MovieChat Forums > Kristen Stewart Discussion > Kristen changed her agency!!

She was with GERSH for so many years, most or all of her career. I wonder why the move now, as the article doesn't say why. Some comments refer to GERSH having some issues. Almost sounds like the new agency WME is a larger agency or that GERSH is having some problems competing, but it's unclear to me.

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WME is a bigger agency and has a lot of big stars. Idk the exact reason why she changed but it might be the best for her career and they can help get her high profile movies. Also there was an issue with her agent few years ago he didn't give her COSM script and almost cost her the role maybe it was one of the reasons.

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To provide more context on the situation, Deadline ran this article around the time the Writer's Guild of America West's Code of Conduct was being implemented, as a possible reason why Kristen felt it was time to leave a smaller talent agency such as Gersh, and why Gersh feels it cannot abide by this code: https://deadline.com/2019/04/hollywood-agencies-writers-code-of-conduct-issues-wga-ata-1202601526/

The Fine Print: Why Smaller Agencies Won’t Sign WGA’s New Code Of Conduct

While the large agencies could absorb the additional paperwork required within their HR departments, owners of smaller agencies tell me they would have to hire a full-time employee dedicated entirely to collecting and submitting to the WGA a copy of every paycheck, every invoice, etc., putting an outsized financial burden on them.

To sum it up, prominent mid- and smaller-sized talent agencies see too many pitfalls — both fundamental and practical — in the new WGA Code of Conduct to sign it. The guild says it modeled the code after Codes of Conduct for professional sports unions. Maybe the entertainment industry is too different to apply directly know-how from sports.


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In the first article Mody posted I did see that GERSH wouldn't sign the WGA code of conduct and now I understand what that's all about. I guess it was just time for Kristen to change, perhaps a bit like she felt compelled to get into a bigger agency for this and other reasons.

It'll be interesting to see what changes this makes for her in terms of movies and roles. And that brings to mind the question if Kristen is looking to expand her work into more areas or larger films, or if she mainly felt the need to move to the larger agency for the WGA.

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WME is a bigger agency and has a lot of big stars. Idk the exact reason why she changed but it might be the best for her career and they can help get her high profile movies. Also there was an issue with her agent few years ago he didn't give her COSM script and almost cost her the role maybe it was one of the reasons.


Hmm, I remember that, good reminder. But Kristen had been with GERSH for years after COSM, so I think this may have more to do with the Writer's Guild demands to agencies along with any ideas of expanding her work if that's also part of Kristen's reasoning.

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The article doesn't go into detail as to why Kristen chose to leave Gersh--so all I can do is speculate, based on articles such as this one from Variety: https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/gersh-wga-agency-meeting-cancel-fox-1203222882/

Gersh Agency Stirs Ire After Canceling Network Meeting for Former Client

Reyes said he believed his former reps at Gersh took the step of canceling the meeting as retaliation for his decision to sign with Verve agency, the literary boutique that became the first prominent talent agency to agree to the WGA’s newly established Code of Conduct for agents. As of April 12, the WGA has instructed members to terminate their professional ties to any talent agents that will not adhere to the new Code of Conduct.


Reading between the lines, perhaps because Kristen is now involved with other aspects of the film industry besides acting, such as screenwriting and directing, she may have been compelled to seek out a large talent agency, which also handles the media/literary end of the business, such as WME.

Unfortunately, WME has problems of their own as approximately 1,300 writers have left WME, perhaps because they also refuse to comply with the Writers Guild of America's new Code of Conduct. Many agents view the WGA's Code of Conduct as anticompetitive, in the sense that they are prohibited from industry standard practices such as being able to collect packaging fees for packaging talent to studios, which WGA has allowed for over four decades, along with an illegal breach of a member's right to privacy, the agent/client fiduciary privilege, that exists when an actor or screenwriter signs on with a talent agency which promises to protect their clients privacy, and for these reasons and others, the vast majority of talent agencies, large and small alike, refuse to abide by WGA's new Code of Conduct.

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https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/verve-wga-code-of-conduct-sign-1203218082/

"The WGA’s campaign to ban packaging fees and other business practices has sparked a lawsuit, filed by the guild against the largest agencies, and the directive from the guild to its nearly 15,000 members to terminate relations with agents that refuse to sign the guild’s restrictive new Code of Conduct."


I think this explains some more. It seems the Writer's Guild (WGA) is demanding the Code of Conduct and may terminate relations with agencies that don't sign. At least that's what I read, and there's more info in the link. So Kristen, and other actors, may be feeling compelled to work with agencies that sign the Code of Conduct to avoid rifts with the WGA. This may be the main reason for Kristen's change though maybe also WME may open more doors for her to expand her work, as some of us have mentioned.

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While some actors and writers, like Kristen, are going to larger talent/media agencies like WME, many are also fleeing the larger agencies as well, as I mentioned previously. I'm wondering if WGA's revised Code of Conduct, will inadvertently lead to the eventual demise of the talent and literary agency industry, causing actors and writers to go independent and represent themselves instead. Kristen is already well established in Hollywood, so I imagine such a move shouldn't adversely impact her career anywhere as much as a newbie trying to break into movie industry.

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I wonder why the flight from the larger agencies? Maybe more of a normal flow as actors move around in their careers, especially established actors. Then too maybe the Code of Conduct will cause enough change to upset the agencies. If that happens, the demise of the agency industry, then I would think it would make it so hard for new actors especially. Given how much more work there is with all various movie and TV studios, cable, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney and more systems out there, the industry needs a steady flow of new actors.

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