another rational opinion or accountability for what they¡¯re posting. Sorry kid, no tickle me Elmo doll today. 😉
Best,
Dave Rock
President/CEO Motley Models
17 Responses
I love reading these disputes. I have no idea whose right and whose wrong, so, I don’t want to appear to be taking sides. But, I get a kick out of models complaining about $50 a night for a private room in a model house – when a private room at the Red Roof Inn is going to cost them $100 a night (plus tax) and an apartment will cost them first and last months rent, the current month’s rent, utility deposits, furniture rental if they don’t already have their own, etc.
But here’s the one that got me. If Mr. Rock’s math is to be believed, she made $36,000 for 44 scenes – which works out to $820 a scene. If Ms. Austin’s math is to be believed, she was just offered $4,000 to do her first Interracial, but she turned it down because she’s turning down a $3,200 raise and holding out for more? Is IR really that popular that a production company will pay $3,200 more than the going rate for someone who has been in the industry for about six months?
Meanwhile ……. she’d rather not work than pay an extra $1,500 in a buyout fee – based on her going rate, that’s two scenes. Four scenes if you look at the whole fee. Who in their right mind forgoes $12,000 a month to avoid paying a $3,500 buy out fee – or, to argue over $1,500?
I read her complaints. This model sounds like an entitled nightmare of a brat. Some of these models come into the business and think that an agent should do everything from paying for their travel to watching their dog to providing a free place to live to wiping their ass. It sounds like the agent here went above and beyond what is required of him and what we have here is an entitled model who just can’t believe that no one wants to shoot her and her shitty attitude. I love seeing models like this bounce around from agency to agency and never figuring out that its THEY who are creating their own problems, not the agents.
I would bet work slowed down for her because everyone shot her once or twice, she wasn’t a great performer or particularly attractive in an exceptional way, and so directors moved on to the next 100 girls entering the business. There is only so much shooting going on. If you are not an exceptional performer or exceptionally hot then there is no reason for the same 20 directors to keep shooting you over and over. Its funny how some of these models just can’t believe that there are people in the universe who don’t care about seeing them naked or having sex again. They just can’t believe it. It couldn’t POSSIBLY be anything wrong with them..it must be the agents or directors!
This girl is not exceptionally attractive. She should be thankful she’s getting this much work. There are many girls in the business who are much better looking who are not shooting as much. Motley in no way under-performed or did anything in breach of their contract, and therefore she has no right to break it without a buy out. The buy out he asked for, with all things considered, is reasonable.
There is no need for this girl to pay any buyout fee. If this agent ever booked her for a non condom shoot he violated the law, explicit laws for talent agents,, 1700.3 and 1700.1, just to name two. She can opt out of this contract at any time, and report this agent to the DIR.
And the laws that govern agents also requires the agent pay for any travel for a job outside a certain radius of where the booking took place,,,this agent, and virtually every single agent in the porn biz violates these laws every single day, and the performer has every legal right to opt out of the contract with no penalty. The performer is the boss,,the agent works for the performer, but this is porn. ONLY IN PORN
It seems confusing to me that if a model is unhappy with current agency and another agency wants to rep them why models keep fighting with old agency vs making new contract contingent on paying old agency buy-out?
Looking at the numbers presented above the agency takes a 50% cut in first quarter (or half year with drop off of novelty phenomenon) on a two year contract if the 9k is six month agency income it drops to less than 10%.
Also at a loss to why so many use attorneys to look for mistakes after they’re sorry vs upfront negotiating to meet both parties best interests.
@BT think I’m in the same boat with the pleasure of back & forth button pushing & concern that opinion implies endorsement of one side or the other as on-field players vs $.02 to the mix from the peanut gallery they sought with button pushing.
I’d love to know where in the talent agency act you believe it says that the AGENT must pay for travel for a model.
And I’m sorry but there is no “opting out”. If a performer wants to break the contract they must file a dispute withe the Dept of Labor. Contracts are never terminated just because someone “says so”. It would not be fair to an agency if they signed a model, introduced her to all of their clients, did very well for her, and then the model “decides” to terminate the contract and take all of the hard work the agency has done. It doesn’t work like that.
By the way Jilted, you’re just about the most biased person on this site. Are you trying to tell me that the agent didn’t do a good job for this model and that she has a legitimate case here? Anyone with good sense can see that he provided her with a level of service above and beyond what is legally required of him. I know that you’re like..anti-porn, anti-agent, pro-model no matter what the facts are, but the model is wrong here. It amazes me that you’re never willing to just admit when an agent has a point and the model is acting irrationally.
