Why Be With A Franchised Agency

Why Being with a Franchised Agent is Important

Pastorini-Bosby Talent is a franchised agency and has been since its inception in 1990. What exactly does it mean to be franchised? A franchised talent agency is affiliated with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). There is a vetting process that franchised agencies must go through before we can announce our affiliation with these two unions.

As a Houston based franchised talent agency we must:

  • purchase a bond annually for each union franchise
  • provide bank records illustrating that we have two separate bank accounts. One for business administration and the other, a trust account, solely for actor’s monies.
  • provide copies of our lease, proving that we operate in a professional office space, with office hours and phone lines
  • provide a separate entrance from our offices for any auditions that we host in our space
  • take no more than 10% commission on any union project from any talent whether they are union members or not
  • agree that it will have NO affiliation with a vendor who provides services to the performer (i.e. photographers, acting schools, etc.).  This is important! As an actor, one would question the integrity of the agent’s suggestion that they need new headshots or acting classes if the agency was compensated by the provider of these services.
  • pay the actor in a “timely manner”. PB pays weekly. In other words, all money received that week is paid out in the same week. This is above and beyond the requirements of our franchise.

As franchised talent agents located in Houston, Texas, PB participates on union panels for continuing education. We share in important discussions regarding actor pay and how to protect you, our client on matters of safety and employment practices. We also team up with AFTRA and SAG on legislative matters that affect our industry.

So, when trying to decide who you want to partner with as you begin or continue to pursue the career that you are so passionate about know you deserve to be with an agency who subscribes to the AFTRA/SAG code of ethics and who actively participates in their efforts to make our industry bigger, better, safer, and stronger every day.