I chatted with Chris earlier this year. He seemed like a decent guy -- said he had a couple of projects on the front burner (I don't know if these were shot).
A Management rep actors as well as writers. Chris is in charge of the literary talent I believe.
Don't know about Chris Pratt, but here's our small experience with "A" Management.
Taye Diggs is managed by Abe Hoch (the "A" in A Management). Taye was attached to play the lead in one of our scripts for about six months, so we met with Abe at his Beverly Hills office.
Nice office, big comfy couches, great view. Certainly seemed like an established, legit operation, at least for up-and-coming acting talent. Abe was very personable and very up front about their plan for further packaging our script.
According to my meeting notes, Abe's father-in-law is Bernie Brillstein (of Brillstein-Grey fame) and his wife works in the TV division at ICM. (or CAA??) Abe made the point that between his family and friends they could pretty much get a script to anybody. He certainly seemed well-connected enough from what we could tell, and we liked that he didn't overplay his position or promise the moon. Just talked about his client's response and interest in the project and laid out their game plan for building a package before taking it to the buyers.
It was a pleasant, promising meeting and we left with a good impression of Abe and his company.
I think that's an unfair jibe. Please don't judge the guy on my account of our meeting; I really don't think he meant to suggest by mentioning his family and friend connections that he wasn't himself also known and respected in the business. In fact, his exact wording was probably closer to..."between ME and my family and friends etc..."
But now that you've raised the point--all things being equal, in a business that's clearly marked by a fair share of nepotism, I'd actually feel a little better about the manager/agent who's known and respected...and also has family connections to other professionals in the business--which I think describes Abe's situation. Probably couldn't hurt.
You know, like Rita Wilson, dragging her husband Tom Hanks out to see a funny little one-woman play by a Greek-American actress about her madcap family. Nia Vardalos couldn't have had a better champion that night. And the rest is movie history...
"Hey boski, what happened with your script? Is it still with Abe?"
we had another manager working a different script, and when that went out wide and started getting us meetings, the manager who brought the script to Abe, dropped us, taking the Taye Diggs' attachment with him.
So we never got a chance to see how far they could have taken it as far as further developing a package. At the time the relationship ended, we were working on a rewrite per. notes from Taye's UTA agents before showing it to director clients at the agency.
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