Toronto police investigating claims local talent agency is withholding funds from actors

Toronto police are investigating after dozens of actors reported their talent agency had been actively withholding money owed to them.

Actors and other artists represented by Compass Artist Management, which describes itself as a “full-service talent/management agency,” said they stopped receiving payments from the company for jobs they had already completed.

Golden Madison is an actress and dancer who recently signed up with the management company. By July, she had landed several roles in high-profile commercials.

“All amazing spots. I was proud of them for helping me, and I’m helping them, and we’re just working together,” Madison told CityNews.

When she hadn’t received payment for her roles almost three months later, she reached out to her agents.

“I wasn’t nervous. I didn’t think that anything sketchy had gone on. I thought maybe this agency is different, and maybe they process payments differently, so I emailed them,” Madison said.

“The next email I got was one of my agents resigning. And I knew right then and there that something bad had happened with the money.”

Shortly after, she received an email from the agency saying the money and payments were late. She attempted to contact Danny Friedman, the company’s founder but claimed he couldn’t be reached for days.

Madison then reached out to the production companies she had worked with, and they confirmed payment had been made to Compass Artist Management.

Madison tells CityNews she is owed anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 for four commercial shoots she did as a client. She said she is one of 60 actors claiming they’re still owed money.

Toronto police confirmed with CityNews that an investigation has begun following the intake of reports from over 50 complainants.

“There’s a lot of emotions, many people are going through it, and we’re just trying to be there for each other. Many people have children, families, houses, and rent that they need to pay. With this large chunk missing, it’s pretty heartbreaking,” said Madison.

Em Siobhan McCourt says she’s out over $4,300 for a commercial that had a re-run in July. She contacted the agency multiple times to inquire about the missing payment.

“They were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll look into it. Yeah, we’ll look into it. They had it. They cashed it that whole time,” McCourt explained to CityNews.

“There are [some] people out $50,000. Often actors only work one contract a year, and so that $50,000 is everything to them, their rent, mortgage payments, groceries.”

Kiriana Stantoni is also owed over $5,000 and said she was very blindsided by this.

She was working on the set of a new film in September and had to ask the production team about her missing payments. “She pulled up the pay stubs and showed me that many checks had gone out, none of which I’d received,” explained Stantoni.

“For me personally, it caused quite a lot of fear because I am, unfortunately, in a very precarious financial situation and have been for a while,” added Stantoni. “I was heavily relying on this paycheck to pay for my medical bills and my medications and my rent and my food.”

CityNews reached out to Compass Artist Management and received a statement claiming the CEO, Friedman, was “sick about the impact this has had on some past and present clients” but noted that “there is no malice here.”

“I put every last dime and resource that I could access into the company and left no stone unturned to get a financial instrument to help keep us afloat … Things went there very quickly, so the house came down, and I’m ruined,” Friedman’s statement read.

“It’s important for me that people know I empathize more than anyone will ever know … I don’t expect anyone to feel bad for me, but please realize this wasn’t some kind of scheme to take people’s money and sail off into the sunset.”

Friedman said the company struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic. He admitted that if there were a way he could fix this, he would.

“This isn’t where I saw things going, and I am in a desperate spot myself on all fronts after losing the company I single-handedly built with my own two hands and with my limited resources,” Friedman continued.

“But worse for me by a mile is knowing that others are having a hard time.”

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the union representing some of the actors with allegations against Compass, said they do not endorse any talent agencies and contracts between these agents, and their clients are not collectively bargained.

However, ACTRA said they are aware performers are hurting financially from this situation. The union facilitated an information session over Zoom for union and non-union actors, where they offered the services of three lawyers. A Toronto police detective was also present.

When asked whether they were considering their legal alternatives, Madison said it would depend on the status of the police investigation.

“There’s a lot of different options that are being presented to us right now in terms of what we can do to try to get some funds back,” Madison said.

“I would love to see the people who need the money the most get their money back, and I want to see the union (ACTRA) step up and work on regulating client-to-manager relationships.”

Madison said she also hopes this will lead to more regulation in the agency industry in Ontario.

“It’s time to rectify the situation and be honest about where the money is,” Madison said when asked what she would say to Friedman.

“In Ontario, it is not required for acting agents or talent agents, in general, to be licensed, but it is required in B.C and many places in the U.S., but for some reason here, anyone can start an acting agency from their laptop.”

With files from Brandon Rowe