Say no to "extra" deals with your agent

Before you sign with an adult talent agent they may ask you or require that you also agree to do things like let them create an official website or perform live shows for a service they work with. This is actually against the law and can invalidate your contract with them.

According to California Labor Code section 1703.4

(6) Refer an artist to a person who charges the artist a fee for any service or any product in which the talent service, its owners, directors, officers, agents, or employees have a direct or indirect financial interest, unless the fee and the financial interest are conspicuously disclosed in a separate writing provided to the artist to keep prior to his or her execution of the contract with the talent service.

(7) Require an artist, as a condition for using a talent service or for obtaining any additional benefit or preferential treatment from the talent service, to pay a fee to any other talent service in which the talent service, its owners, directors, officers, agents, or employees have a direct or indirect financial interest. 

(8) Accept any compensation or other consideration for referring an artist to any person charging the artist a fee.

According to California labor Code 1700.40

(b) No talent agency may refer an artist to any person, firm, or corporation in which the talent agency has a direct or indirect financial interest for other services to be rendered to the artist, including, but not limited to, photography, audition tapes, demonstration reels or similar materials, business management, personal management, coaching, dramatic school, casting or talent brochures, agency-client directories, or other printing. 

(c) No talent agency may accept any referral fee or similar compensation from any person, association, or corporation providing services of any type expressly set forth in subdivision (b) to an artist under contract with the talent agency.

What does that mean to you? It means you don't have to agree to any offer for them to create an official website for you. You are free to negotiate your own deal for a website and usually at far more money for you.

Your agent wants you to do a website deal because they get a percentage from the company as a referral bonus.

You don't HAVE to perform in live cam shows for them either. They want you to do this because they make a ton of money off of you in commissions. For every penny you make doing a live cam show for them, they make a percentage.

Screw that. Sign up to cam on your own, make way more money doing it on your own!

If they ask you to do it, remind them it's in violation of California Labor Code section 1703.4 - parts 6, 7 and 8 -- as well as California labor code 1700.40 b and c.

No adult talent agent contract is valid for more than one year

In a previous article we talked about contracts. Something I wanted to make clear, is the term of the contract. No contract is valid for more than one year and it can't automatically renew. If they want you under contract for another year, they have to get you to re-sign each and every year.


According to California labor code section 1703 part 6 (f).

A contract between an artist and a talent service shall have a term of not more than one year and shall not be renewed automatically.

So if you go to sign a contract with an adult talent agent, make sure they know that you know the law. You won't agree to more than one year, period and you also won't agree to any clause that says the contract will automatically renew at the end of each year unless cancelled.

I want to give a special thanks to Naughty News Network for finding and providing me with this information in the first place.

The most common porn star names

A couple years ago a guy spent months researching and gathering data on porn stars and he came up with a list of the most commonly used porn star names. He looked over records of over 120,000 adult movies and 115,000 performers.

The most common female first names in porn are ....

• Nikki
• Jessica
• Lisa
• Kelly
• Angel
• Nicole
• Michelle
• Victoria
• Venessa
• Samantha

The most common female last names in porn are ....

• Lee
• Love
• Star / Starr
• Fox / Foxx
• Rose
• Lynn
• Moore
• Taylor
• Sweet
• James

Lee is the 24th most common last name in the US but it's the most popular last name in porn.

To sign or not to sign ... that is the question

When you finally find an adult talent agent that you like, it's time to sign on the dotted line -- the dreaded contract.

Most agents will require you sign a contract before working with you and while for the most part that's okay you should make sure you aren't agreeing to anything that isn't normal.

• First, never agree to a contract longer than one year. If an agent asks you to sign for more than a year, politely decline. Let them know you aren't interested in anything more than one year, period. 

• Second, never agree to anything more than 10 to 15%. I know an agent in porn who gets girls to sign a 5 year, 20% deal. He sucks at getting them work, he doesn't even try but now the girl is stuck in a 5 year deal. So what he does is he sells the contract to someone else for 10% now he is still making money off of you and he isn't doing ANYTHING for you.

If you sign a contract make sure YOU get a copy. The state of California requires your agent gives you a copy of your executed contract within 30 days for it to be valid.

You have 72 hours to change your mind.

They call it the lemon law, which basically gives you up to 72 hours after you sign your contract to change your mind. Just remember that 72 hours goes by fast and you MUST request cancellation in writing. You want to make sure you have a paper trail in case there is a later dispute. You don't even have to give a reason - as long as it is within the first 72 hours. You have the right to change your mind for any reason.

