I received the following email today and wanted to share it with you since it gave me quite a laugh!

With the start of the new television season , and the massive commercials to be cast, we now have time to consider new talent. MZA “The Michael Zanuck Agency” would like you to submit for possible representation. Please submit HARD COPY,PICTURES/RESUMES ONLY , BY MAIL ONLY TO: MZA 28035 Dorothy Dr. #120 Agoura Hills Ca 91301. Please don’t seal envelopes. No follow up calls or e mails. For further information , please visit our website www.michaelzanuckagency.com. The second part of this submission process , is to send us AN E-MAIL NOTE ONLY !! , that you have received this request and will be sending us your hard copy submission by mail. We will then CALL !! to schedule you for an appointment Please send this e-mail note to zanuckreplys@yahoo.com. We realize that “replys” is not spelled correctly , this was the only way (for some unknown reason, that yahoo would accept this address). This is very important, and makes it easy for our staff to contact you without having to re-enter your e-mail. Please..follow these directions EXACTLY. We apologize if this is a duplicate request, some of our lists were lost (our office doggy ate our homework). Please don’t re-submit, if you’ve recently done so, or met with any of our departments…Many Thanks..Michael Zanuck..ps..if you don’t yet have a professional picture..just send us a snap shot with all your contact information on the back of the picture. Please mark “LA Casting” on the outside of the envelope. REALLY..REALLY..don’t send any e mails or call to make sure we’re considering you..if you mail us the above requested materials and send the requested e-mail , we totally promise to seriously consider you. Follow up e mails/calls just waste our time and takes us longer to review your material. Make SURE , we have your e-mail and current telephone contact number on your submission. Please only send one picture/resume , make sure the resume is STAPLED to your picture.

quote:

back of the picture. Please mark “LA Casting” on the outside of the envelope. REALLY..REALLY..don’t send any e mails or call to make sure we’re considering you..if you mail us the above requested materials and send the requested e-mail , we totally

Oh boy. I got the same email. I didn't bother reading through all of it because it was formatted exactly like that: long with way too many punctuation marks in odd places.

Alas I realize any grammar criticism on my part will open up a discussion on my own grammatical errors. For all of you English critics out there, I'm sorry. English is not my first language

Scammuck has been sending those stupid emails via LA Casting for years!

Truthteller59 & DianeLD,

I heard a few of my other friends got the same email - it's even less professional than the first ones they've sent me! I would be embarassed to have something this seedy-looking sent out with my name on it! I am especially amused by the even-if-you-don't-have-professional photos line since it'd be more accurate for him to say especially instead of even...

I thought of another question though after rereading this: Has anyone booked anything ever with Michael (even before MZA at Zanuck, Passon & Pierce - or whatever it was called)? I'm really quite curious now. I'm not talking about being sent out, I'm talking about actually booking paid work, union, non, or even print.

Please respond if you have - if no one has ever booked anything through him ever than perhaps SAG or the BBB should be informed. I'd even volunteer to present our findings on behalf of all the poor newbies who've lost money and/or opportunities signing with him, especially since I almost fell for his spiel a couple of years ago...

Thanks,
bookme

What kind of question is that?

Agent's DON'T book work! They send you out! It's a combination of you, the casting directors, and clients/producers that determine if you book the job or not.

I do know some talented actors who are with him and yes they're working. Scammuck of course didn't make them use a certain photographer or take specific classes. They were already polished and had good headshot before. Scammuck can't make everyone use his photographers/teachers, etc. For a scam to sustain, you have to have a few people who can say that he never forced them to do what he said.

And just so you know, EVERYONE who registers on LACasting and checks the TALENT SCOUT box gets an email from Scammuck.

Hi Truthteller59,

Thanks for your response. I guess my booking question wasn't entirely clear. Since we book work after agents send us out, my question was really more whether or not anyone's booked work where they can also attribute part of the successful booking to Michael or the other agents efforts.

As another posted mentioned before in reference to Shia LeBeouf's 'discovery' many agents sign talent so it's not surprising when a former client is successful, and they often attribute that success to their having 'discovered' that talent, when really it's only a matter of statistics that if they represent enough actors eventually some will work successfully and/or consistently.

With respect to my question about Zanuck, I mean not just the submission process per se, but were they pitched by one of MZA'a agents and that's how they were seen? Did their usage lapse and MZA followed up to ensure they were paid appropriately? In other words, did any of MZA or ZPP's agents ever do anything agent-y (beside having access and submitting to the agent-only breakdowns) that one of their clients believes attributed to their success?

I guess I'd like to hear more first hand accounts - and, ideally, not from total newbie posters. As with the Casting Director workshops, it's always 'my friend' or 'a friend's friend' who garnered some traction or success through these endeavors / associations. Truthteller59, does one of your working friends perhaps post here? If so would it be possible for them to post accounts of their positive experiences with MZA?

To be clear, my intention is not to be confrontational, but instead to be educational. I know a lot of newbies and more experienced talent who have been approached by and subsequently signed with these folks. I also know a lot of newbies (myself included) lurk(ed) here for quite a while in order to educate themselves. If there are in fact talented working actors who are satisfied with the representation Zanuck has provided them with I was hoping to hear directly from them.

Thanks,
bookme

Those people whom I speak of know that Scammuck involved with kickback schemes and is a douche. They're just with him because he actually sends them out.

Truthteller59,

On some level, would it be fair to argue that these talented actors of whom you speak who continue to be represented by MZA (but, by your account, constitute the [very] few that were not required to take 'recommended' classes and headshots) help to enable / perpetuate their practices - the ones which you, yourself, are clear in naming as scams?

