My Phenomenal Time in Hollywood

By Goldie

No About the book information available this time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798369414835

Goldie

The author of this book, is a strong willed, persevering,determined woman. That doesn't allow life tribulations to keep her down .The strength that she posses always inspires other when they lend a listening ear.

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My

Phenomenal Time

in

Hollywood

by

Goldie

Copyright © 2024 by Goldie. 850914

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

Library of Congress Control Number:      2024901056

Rev. date: 01/29/2024

Contents

1

Becoming a Talent Agent

2

My Time with Evan

3

Assembling a Winning Team

4

The Disney Channel Beckons

5

Evan’s First Studio Film

6

Evan Turns Eighteen

7

CAA ICM WME UTA

8

DreamWorks Calls

9

The Beginning of the End

10

A New and Exciting Project

11

My Son the Plumber and The Sassy

12

LACP Disappoints

13

New Beginnings

About the Author

Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting.

––Hunter S. Thompson

1

Becoming a Talent Agent

1995

A bout forty years ago, I had my palms read. The gypsy showed me what the different lines meant. She pointed to one line and said, This line tells me that you are in your own business and are doing very well … This line tells me that, eventually, you are going to go into the entertainment business, and you will be very successful. I thought, Oh sure. That’ll never happen . But it did.

At that time, I was completely involved in the beauty business, raising my children, and living my life. But lo and behold, many years later, there I was with a successful Hollywood agency, becoming a Hollywood player and celebrity. Go figure.

Did she mean the talent agency, or did she mean The Sassy reality show? My sisters and I were temporary celebrities and shocked that we were. You’ll find out later how that happened. It was quite accidental.

Seeking Business Opportunities

An accountant and real estate agent assisted me in looking for possible businesses. A medical supply company came up for sale, and my accountant thought it was a good investment. It did not appeal to me at all. Wanting people to get hurt so my business would thrive was not for me. It was not the creative experience I was hoping for. I declined.

Another was a nail polish factory. Not interested. Too lonely. Not enough people interaction, not enough fun. Sales and money alone did not fill my soul. I was waiting for the right opportunity.

I suddenly remembered when a client of mine, who was in the entertainment business, said to me, You would make a great Hollywood agent. I wondered if she was right. It would mean lots of interactions with actors, staff, and casting directors.

So I decided to put an ad in Variety that read, If you want to sell your agency, I’m interested. I got a few responses, but when my financial adviser investigated the talent agencies that were for sale, they were all losing money and weren’t listed anywhere.

Then there was one that came along that was not losing too much. When I saw jobs coming out of a machine and pictures on the wall that you had to match with the jobs, I got really, really excited. My accountant thought I was crazy and advised me not to buy it, so I thought outside the box.

I first asked the owner if I could pay him $500 a week for six months to let me work there and learn the business. He agreed. Why wouldn’t he? He was losing money every month. And with me there, he was showing a profit.

I really loved what I learned about the talent agency business from that man. I was fascinated and loved matching actors to casting calls. Plus, I loved interviewing actors who were looking for representation.

That went on for eight weeks. Then the 1994 earthquake hit Los Angeles. My house was destroyed, and I was too busy recovering to continue working at the agency. I had to quit.

When things began settling down again, one of my girlfriends mentioned that her aunt wanted to sell her talent agency. Beverly was seventy years old and wanted to retire. I was interested. When Beverly and I talked on the phone, we instantly liked each other. I said to her, Let’s have dinner together, and you pick the restaurant.

We met for dinner at The Ivy, one of the best and most expensive restaurants in Beverly Hills, and we had a great time. She agreed to let me work for free for six months to see if I still wanted to be an agent.

Beverly had lost interest in the business and wasn’t paying attention to her clients. The same thing happened to me with the beauty business, so I understood her dilemma. She was tired of the same day-after-day routine for twenty-six years.

I was excited and enthusiastic and wanted to explore this new and interesting business. I also had four adorable grandsons, ages five to ten, who I knew would be able to do commercials.

My financial adviser informed me that the asking price was way out of range. Their bills were being paid, but there was very little profit. He warned me that the business was down, and the potential, a 10 percent return from the clients, wasn’t good at all. He strongly advised me against the purchase.

Something told me to buy it anyway. I wasn’t in it for the big money. I just wanted to have fun, feeling like I was doing something worthwhile. I was still living in Woodland Hills at the time, and Beverly’s agency was in West Los Angeles. One day, the rain was pouring down, 6:00 a.m. and still dark, and I was stuck in traffic on the 101 freeway.

I never drive the freeways in the rain. I don’t like to drive in the dark, especially not during rush hour. I realized right then and there that I must have a real passion for the agency business. I was actually willing to challenge my fears just to get to the office.

It was at that moment that I made the decision to buy the agency. And that was that. It feels so good when you decide to do something, knowing without a doubt that you’re going to love it. I also knew, without a doubt, that I could turn the business into a successful agency. Beverly lost interest and drove the business down. I saw all the new ways to run the agency and was anxious to get started.

I was overjoyed and ready to face the challenge of finding work for actors. I saw it as a win-win situation and was excited about employing people in commercials, television, and film. It was also a print agency, and Beverly had a few models for clients.

Beverly worked with me for six months. Thank you, Beverly, for teaching me a business that I love. There was a lot to learn. For example:

How to do the payroll and the bookkeeping?

What are the union rules?

How to separate submissions?

How do you talk to casting directors?

How do you interpret resumes?

How do you determine what actors to submit for what roles? etc.