As someone who has had a mainstream agent for print media and a separate agent for television work, I never quite understand the gripes porn talent make. For instance, complaining that the check went to the agent instead of to talent? That, my friend, is the way mainstream works – the check goes to the agent who subtracts their cut and sends the balance to the client.
I think a lot of the talent griping comes from the fact that they work in an industry where they literally get fucked!
I read the comment from Dayna Vespoli, who basically said: Welcome to the world of porn, and advised her to take it up the butt if she wants to stay in the industry and continue working.
Says it all, I think.
Exactly. Imagine if this model was owed $850 and the agent told her he was too busy to pay her. People like Jilted would grab their pitchforks and spout off the usual rants about “See! These god damn agents! ONLY IN PORN!!!” Yet when a model pulls some unprofessional/shady shit she gets the usual “This poor girl!!! She’s being taken advantage of!!!”
Let your daddy complex go for a second and look at the facts here. Its a difficult model, with unreasonable expectations, behaving unprofessionally and then acting like she’s entitled to the whole world
Now that this is out there, I guess I can share my story as well. Not as entertaining as Olivia’s, but I guess it will add some more credibility to her story.
I was online a couple of months ago and saw an ad to try out for this Porn Reality show called Sex Factor. Pretty much the basis of the show is a Real World Style show with XXX stuff involved, etc. It was a way for the show to try and find new talent and give them a shot in the adult industry mentored by porn stars. They were selecting 8 girls and 8 guys, with a Million Dollar Prize split. 500K to the female winner, 500K to the male winner. Now where things got choppy is the fact that the 500K prize was split over a 3 year span.
Now granted if your a male pornstar sign me up! I flew to Vegas and I’ll explain more about that later. But as a female pornstar why entertain that idea? I feel girls get about 800-1K per shoot, wouldn’t you just take the guaranteed money instead of competing against 7 other girls?
I flew to Vegas, arrived, got settled in at my friends place. Got a chance to meet a couple of the contestants and I have to say they were mostly really nice, cool chill, down to earth people. But at the same time I felt a lot of them were in way over their heads. They had no idea the history of the porn industry, I would bring up stars names, topics, they knew nothing about. I feel the NO. 1 Advice I would give any girl/guy entering the industry is KNOW ABOUT IT. Know what came before you. How do baseball players get good? They study the players before them. Porn needs to adapt this model to weed out those that can do it, and those that can’t.
The one girl that stood out to me that I met that night was Veronica Vain. She was the only one who seemed like was still entertaining signing another deal or contract. While I feel Evil Angel def. overpaid for her 6-figure deal, I can’t hate on her for landing that deal. Thats a heck of a deal, and obviously she saw that something was wrong with Motley Models otherwise she would have signed on the dotted line like many of the other contestants, unfortunately have.
After arriving at AVNS and not getting in because of a story I will keep confidential, I stood outside the AVN Show and actually got to meet some nice people. Flynt Dominik was very nice. Jack Napier was very nice. J. Crew was there too. I met Alexis Adams outside of AVN’s. After the show was over I was invited to a suite at the hard rock. That is where I had my opportunity to meet the contestants.
That night we went to a mansion where it was explained to us that if we participated in the show we would have to sign a contract. That was the red flag for me. Now walking away from an opportunity to be in porn as a male pornstar and get paid 500K over 3 years sounds crazy. But I just got one of those feelings you get when you know that something is just too good to be true. All this went down in January. It’s April now and I have seen nothing new from anyone who was in that hotel room that night or anything new from that show. What if I had signed that contract myself, and been stuck 2 years under one agency. As a guy its bad. As a female talent its torture. A guy wants to leave an agency, who cares. He makes $50-$450 a scene. A girl leaves shes stuck paying a $3500 buyout?
I will conclude by saying this. I was never going to bring this up. Especially considering the fact I have a lot of respect for the contestants who signed up to appear on Sex Factor. I hope the show does well, has success and they all end up having successful lives and careers. But this essay written by Olivia Austin is too detailed and descriptive to be taken lightly. Honest opinions need to be seen and heard.
The Porn Industry right now is a real Wild Wild West. The Females entering need to be extremely careful about who they sign with and the impact it has. If guys want to do it, they need to start their own website or know someone, that knows someone, that knows someone.
Good Luck to All Parties Involved.