READ BEFORE YOU SIGN!

While this should go without saying, make sure you fully read every single thing you are agreeing to before you sign on the dotted line.

There is nothing wrong with signing a contract, as long as you are fully aware of what it is you are signing.

How much money do porn stars make?

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Who is Plush Talent?

Plush Talent is an adult talent agency ran by Scottie Platinum. Prior to entering the adult industry he was a mainstream model agent.

Originally Plush Talent was located in New York City however in May of 2016 they moved their main office to Los Angeles, in the heart of porn valley. I sat down with Scottie Platinum to talk about what this means for him, the agency and his girls.

For those who aren’t familiar with you or Plush Talent, tell us a little about your agency.

Scottie: I’ve been working as an agent for over 14 years. I started out in mainstream, working with models and that eventually led me to adult. Plush Talent is a new venture for me though. It was founded just about a year ago, and focuses exclusively on adult.

Up until recently, you’ve worked mostly in New York City. Why the move to LA?

Scottie: NYC has been good to me. I’ve constantly been able to work with the handful of producers out on the East Coast but the LA market is obviously much bigger. If my girls are going to be the big stars I know they have the potential to be, then I really need to be in LA.

Are you closing up your NYC office all together?

Scottie: Not at all. I still have all of my connection with producers and directors there. So if I have a girl that wants to do some work in New York, I can still send them there.

A few months ago there was some question about the legitimacy of your agency, with some people claiming your weren’t legally licensed. What was the deal with that? (CA license # is TA-213308)

Scottie: We applied for our license awhile ago but because our physical office location at the time was located outside of the state of California we had to jump through a few extra hoops and that caused some delays. We had our bond and paperwork on file with the state of California for awhile though, since September of 2015.

Those who needed it were able to see it. In fact, we had to show it to AVN when we were considering getting a booth at the show in December of last year. But when some random dude demands to see it, why bother? The state of California has my paperwork. They know we are legal, that's all that matters.

You can also check out out on the talent agent website database from the state of California. As you can see it shows we've had out bond since August of 2015, which is also when we originally applied for our license, but due to the fact we are out of state we had to file additional documents so it didn't take effect until December 21, 2015.

So you are in fact a licensed and bonded agent in the state of California?

Scottie: Absolutely and any talent or producer or studio that wants to see a copy of my paperwork from the state, they are welcome to do so.

Why make the move to LA from NYC?

Scottie: LA is the heart of the adult industry. If I am going to do the best job I can for my girls, then I really need to be where all the action is. LA and Las Vegas to some extent, is really where all the magic happens so it's where I need to be with my girls.

What do you most look forward to when you move?

Scottie: I’ll miss New York. I’m an east coast kind of guy but I know I need to be in LA for the good of my girls. I guess what I look forward to most is the sushi I’ve been hearing so much about.

Well thank you for taking the time to speak with us and letting us get to know a little more about you and Plush Talent. You follow Plush Talent on twitter @PlushTalent or on Facebook atFacebook.com/PlushTalent or visit them on the web at www.PlushTalent.com.

Why do you need an adult talent agent?

Let's be real, with the rise of social media, you don't NEED an agent. Anyone can contact a studio, producer or director and try and book their own work.

But that isn't as easy as you might think. When you are new there are a lot of things about the adult industry that you just don't know and having an agent can protect you.

In the state of California, talent agencies must be licensed under special sections of the California Labor Code. In other words, real agents are licensed and bonded by the state.

These agents know how much to charge for your services and what producers and directors are legit and what ones are scam artists who don't pay.

I can't tell you how many guys are out there pretending to be a director. They "hire" you to show up and do a scene. They get you to have sex with them and they film it. Now it's time to get paid and that's when you find out they aren't a legit production company and now you just had sex with some jack ass for free because they aren't going to pay you.

So while you don't have to have an agent, it sure does help to protect you.

Also how do you know how much to charge?

What if you want $800 for a boy/girl scene and you try and book the scene yourself and a crafty producer may try and negotiate it down. Are you really skilled enough to handle those negotiations and get what you REALLY deserve?

An agent will save you from that hassle. With an agent there will never be any talk of money between producers and talent. You know in advance where you are going, how much you will be paid and exactly what you are doing for that amount of money.

There is no showing up on set and trying to get a better deal.

So just think about that before you decide if you need an agent or not.