United Talent Agency Subject to Several Lawsuits

United Talent agency is dealing with several big lawsuits this week. Here’s what you need to know going forward.

Packaged Deals

Boutique talent agency Lenhoff & Lenhoff has sued Integrated Creative Management and the United Talent Agency for allegedly poaching clients.

According to the complaint, Lenhoff and Lenhoff lost two unnamed clients—one a “director, producer, and DGA [Directors Guild Association] unit production manager” who tripled her income before leaving for UTA; the other a “director, producer, and production manager” who left for ICM and signed a multimillion dollar contract for a television series.

The Hollywood Reporter states that plaintiff Christopher Lenhoff’s agency “accuses UTA of a ‘robo-dialing’ program and says its efforts to avoid having clients poached included giving its competitor a list of exclusively represented clients every month.”

In particular, UTA and ICM are accused of luring Lenhoff’s clients with “packaged deals,” where talent agencies stockpile talent for projects before sending them to studios. The complaint states that “because these ‘Uber Agencies’ stockpile talent, as well as exercise control over the development, production, financing, distribution, advertising, and even the technology for delivery to the consumer, they have morphed into…producers and de-facto employers.”

In effect, Lenhoff’s agency claims that UTA’s and ICM’s packaged deals have created monopolies that harm consumers due to lack of diversity and creativity. Lenhoff seeks monetary damages and a permanent injunction to stop UTA and ICM from poaching television clients.

Unpaid Screenwriter

A lawsuit was dismissed against United Talent Agency claiming that UTA breached an implied contract for failing to pay Douglas Jordan-Benel for writing the screenplay Settler’s Day, which allegedly provided the idea for Universal’s The Purge. The Purge was written and directed by James DeMonaco. The Hollywood Reporter writes that “Benel’s manager submitted Settler’s Day to UTA agents David Kramer and Emerson Davis in July 2011. The agents passed, indicating in an email that they had a tough time ‘buying into the premise.’ DeMonaco is represented by another UTA Agent, Charlie Ferraro, and so, Benel alleged that someone at UTA must have shared the Settler’s Day script.”

Federal judge Michael Fitzgerald did not find that there was a contract between Jordan-Benel and UTA, however. Typically, in order to have a binding contract there has to be a “meeting of the minds” between the parties. In this case, Judge Fitzgerald stated that there was only evidence of Jordan-Benel’s intent. Unilateral contract offers do not make enforceable contracts.

Conclusion

The main lawsuit to keep an eye on is the antitrust lawsuit, since “poaching clients” has been a legally accepted practice in Hollywood. If Lenhoff wins, he could potentially change Hollywood and how talent agents obtain their clients.

Joseph Perry

Joseph Perry is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law whose goal is to become a publishing and media law attorney. He has interned at William Morris Endeavor, Rodale, Inc., Columbia University Press, and is currently interning at Hachette Book Group and volunteering at the Media Law Resource Center, which has given him insight into the legal aspects of the publishing and media industries. Contact Joe at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.