During that time, my marriage was in deep conflict. I think buying the agency, being really excited about it, and working long hours left no time for me to be the wife Ralph was used to. Cooking dinner every night was not happening. He thought I loved the agency more than him, and he moved out. He was probably right. I preferred to be at the agency than with him. I was in love with The Beverly Hecht Agency for twenty years.

I would have stayed married and waited until the good times returned, but Ralph met someone new and wanted to leave. I still remember him packing and leaving. Episodes like that stay glued in your mind forever. I asked him to stay, and he refused. It was okay! I had the agency and a brand-new altruistic purpose in life.

Beverly noticed right away that I had an eye for talent. She knew I could tell when someone had something special. Her approval gave me a lot of confidence. After six months, I was a talent agent. Wow! I was hooked, energetic, and excited. At the age of fifty-seven, I had a brand-new lease on life. I was raring to go.

Beverly and I had a falling out. She still wanted to be the boss, but I was ready to take over completely. My management style was much different than hers, and she was constantly criticizing me. She was an old-fashioned Hollywood boss. She screamed and cursed at anyone who made a mistake, including me.

One day, Beverly and I had a terrible disagreement. I said something that made her so mad, she attacked me physically. A girl in the office pulled her off me. She realized what she had done, backed off, and said, I quit, and left. I sent her a fax and wrote, I accept your resignation. And that was that. I called her and apologized for shouting back at her. I liked Beverly, but it was just hard to be around an ex-boss who still wanted to run my agency her way.

One of my first things to accomplish was to take headshots of my grandchildren. They were so cute. I knew they would do commercials. I wrote up their resumes, put them in acting classes, and was positive they would work, and they did.

They did several commercials, and two of them joined SAG. But it was too much work for my son and daughter-in-law. They just couldn’t take the time to take them to auditions. Plus, the traffic and the fact they lived too far away just weren’t working out for them. The children would get tired and want to be enrolled in sports with their classmates instead of going to auditions.

You really can’t play sports and try to be an actor. Plus, my son, the plumber, wanted them in sports. Going into business so my grandchildren could do commercials didn’t work. It didn’t matter; I loved the business.

Beverly was sorry she sold me the agency. For the next ten years until she died, she would call me and say, I should have never sold the agency. I would take her to lunch often, and we would talk about talent and the agency. I told her that I had a talent that I knew would be a major movie star. She warned me, They always leave you.

The Agency Business

My day usually began at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 7:00 p.m. or whenever. I was putting in twelve to fourteen hours each day, and I loved every minute of it. I was anxious to get into the office and see what the casting directors were looking for that day. The roles were listed in the breakdowns.

Every day was a new challenge with new people looking for representation. I didn’t like turning aspiring young actors down, but that’s part of the business.

I couldn’t believe the people who really thought they could act. I would often advise them to take acting classes and look at the competition to see if they should continue in this business. I would try to be as kind as possible.

I would always have other agents in the office with me and would tell the talent that we would have a meeting and decide whether or not we would represent them. I told them if we didn’t call them by the end of the day, it was a pass, and thank you very much.

Some agents let the talent wait a week before telling them they didn’t make it. The truth is we usually knew if we wanted to sign them about five minutes after they walked in the door. If we really, really were impressed with their talent, I would tell them right then and there that we were interested and try to convince them to join our agency.

Love Those Breakdowns

The breakdown arrived at five in the morning. They were slipped under your door. The word breakdown refers to the breaking down of a script and dividing the roles by descriptions. The breakdowns are pages that list

•the name of the project,

•from what venue (theatrical, television, film, cable),

•union or non-union,

•the producer,

•director,

•writer,

•casting director,

•the days it works, and

•a description of the roles.

Example:

John Mack. Male. Fifteen to seventeen. Any ethnicity. James is a charmer. He’d rather chase girls than do homework. He’s also cool and smart. His teachers try to dislike him, but they can’t. He has a way about him that keeps him out of trouble. Please submit all ethnicities. Guest star. Possible recurring role.

Jane Fisher. Female. Fourteen to sixteen. African American. To some people, Jessica seems nerdy, but there’s something about her the boys like. She’s smart and yet vulnerable and will be playing Whoopi’s daughter.

Greg Jefferson. Male. Twenty-nine to thirty-four. An attorney. Caucasian. He’s average-looking, sexy, and professional. Looks and behaves like a gentleman. However, you better not cross him, or he’ll turn on you in a minute. Extensive resumes only, please.

Interns

I hired an intern because the income was barely covering the expenses. He was Lee Newman, Eddie Canter’s great-grandson. Eddie Canter wrote a famous theme song.

Lee Newman and I became close friends, and he told me that the song written by Eddie is played all over the world every second of every day, and his family members are still receiving residuals.

Lee knew all about old Hollywood, and I loved listening to his stories. He was willing to share all his information. A truly generous and stand-up kind of guy. I respected and loved him and am blessed to have known Lee Newman.

The History of Hollywood Agents

This day, agents submit photographs electronically by computer and pitch the client by email. When the casting director wants to audition a client, they just email the name, the role, the time, and the location of the audition.

The agent emails the audition to the client, and the client confirms by email. They email the confirmation to the casting director. If they didn’t get an audition for their client within a certain time frame, they’d call to pitch him or her to the casting director.

In the olden days, agents would set up a screen test with one of the big studios for anyone they thought had potential. They would scout all over the country for talent to represent. They would often visit the theaters and beauty pageants.

The big studios at that time were, and still are, MGM (now Sony), Warner Brothers, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Universal Studios. Walt Disney Studios joined this elite group later on.

If the studio gave your client a contract, you would negotiate a salary, and your job as an agent was essentially done. The agent was entitled to 10 percent of the actor’s salary until the contract