Hollywood Shutdown: Talent Agencies Are Now Laying Off Agents

Hollywood shutdown is causing talent agencies to lay off agents

As the Coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the country and Wall Street Analysts declare America’s economy in a recession, talent agencies are now laying off their workforce, including their top agents.

Variety reports, Paradigm Talent Agency has started laying off top agents including those in “music and motion picture and TV Literature.” Over 100 agency staffers were let go on Friday, including the reps for Black Keys, Father John Misty, and the 1975 band.

“The COVID-19 crisis has brought much of the entertainment industry to a virtual standstill, and Paradigm, like many companies, has had to take immediate steps to ensure continuity of our operations. Last week, we made the extraordinarily difficult decision to temporarily lay off many colleagues and to enact salary cuts across the company,” a spokesperson for Paradigm told Variety.

“It is our hope and plans to bring these colleagues back as quickly as possible, and today, we have already begun to do so. While it is impossible to know the depth and duration of this crisis, we remain proud of the determination and resilience of our Paradigm team to weather the storm and do our job representing artists,” the spokesperson added.

Paradigm Talent Agency is not the only agency that affected the Coronavirus related Hollywood Shutdown. Variety reported United Talent Agency is released a company-wide pay cut to avoid laying off most of its staff. As the entertainment industry shuts down, agencies are vulnerable as their revenue is based on commission for the work they generate from their clients.

In relevant news, Georgia film studios are shutting down, forcing studio executives to shut down and walk away. Georgia’s once-bustling film industry is now a “ghost town” as production companies shut down to quarantine themselves during the Coronavirus. Lee Thomas, Georgia Department of Economic Development’s deputy commissioner for film, music, and television, told Bisnow no productions have canceled. But there is no word as to how long the hiatus will last.

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