The building housing Compass Artist Management in Toronto, Oct. 21, 2022.Chris Donovan/The Globe and Mail
Toronto police have launched an investigation into Compass Artist Management after The Globe and Mail reported the talent agency owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to its clients for acting work they have done since the beginning of the year.
As of Wednesday morning, police said they had received more than 50 complaints against Compass.
Actors say Toronto talent agency Compass owes them more than $230,000 for work
The Globe reported Tuesday that 22 current and former Compass clients alleged the agency had not paid them for acting work they did between January and September. Collectively, the actors said they were owed more than $230,000.
On Oct. 19, Compass notified its clients that it would cease operations effective immediately. The agency said it had hired an independent insolvency consultant and warned clients that “collection efforts against the company will not increase your realizations and may result in costs that are unrecoverable.”
The agency’s co-founder, Danny Friedman, declined to comment for the original story. After police they were investigating, he told the Globe in an e-mail that he was feeling “sick” about the situation and that he was “losing everything here as well.”
He said his company had been trying to expand, but a slow start to the year led to the company’s downfall. He said the pressures of the pandemic meant his company “had more expenses than income and we most unfortunately fell behind. It’s important to keep in mind this has all transpired over a few recent months.”
His sister and co-founder Robyn Friedman told The Globe in an e-mailed statement earlier this month that she was not involved in the company’s finances and management and was pursuing legal action against Compass. She did not respond to subsequent requests for more information. Mr. Friedman said his sister was not involved in the running of the company and did not have an ownership stake.
Laara Sadiq (The Hardy Boys), who is owed $3,577.54 from Compass, said she hoped some good would come out of the police investigation.
“As devastating as this financial hit has been – I’m a single working mom – making sure that steps are taken to ensure that artists are not put in this vulnerable position again and that we change the culture of how these things work is more important to me than me getting my money back,” she said.
“Do I think it will inspire change? Absolutely. It’s already doing that. We’re already having conversations about things that have been sacred cows, that we haven’t been allowed to talk about or haven’t felt comfortable talking about.”
The Friedmans launched Compass in May, 2020, establishing a strong clientele early on with such notable actors as Shay Mitchell (You and Pretty Little Liars) and Hallea Jones (Locke and Key), both of whom have since left the agency.
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), a union that represents more than 28,000 professional performers across Canada, said 250 of its members were still signed with Compass, but the number of non-union actors with the agency remains unclear.
More than half the actors who spoke with The Globe said they had either terminated their contracts or were in the process of seeking new representation.
ACTRA has no legal standing or jurisdiction in disputes arising from such contracts and does not regulate talent agencies. The industry standard dictates that payments for acting work go directly to a performer’s agent.
The best course of action for an actor owed less than $35,000 would be to go to Small Claims Court, said Daniel Tsai, an instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Ted Rogers School of Business who specializes in entertainment law. Actors could also pursue a class-action lawsuit in Superior Court, he said, but legal fees may outstrip the amount of money owed.
“There’s a lot of exploitation in this business, and they prey on people who are vulnerable,” Mr. Tsai said.
Non-union actors have to negotiate on their own behalf with production studios, often without direction, said James Crammond, an agent with Noble Caplan Abrams, whose clients include Hollywood stars such as Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk).
A task such as rerouting a paycheque would require an actor to contact the production studio, multiple accounting departments and several banking and payment bodies, he said.
Toronto’s entertainment community is rallying behind Compass clients. ACTRA has had several meetings with impacted actors to discuss what their options are should actors choose to obtain legal representation, while a GoFundMe campaign is raising money to help the actors with legal fees and living expenses.