The "ATA"

ATA President Sandy Bresier and ATA Member Harry Gold

The Association of Talent Agents (ATA) is a Los Angeles based non- profit trade association that has been in business for seventy years. They have two primary offices, which are located in Los Angles and New York. ATA membership consists of agencies that represent clients in stage, television, radio, commercials, motion pictures and literary work. The original name for the ATA was Artist Managers Guild when it started in 1937 but was changed after the courts upheld the Wagner act. Today, it is one of the most respected associations in the talent industry. ATA also partners with another association called the NATR (National Association of Talent Representatives) and collectively it is estimated that together they represent 90% of the artist working in the entertainment industry as well employ one thousand talent agents in the business.

Agents at ATA make sure that the artists they represent have secure opportunities. They keep their clients updated with the most current information in technology used in the market as well as in the entertainment industry. ATA has a direct affiliation with the newly combined union SAG-AFTRA. Any information about the union can be found directly on ATA’s website under union news. 

Some of the benefits of being a member of the ATA are: ATA/Sag residual tracking, membership discounts, round table discussions with peers, daily email blast and monthly board meetings.

ATA has several services that are available to all the members of the association such as:

ATA provides assistance in dispute resolution provided for agency regulations and contracts. 

In addition, they set up procedures for SAG-AFTRA agencies termination process.

ATA assist members with commission grievances and contracts, employee changes, referrals related to bonds, insurance and health care.

ATA conducts regular meetings with members, employees, and unions to keep all affiliates up dated with any new legislature.

Talent agency licensing, laws relating to talent agents, and provision laws relating to agents in California are linked on the website so when information can be accessed easily.

This concludes our brief look at the Association of Talent Agents and what it has to offer a business involved in the talent market. The ATA is an important organization for the talent management and talent agency industry because it provides help with services from every aspect of owning a business in the talent industry.

References:

ATA http://www.agentassociation.com/index.cfm

NATR http://www.natragents.com/

Either you know what your passion is very early in life…….. If you are lucky!!!!!

Or like most of us we find that our passion takes years to figure out …….So we think!

I believe our passion surfaces the first moment someone asks, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and usually we are about five or six when we answer that question. Unfortunately, by the time we grow up and start learning from our parents, our peers, our history, and soak up all the media influences, we begin to loose our passion or push it so far back in our subconscious that we forget about it. We unknowing go though life after digesting other outside influences trying to figure out something we have only buried. Some of us remember in our early teens and some of us remember late in life, but unfortunately some of us get so distracted from life that we never remember.

I believe everything eventfully comes full circle. I can only be certain of this from my own life experiences. When I was a little girl, I answered that question by saying I wanted to be an actress. By the time I went to college I started to pursue acting but changed my major to computer programming because “they” said it was the future and that was the smart thing to do. Later I became bored with it and changed my major to communications. Years went by with me trying to play by society rules, but I would always find positions where I was the center of attention like bartending. By the way, if I could do that job forever I would, because it has all the elements I love. When I bartend I am an independent contractor, I make my own schedule, I determine my own salary and I am the center of attention for eight hours a night...... Or is that thought my passion surfacing?
Even now my passion has kept me involved in the entertainment industry as well as fuel my love for voice-acting. Passion is a strong emotion, I find that it does not matter how fast you run from it or how deep you hide from it, it will surface and some how direct your life journey.

The TED talk video I chose is called "The Third Act" with Jane Fonda, she has always allowed her passions to direct her life’s journey. Jane is one of those people I have always admired because she has always been honest about her passions though out her life. In this video, she is passionate about sharing her experiences during her present journey, the "Winter" of her life. I enjoyed the brief glimpse she gave me in this “Talk” because God willing, one day I will be on the same journey.