To that end, if these working actors are in fact so talented, would they not be better off with more legitimate, respected representation? If they are that talented and successful with an agency which, for all intents and purposes, helps define SCAM-O-RAMA, why would this talent not be able to or be interested in upgrading to more effective reputable agencies? I understand this also raises the age old question (is mediocre representation better than none?) but, in the instance of Michael Zanuck, if his working / satisfied clients are the exception to the rule, isn't that in and of itself a huge red flag?

Truthteller59, I don't doubt your friends' success. It'd just be nice to hear, straight from them, what Zanuck has done to further their careers / success, more than just submit them - the real agent-y stuff that we can't do for ourselves, like pitching and negotiating, etc.

Truthteller59, has Zanuck ever done anything like that for your friends? It scares me more to think that his 'working' clients know he's a d-bag and take it. (I had an analogy to make here, but in retrospect it's inappropriate for our younger readers. I'll tell you it had to do with Oz - but there's no wizard... Yes, very dark, I apologize...). It sounds like, given the fact that no one who's actually been signed by him and happy with his work as a true / real / working agent (and not just some auto-submitting schmuck - heck, an intern can satisfy that requirement for him) he's done nothing more than, play the odds with a modicum of success, and then use that modicum to offset the improper immorality of the kickbacks with which he truly butters his bread.

If any posters can account for their personal satisfaction with his agency(or former agency)'s representation - in all senses of the word, not just the submission alone - I would really appreciate hearing from you, even if via PM.

Thanks,
bookme

P.S. In the interest of full disclosure, I have a sort-of personal investment in this issue: I have a friend who landed in LA several years ago and immediately signed with these guys, following their advice diligently (she's one of those trusting types, and also interning for them despite the fact that she really can't afford the time. Needless to say she isn't going out on nearly the amount of auditions I've been, yet her type (and, to be quite honest, training) is much more in demand than mine (she's got improv under her belt but I'm just enrolling) so long story medium, she's lost a lot of time and money drinking their kool-aid. I am doing this research so as to either confirm or (ideally) disprove the notion that her 'representation' doesn't really represent her. In this instance, I'd prefer to be wrong since it's easier by far - but since everything I've learned here points the other way, I'd like to give a opportunity to any and all who can attest otherwise that this is in fact an agency through which she could in fact book work.

There are plenty of great agencys in this town, of all sizes and types. This is not one of them. Sure, they probably have some clients who book work. Who doesn't? But that in no way justifies some of their more questionable business practices.

At best, this is a starter agency where a lot of people land when they first start out. But no one stays. And that's the bottom line here.

I can't even imagine working with someone who writes as poorly as that, and isn't intelligent enough to realize that those messages are absolutely ridiculous.

I believe you are quite wrong about MZA. How do we even know that email came from him, and not from his old partners who apparently are out to discredit him, after they discredited themselves?

My research shows MZA to be pretty good, according to numerous sources I have posted on here. Make up your own minds, don't just listen to the few individuals repeat posting negative comments about MZA based on ollld news of a defunct agency. Here's my findings, all fairly positive:

http://bbs.backstage.com/eve/f...=494107252#494107252

The buzz isn't just about a "defunct agency". The buzz has been, consistently, over the years, about Zanuck himself. This "buzz" includes an article in Backstage about the curious idea of a "pre-contract" he used to require.

Anyone who wants to look further has only to do searches here and on Actor's Access. I certainly wouldn't recommend letting one "defender" guide you on where to look.

quote:

Originally posted by JimChevallier:
This "buzz" includes an article in Backstage about the curious idea of a "pre-contract" he used to require.

This is exactly my point - you are talking, here in late 2009, about something that I understand was a 'question mark' at worst, and years ago.

At some point intelligent people have to give others the chance to change, and they also have to let go of the past and become relevant with the present.

My friend who signed with MZA only signed a SAG approved contract, so what exactly is the problem with MZA *HERE AND NOW*? See my link above for someone who just booked a featured part on NCIS through him as an example. He's just another agency out there, surviving, and booking jobs. Isn't he? Where's the relevant evidence for all this speculation?

And bla and bla and bla....

Again, anyone who's still tempted by a man who's been steadily criticized for years should do their own research.

As for the BSW article, I believe it was two or three years ago. Not, like Zanuck's working at his sister's agency (Bigley) which stole thousands from her actors, years ago. (How much did he know about what was going on at his own sister's agency? So far as I know, he never bothered to say.)

Zanuck's behavior and associations have been pretty consistent over the years.

But no, don't believe me. Nor should you let anyone else point your research any direction. Just do your own.

There's certainly enough of a track record out there at this point.

quote:

Originally posted by BackstagePass:

This is exactly my point - you are talking, here in late 2009, about something that I understand was a 'question mark' at worst, and years ago.

At some point intelligent people have to give others the chance to change, and they also have to let go of the past and become relevant with the present.

For each person you've met saying positive things, I've met a lot more people who have signed with him within this year and have been pushed a certain photographer and told to get 5 specific character shots. That's one of the shenanigans that he was involved with at ZPP.

I know some working actors who are with him and they confess that Michael is engaged in kick-back schemes even though Michael didn't make them use a certain photographer. They're really talented actors and could probably get even more work if they went to another agency.

Michael has been DOCUMENTED as being scammy. Documentation beats conversation! Stigmas take YEARS or even a lifetime to disappear. Why associate yourself?

Going with MZA is like sleeping with a hot chick that you know has STDs, but you're so desperate that you're going to sleep with her anyways.