Mr A,
It does work like that…every single agent violates 1700.1 and 1700.3 every single day, and each of those violations can be used by an artist to terminate their contract with written notice to the agent they employed. That is exactly how the law is set up, and exactly what it was intended to do. That is exactly how it works, the fact that agents have gotten away with violating these laws for so long does not mean that the law doesnt exist or doesnt apply.
These girls are too desperate, They need to take their time and research and read the contracts before they sign. I pulled this off the internet. It’s a good read and has some good points that these girls need to be aware of before signing 2 years away.
How to (legally) get out of your talent agency contract
So you did it! You finally got an agent! Someone who believes in your work. Someone who has the connections to get you more and better work, and someone who has the business sense to get you the best deal and most money for gigs. Congrats!
Then your biggest fears start to come true. Your agent stops taking your phone calls. You go months with no auditions or bookings. You meet other talent who have been waiting to get paid for gigs from months ago. All of the sudden, your stardom dreams are turning into a nightmare! What have you done? Did you sign a deal with the devil?
Fortunately in most cases, it is possible to get out of your agency contract. Here are a few things to look for when you’re trying to break ties with your agent or agency. They may not apply to everyone’s particular situation, but they are a good starting point.
1. Did you sign a contract?
It sounds obvious, but remember that if you didn’t sign a contract, you may not be legally obligated to stay with your agent. If you did not sign a formal contract, your best bet is to just give your agent a nice professional phone call to let him know that the relationship is just not working out. Be careful though–if you agreed in an email or other written form to certain provisions, those may be then considered contractual obligations. On the flip side, if your agent agreed to certain duties in that email and is not living up to his obligations, he may be breaking that contract. In this case, seek the help of a qualified contract lawyer to clarify who is legally obligated to do what.
2. Are you actually dealing with an agent or a manager?
Look carefully at the wording in your contract. It may not seem like a big deal, but there is a huge difference from a legal standpoint between an agent and a manager. Agents are regulated by state and sometimes federal laws, but managers are not. Managers are not legally allowed to procure work and negotiate contract on behalf of an artist. If you have signed a contract with a manager who is promising to do these things, the entire contract may be null and void.
3. Is your agency properly licensed?
Actual agents and agencies require extensive licensing which varies from state to state. Many states require that talent agencies register as an employment agency, or require a special talent agency license. Other states require that the agency be bonded. The Association of Talent Agencies (ATA) has a list of agency licensing requirements by state, which you can find here. The ATA itself was created to monitor and regulate the talent and literary agency industry. If you question your agency’s licensing, contact the ATA through their website at http://www.agentassociation.com. They may be able to clarify the requirements, and point you in the right direction if your agency is in violation. If your agency is not properly licensed, you may be able to break your contract with no legal repercussions.
4. Is there a termination clause in your contract?
Most legitimate contracts will provide a clause so either party can terminate the agreement if things aren’t working out. If you signed a contract that does not have one, contact a lawyer immediately to look into the matter. In most cases, your contact is for a specific length of time–one year for instance. If your contact does not automatically renew, the worst case scenario would be that you just don’t sign a new contract once the year expires. If the contract automatically renews itself (meaning, you only have to sign it once, not every year) then you’re usually required to send written notice if you wish to terminate it. This should always be done via certified mail so you have a receipt that the notice was delivered. This will protect you from disputes as to whether or not notice was given. Be careful though–many self-renewing contracts have a window in which you have to send a termination notice. For example, you may have to send written notice no more than sixty days prior to the anniversary date of your contract. If you miss that window, you may be legally obligated to live out another year of your contract.
Fortunately, most legitimate agencies will do their best to keep the talent happy. If the relationship is not working out for both parties, they may be OK with terminating the contract before the term has expired. Just remember that if they do agree to end things before the contract is up, you need to get it in writing or you’ll still be legally obligated to the contract.
If your agency is giving you a hard time about leaving you may still have some other recourses. Here a just a few more contractual items that may give you reason to legally break your contract. These apply specifically to AFTRA agency contracts, but the principles may apply in your state as well. Always seek the advise of a qualified contract lawyer in your state if you have questions about these.
1. Is your agent actively seeking work for you?
If you’re an AFTRA member working with your franchised agency, you may request a written list of all of the jobs and auditions you have been submitted for up to once a month. If the list is empty or only has a few things on it, this may give you just cause to break your contract. Remember that an agent is legally obligated to attempt to procure work for you by any legitimate means. Even if you’re not a union member, if the agent is not attempting to find you work then they may be violating their state regulations.
