EXCLUSIVE: International Artists Management (IAM) has been removed from the UK’s respected agency professional body after Deadline revealed it sent a client misrepresented self-tape audition invites.
The Personal Managers’ Association (PMA) said in a statement that it had revoked IAM’s membership amid concerns over the company’s honesty and integrity.
The PMA’s decision comes after a Deadline investigation showed that IAM sent client Mark Barrett at least six illegitimate self-tape invites over a two-year period.
In five of the purported invites, IAM appeared to change the wording of emails from casting directors to make it seem as if they had requested Barrett to tape for a role when in fact he had not been called to audition.
Through its attorney Carter-Ruck, IAM argued that the misleading self-tape invites were in Barrett’s interests as it pushed for him to secure work.
Barrett, who has featured in projects including Outlander, disputed this. The actor said he was not made aware that he was recording unsolicited self-tapes and would have refused to do so had he known about the tactic.
The PMA, which counts top agencies including UTA-owned Curtis Brown and Independent Talent among its members, appears to have agreed with Barrett’s interpretation of events.
The organization said: “The welfare of the artist is at the heart of the approved PMA code of conduct. Honesty and integrity are the cornerstones of the agent-artist relationship. It damages us all when that trust is broken. IAM’s membership of the PMA is no longer tenable in light of recent allegations.”
In response, IAM said it had put in place new procedures to offer clients transparency over auditions. The agency added that it was committed to best practice, regardless of its PMA status.
IAM only joined the PMA last December and, in a legal letter last month, argued that it “abides with its code of conduct at all times.” This included clause 4.5, which states that agencies must have a “conscientious regard for the professional welfare of the client.”
The agency sent Barrett a misrepresented tape in January — just weeks after joining the PMA — for a major role in a potential new season of hit BBC series Shetland.
IAM forwarded Barrett an email from Orla O’Connor Casting, in which the Shetland casting director’s assistant purportedly wrote that she would “love for him to tape” for a “highly confidential” role. Orla O’Connor Casting later told Barrett that he was never called to audition.
Paul Fleming, general secretary of actors’ union Equity, said he was “livid” about how his member had been treated by IAM. He said Barrett had been “misled” and IAM had “darkly inverted” the relationship between actor and agent by misrepresenting tapes without transparency.
“The power dynamic that is often alluded to by bad agents is that they are essentially the employer or the engager of our members. The opposite is true,” Fleming said.
In a statement to Deadline, IAM said: “We always act in the best interest of our clients with the intention of maximising opportunities for them. We have put in place new processes to ensure that they have complete visibility of everything we are doing on their behalf and there can be no ambiguity about the source of the leads we secure for our clients. We are committed to following best practice at all times and this will continue, regardless of whether we belong to a professional body.”