INDIA HEMSWORTH’S DAD QUITS IFA TALENT AGENCY – TALENT BANKS MANAGEMENT SHAKE UPS

Nikki Finke writes of Australian actor Chris Hemsworth:

“He is Hollywood’s hottest new action movie star. Now Chris Hemsworth has quit his agency IFA Talent.

“He is not taking meetings for now but maybe in a few months,” an insider told Deadline Hollywood. The leading box office helmer is the star of Thor, Snow White And The Huntsman, The Avengers film franchise. Steven Spielberg has also eyed Chris for the upcoming Robopocalypse. In addition, Marvel’s action movies Thor 2 and The Avengers 2 will keep young Chris tres busy.

Signed with IFA talent president Ilene Feldman for about 4 years, Chris has moved on. It does happen. When a star gets as big as Chris at the box office, within an agency an agent often drops their name and gets all of their rising talent signed to movie roles. Directors and producers sign the talent at the star’s agency recommend in the hope the new star could be the next Hemsworth. That’s all good and all a part of star-making the next wave of acting talent. A leading light is happy to loan their name to younger talent, in this way.

Yet, when the agent then forgets to negotiate strong deals the star’s way sharing bonus profits the agent has carved off the star’s back and parlayed across the unknown talent it does become an issue. Especially when the talent agent is more on the side of the studios than acted like an agent and inked suitable contracts for the leading star (now, the ‘gig’ of the agency) with the studios the actor was side to. That latter being the agents no.1 job to ensure. In such a case, a star is quite right to assume something is up.

Having lived in Hollywood, I would say the story in Chris Hemsworth’s case verges on being one of racism. The Aussie is the draw to the box office, and thus to the agency. All of Hollywood win when he shines. Yet behind the scenes, the agent is treating him like a non-American citizen within America. Fair? Not fair? Is it just the price of ‘immigration’ in Hollywood or the USA as a super heavy tax immigrants should endure? Or, is the star within their rights to just say, see you later? As Chris decided to do.

And so the love-hate relationship with newcomers continues in Tinsel Town with Hemsworth’s case.

Quitting your agent in such an instance, helps sieve the process for an actor who maybe feeling misrepresented. When the actor quits an angent, the sieving process occurs robustly. The box office leading light, raises the bar for all actors still hoping to make it, with a star like Hemsworth’s lead. A jolt happens to the industry. Agents then starting working harder for their actors. Studios stop being so sketchy. So, good on Chris.

What does Hemsworth get out of it? A lot. He’s every actors actor now. What a sustainable leading actor needs to ensure, to remain a king of Hollywood. So a smart move by the young Hemsworth. He was well advised by older Hollywood peers of what to do.

ROAR Management’s William Ward discovered Chris 5 years ago, and Chris and William will still collaborate together. Ilene’s the loser.

Apparently Feldman put her foot in it with Hemsworth on Thor 2. A rift developed and intensified around the time Spielberg decided to cast him as the lead in his sci-fi epic Robopocalypse in mid-July.

“They had a fallout over several things. She just played everything wrong,” a source tells us. It’s difficult for Hollywood to sometimes understand the Australian psyche and how Aussies think. Just be straight up, is all Australian actors want in their business dealings. An Australia in Hollywood is product. The USA can’t get enough of hearing them talk or turn up. So, when all of that kind of pressure is on an Aussie star at every turn, the least they expect is for their agent at home base, to be watching their back and acting fairly.

Feldman and Hemsworth’s rift is like gossip spice for all agencies cohorts. (There’s so many of them working in agencies in LA, all name dropping their way around industry parties, still under the rather misguided belief that it helps much in the age of twitter.). The latest gossip with Hemsworth and Feldman is: “They just were not on the same page for the last month or two. But the last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Ilene,” the mystery source adds.

Hemsworth’s salary negotiations are a tension for the box office Aussie draw. Marvel pays very little, and Hemsworth received $5M for the Huntsman role.

Chris’ younger bro Liam is repped by Ward and WME. Ward’s wife Louise Ward is an agent at UTA repping Channing Tatum. CAA also rep a fair swag of Marvel’s top talent including almost all The Avengers stars. They have had a no-poaching agreement with Feldman, but apparently that’s all off too. For quitting Ilene Feldman, clearly Chris is a game changer.

Bonus: Spielberg Wants Chris Hemsworth To Star In ‘Robopocalypse’

[Photo: India Hemsworth and Chris Hemsworth, Flame/ Flynet photo: The Hollywood Gossip].

~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 26.8.12~