Thank You Scott Andrew, I appreciate the professional manner in which you responded, others could learn a lot from you man.
From now on I’m gonna refrain from these agency stories for the obvious reasons. I would still strngly encourage APAC to work with LATATA and set up some practices that protect both sides
Hi Mike,
Hope all is well with you on this Halloween day.We have seen your most recent post as relayed from Brandi Foxx. I’m here to give you the real facts.Here is a brief summary of the facts in the matter:Back in Q2 of this year we acquired both Metro Talent Management and a Talent Manager named Kevin.
Kevin was managing the models at the time and brought on several models including Brandi. I never talked to her.In fact, I’ve never spoken to her directly. I’ve never met her. I live in Park City Utah and come to LA once a month and manage my agencies via Skype which works as well as if were in the office.Brandi was placed, upon her request as she had no place to stay, at a Model House owned by a director.
That director is never at that house. So I am unaware and do not believe that she had actual encounters with him. At around the same time that Brandi was at the house, Kevin was recruited over to OC Modeling and left the business. We picked up the pieces, including Brandi and other models. We indeed tried to find work for Brandi with no success.
I don’t know the exact circumstances but it was becoming clear that she didn’t have the funds to pay for the rent at the model house which was $35/day I believe.
Somewhere towards the end of a week stay things became tense at the house. Natalie tried to diffuse the situation but it resulting in her getting yelled and screamed at by Brandi. She was asked to leave. And also was asked if she would pay her rent. She left hastily and never remitted any funds.
We, in fact, paid her bill to the director of $325. Then a week or so after I received an email from Brandi. It was not kind to say the least. She wanted to be release from her contract and was refusing to pay the rent. You can read the dialog yourself.
What followed was a series of rants from her about just about everything including some really savory things she wanted to express about me.
In the end I even offered to settle for a lesser amount. In fact, I might have taken $50. Just something to show her responsibility. In the end it appears not about the money but about anger. And while I understand anger over not getting work, making this personal issue seems to be her point.We hold no ill will towards her and never have.
I hope she finds what she is looking for in this or other business and wish her well. We will probably, at this point, simply call this a bad debt and move on.Please find attached the email dialog in the hopes that maybe someone will see that as professional as you may try to be, sometimes that just doesn’t work.
I am not sure what would have other than simply giving her money in the form of her balance.Thanks in advance for your review of the information.
Scott Andrew
Co-Owner
LAX Models
Metro Talent Management
17 Responses
Metro Talent Management responds to Brandi Foxx http://t.co/fO7AQYBZ90
There are also very specific laws regarding ‘managers’ and agents. Managers are not allowed to procure work, and take a fee for that service.
Whether this applies to this particular individual or company, I am not sure. I am just putting out there that there is a LEGAL difference between the two, and you cant be both to the same performer. And any person who works under the licensed agent is an EMPLOYEE of the agent, not an IC.
Again, not to say that this applies to this particular situation. And it really isnt a ‘fine line’ we are talking about here. It is a well established line, written in the LAWS, It is a line that way to many people in the agency/manager/pimp buisiness in the LA porn world often cross.
APAC might better serve performers with a panel on how to read and negotiate an agency representation contract than a panel covering “how to integrate friends, family and romantic relationships into your life as an adult performer.”
Also have to mention APAC President, Chanel Preston’s quote “We know it can be challenging to maintain healthy personal relationships in this industry because of the stigma and scrutiny associated with sex work.”
Kinda helps if you have a career to integrate those relationships INTO. Seems sorta bassackwards to integrate those relationships into your career vs navigating and integrating your career INTO your relationships.
Perhaps a panel on assertiveness and negotiation to avoid conflict with some conflict resolution tips tossed in for the inevitable situations that arise in life? With so much focus on sexual boundaries it seems like non-sexual interpersonal/business boundaries aren’t given the attention they deserve.
The fact is, personal relationships, mixed with this type of work ARE very difficult, and ARE worthy of discussion. True, there are other issues, but it doenst make these very personal issues any less relevant. Perhaps advertising that there will be a discussion of these issues will draw more performers to the meetings in the future, where these other issues MIGHT be discussed.
its a start, Rome was not built in a day. And I too would like to see APAC discuss the REAL INDUSTRY ISSUES, like those you mentioned Lurk., Time will tell.
Maybe after the fist half of the meeting they can discuss how useless the testing system is while they IGNORE anal and oral testing for std’s.
If an agent can not get his/her client work, then the contract should be voided, It’s that simple. I don’t understand why these girls/guys think that these contracts are binding. Just put that clause into the contract. (If you as my agent can not provide me with three to five bookings per month every month then this contract shall be non exclusive and terminated between both parties.)
BTW what ever happened to Roxy? She did a good job running Metro. Until now I thought they went out of business.
