article in Sacramento Bee
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By Dan Walters - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:53 am PST Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
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Actress Rosa Blasi stars in "Strong Medicine," a television series now
in its sixth season on the Lifetime cable channel, as a doctor in
Philadelphia women's health clinic.
Blasi is also the central figure in a bitter, decades-long wrangle
between agents who represent entertainers in securing work and personal
managers who direct their careers -- a battle that's now reached the
state Supreme Court and has entangled the state's chief labor
regulator.
Labor Commissioner Robert Jones wrote a letter to the Supreme Court,
siding with Blasi and her battle with managers, and now the nationwide
organization that represents the latter is demanding that Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger step in, accusing Jones of misconduct.
"The commissioner's comments in his letter to the Supreme Court were
not made in an advisory position but as an advocate in a case still
before him," the National Conference of Personal Managers told
Schwarzenegger last week. "His actions were biased, improper and
illegal."
Jones spokesman Dean Fryer said the letter was "appropriate" because
"we are not a party to the lawsuit."
The roots of the case, which revolves about fees that Blasi refused to
pay her manager after winning the part in "Strong Medicine," go back to
the 1970s, when career managers emerged in a film industry that had
long been dominated by powerful booking agents.
So what's the difference? Agents are licensed by the labor commissioner
and their fees are limited by state law, while managers are not
regulated. Agents, backed by entertainment industry unions, have long
complained about the discrepancy and have repeatedly urged the
Legislature to regulate the managers. But the latter, who have become
Hollywood and political powerhouses, have successfully staved off such
regulation in a series of fierce lobbying battles inside the Capitol.
In the most memorable clash nearly 30 years ago, the Legislature
specifically exempted managers. Seven years ago, state Sen. Sheila
Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, a former actress, proposed legislation to
regulate managers, but they mounted a stiff counterattack and Kuehl was
forced to pull back.
Blasi, alleging that her manager, Rick Siegel, was illegally performing
the work of an agent by securing television roles, fired him and
refused to pay his fees. The labor commissioner's office sided with
Blasi and invalidated her oral contract with Siegel. She won in local
court when Siegel sued, only to see Siegel's firm, Marathon
Entertainment, prevail before the state appellate court on technical
grounds. Siegel, however, took the case to the Supreme Court because
the appellate decision left unclear whether managers' commissions could
be regulated by the state, citing invalidation of the Blasi contract.
Jones jumped into the case last year, warning against any decision that
would dilute his ability to invalidate contracts found to violate the
agents' regulation law. He said such a decision would result in "the
ability of the act to regulate unlicensed talent agents (being) greatly
eroded."
Jones' letter to the court placed him on the side of Blasi, the agents
and entertainment unions in the case, which is being closely watched in
the Southern California entertainment industry for its potential power
to change the delicate balance of influence and money in negotiating
acting and musical performance contracts.
If Blasi and her allies win, it could make it easier for the labor
commissioner to crack down on managers who do agents' work and charge
fees higher than the 10 percent allowed by law. If Siegel and Marathon
prevail, the managers' position in the never-ending struggle would be
strengthened.
About the writer:
Reach Dan Walters at (916) 321-1195 or dwal...@sacbee.com.