2. Did your agent make you go to one photographer, or acting coach?
It is a common and often illegal practice for an agent to get kickbacks from a photographer or acting school for talent referrals. Even if they strongly recommend one particular photographer or coach, AFTRA franchised agents need to supply a list of qualified candidates to their talent. If you are forced to go to one person they are in violation of their AFTRA franchise agreement. Even if you’re dealing with a non-franchised agency your should still have a choice. If you think your agency may be getting some kickbacks, contact your state Department of Labor right away so they can investigate it. If they are in violation you may not be legally bound by your contract.
3. Is it a revolving door of employees at your agency?
AFTRA franchising agreements require something called “Continuity of Management”. Basically, the agency needs to keep a low turnover rate. If more than half of the employees your agency has listed with AFTRA are no longer with the agency, you may have legal grounds to terminate your contract. There may be similar clauses at the state level–check with your attorney to find out.
Remember the rule of thumb is to check with a lawyer who specializes in contract law to get the specifics for your state. But in most cases, the agency contracts are there to protect the talent just as much as the agency. The bottom line is that if your agent is not doing their job, you need to cancel your contract and find someone who will.
But, again, if you had wanted to appear on a mainstream reality show, you would have signed a contract, and trust me, that contract would have required you to sign away any right to protect your life or your image. They will own the footage, they will edit you to turn you into the character that best fits the narrative of their story, you will participate in marketing, etc. And …… you probably wouldn’t make $500,000 over 3 years.
These are the nature of the entertainment industry. Ironically, for all the bitching about porn agents, the biggest difference between porn and mainstream is this: Porn will at least let talent work without an agent. That simply does not happen in mainstream. A major star is not only paying an agent, they are also paying a lawyer (who typically gets 5%), an accountant, a business manager and at least one personal assistant. They simply won’t talk to a minor star or a newcomer without representation because they don’t want the drama of dealing with a mainstream problem child.
I’m not an apologist for agents – heck, I don’t know anything about any of these folks. But, people enter an industry where there job is to get fucked and, sometimes to get fucked in particularly nasty ways. They then complain that everyone is trying to fuck them. I think the most telling part of Olivia’s post is that she says she loved the industry because of all the attention that was paid to her – if that’s the case, she probably picked the wrong industry from a business point of view. Once the novelty of her newness wears off – after we’ve seen her do the same thing in 44 scenes – fans want to see something new. Anal, DP, squirting, IR, and bound and gagged on Kink.com. If she thinks she’s special, just ask Lisa Ann, Julia Ann, Nina or any of the other industry stalwarts who have had careers that spanned a decade or three.
the language is pimp like espeically the end where he refers to her as a kid wanting elmo when she is a twenty six year old woman but that is the industry. between oc and motley it is a case of same shit different stink but after making all of that money for that agency and paying test costs, flights, etc all herself i’d think he could just let her go for a few hundred or nothing at all. i dont agree with agency buyouts my thoughts have always been if a girl wants to go she can go. this is not mainstream these girls risk a lot just let her go to oc. sandra charges a lot too, it is not going to be much different but if that is what she wants…
@tilmans you are exactly right 100%. I feel like how can you hold this girl hostage, especially when she is okay with leaving for 2500. Unbelievable the type of asshole Dave Rock at Motley Models must be.
You know what though. You have to be a scumbag to be a porn agent. It’s just the facts. I would say the nicest of all the agents is probably Mark Spiegler and even he has had some minor problems in the past.
Right now like I said previously it’s a Wild West out there. Girls are taking less, guys are taking way less, and the quality of product has gone down hill tremendously. I would personally love to be apart of some rebirth in porn. I would love to set up a system similar to Pro-Sports (Also Billion Dollar industries) where the performers were given better treatment, while the directors/producers were able to still offer fair rates. That is not reality though. Porners are literally grabbing onto whatever little piece of the pie they can, and with the internet making any scene you release pretty much free, new ideas need to be born in order for porn to have continued success in the future.
I hope this doesn’t degrade into agent vs. talent. There are definitely times when either one is in the wrong. I will give Motley credit for clear, concise and remarkably frank relaying of specifics…..
(devil advocate on shoulder [to mix metaphors]): ….specifics which might actually be illegal to relay publicly, thereby nullifying said contract…… 🙂
How about some coverage of Verified Chat’s Greg Dodson’s new “agency”? Motley seems to be legit for the most part.