(devil advocate on shoulder [to mix metaphors]): ….specifics which might actually be illegal to relay publicly, thereby nullifying said contract…… 🙂

@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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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