If an agency can not guarantee talent a certain amount of scenes per month then they have no business signing talent up for lengthily 2 year contracts. Why are there no lawyers looking out for the talent?
@Billy,
In the links I provided, as lengthy as they are, there are provisions on how many jobs an agent must procure, in certain time frames, after which the talent can void that contract with no penalty. There are also provisions about voided contracts based on jobs that do not pass legal muster, which is just about every single job these porn agents book for their talent.
I personally know of several performers who have used these provision successfully over the years. None of them are any longer in the industry.
Billy, you mentioned putting provisions in the contract regarding the number of bookings. WHile this looks like a good idea, it would be an illegal provision,. Those standards are already in the law, you cannot put in a provision that supercedes the law.
Is METRO a talent agency, or a management company?
There is a HUGE difference/
Hi. Legit, big global firm lawyer here (who obviously also loves porn). To answer your question, why are there no lawyers looking out for the talent, it’s simple.
1) This girl couldn’t even come up with $325 to pay a weeks’ rent, how is she (or most of them) going to pay my fees? While a part of me might be down to accept services in lieu of cash, realistically that would only lead to problems for both parties down the line.
2) Am I the only one here who thinks this girl is just a bit crazy? She went without work for one week – ONE week – and already she wanted to cancel her contract. And she waited all of 2 or 3 paragraphs to drop the racism card. Why would I want to deal with that kind of a client? If a client’s going to be high maintenance, and alot of them are, at least they’d better be able to pay their bills on time. Otherwise, it’s just not worth it.
Hope that answers your question.
This post is perfection…Thank You It really does sum it all up well. feel free to post here anytime your insight and knowledge is valuable to my readers…Thank You
DING DING DING
What APAC needs is someone like you who has a good grasp of where the shortcomings really are…It isnt how to keep your boyfriend while doing porn, escorting and regular STDs on a monthly basis
@jilted
Have seen up close and personal many of the ways relationships are affected and don’t deny or minimize the reality that sex work is stigmatized and scrutinized. Have also seen relationships that were damaged beyond repair with back and forth accusations that made any possible conflict resolution impossible.
Pointed out Chanel Preston’s comment because the performer and agent both offered their perspective re a conflict at model house. This is on the heels of a performer who accepted what seemed like a good opportunity but wasn’t…these aren’t relationships with people outside the industry who are stigmatizing and scrutinizing sex work…these are people/events & situations within the industry stigmatizing and scrutinizing performers.
Hopefully the panelists will use the series to focus on practical applications of conflict resolution as a means of balancing business/interpersonal relationships while working in a difficult field. Given the numerous free and reduced cost workshops with similar content hosted by other sex-worker groups it seems a bit counter productive for APAC to use their limited meetings for a series of this nature. With their focus on this series it doesn’t leave much room for issues specifically related to Adult Performers that don’t necessarily pertain to other genres of sex-work. IG legally contracted agents, model homes and awards along with those relationships and stressful conflicts they may present.
@NormalAndSane
Thanks for pointing out racist accusation, totally missed it. Saw 18 months in the business, new agent, then her ‘no work’ rant explained that mystery. BAT SHIT CRAZY was jumping off the page by the time her story got to the linens.
regardless of how “professional” they attempt to convey themselves to be http://t.co/1NIr4MEXoI the #reality of what goes on will be known.
this woman is a nightmare to work with. if any of you beleive she is such a huge victim, please i beg you open up your doors to her, put her in front of the camera. go on ahead and represent her. let this diva into your lives and wait till she drives you crazy.
Wow, this is like a multi-layer cake, every time you think you got the bottom there is just more to “enjoy”. It shows perhaps that there is more than enough blame to go around for everyone, and then some.
First off, the agency looks a little like they dropped the ball. Someone left all of a sudden, and left them without bookings made and so on. So it takes a while to recover. Clearly, operating an LA area based casting company by remote control isn’t the best way to do things. That a choice, but in choosing that, they have to accept that distance creates fuckups.
Now, on the other side, Brandi Foxx seems like a bit of a hard case to start with. First and foremost, let’s get the racism part out the way. The basic rules of life here is that there is only so much demand for ebony porn girls, especially those who have not crossed over the glam levels and can work anywhere. Her look isn’t terrible, but it’s not suited to many of the productions ongoing or with the themes that they are pushing. Her body type is average, her boobs ain’t big, she’s not glam, and she doesn’t look teen… so the choices are more limited.
In a marketplace that is already somewhat limited because of the general decline of porn, being an average looking ebony girl doesn’t make you anyone’s first choice to work hard. It’s not being racist, it’s reflecting what the public is buying or what the sites and companies want on video.
So perhaps someone filled her head with expectations, perhaps she believes she is hot enough to overcome reality, maybe she thinks she is special – or possibly a great combination thereof. The agency looks like they dropped the ball at least for a few minutes, and the impatient performer flipped out.
Judgement: nobody wins, but everyone loses.