Part 8. (Conclusion)
Below is the review I came across that I promptly e-mailed to Lenny, with names and libel concerns removed.
Enjoy:
Lenny Leopold: Leave me Alone
Posted by girlwriter
I have, for the past TWO MONTHS been dealing with this asshole Lenny Leopold. I sent a pitch in response to a Craigslist posting, which turned out to be to this guy who called me and said that he wanted $600 to read my script. As in, he liked my pitch and therefore wanted me to sign an exclusive contract with him as my manager before he even read the script.
1. Real managers and agents read scripts before they sign contacts
2. Real managers and agents don’t charge you to represent you
He says it’s just an advance. But the thing is, the only thing he’s ever sold or published appears to be through vanity press outlets; there are no movie deals on even his own factually dubious page. All of his credits are really old and not terribly impressive. He apparently has some connection to Bill Cosby, which I guess was impressive some time before I learned to talk.
He was also involved in a major, major scam called __________. It basically scammed writers out of money and gave commissions to “agents” that referred writers to get scammed — “agents” like Lenny Leopold.
He keeps sending me e-mails and calling me, he will not leave me alone, even though I have REPEATEDLY told him I was not interested and told him REPEATEDLY that everyone I know in the industry told me HE IS A SCAM. And on top of that he is a jerk on the phone and can’t be bothered to introduce himself, remember your previous conversations, and he mispronounced the word “bible”. Really.
So, just to be perfectly clear here, what it appears he does is troll Craigslist and then harass and bully people into giving him money. That’s certainly what he has been doing to me.
I hesitated from posting anything because I’ve seen him threaten other bloggers who are honest about his behavior and I didn’t want to get into it, but other people need to know exactly what this man is doing to me. And if he comes here to defend himself I will simply add that to the list of things he is doing to harass me.
Lenny Leopold: LEAVE ME ALONE
Here is his contract:
Literary Management Agreement
1. By this agreement, ____________(Author) appoints Lenny Leopold (L.L.) as her literary representative. L.L. agrees to use good faith efforts to place Author’s , manuscript/script, currently entitled ____________” (Work)and subsequent (hereafter “Work”),with a Publisher , Studio, Production Company, , , Television Network for a film/book. etc acceptable to the Author and to exploit and turn to account such other subsidiary and television and film rights in and to the Works as may be appropriate under the circumstances. We may use and/or employ subagents and corresponding agents for such purposes. L.L. shall make no agreement on the behalf of the Author without the Author’s written approval.
2. In return for services rendered L.L. in connection with the Work, Author agrees to pay and irrevocably authorizes L.L. to receive in its name, all monies due to or to become due to Author and to retain as its commission fifteen percent (15%) of all gross monies payable to Author . An advance on commission of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) shall be paid on the execution of this agreement.
3. In addition to the aforementioned commissions, L.L. shall be reimbursed for the expenses incurred on behalf of the Work (not to exceed a total of $100 without written permission), including photocopying, messengers, cables and overseas postage in connection with submissions for sales, both foreign and domestic, long distance telephone calls, copies of the published book when purchased by the L.L. for subsidiary rights submissions, and other similar and related charges. L.L. shall invoice author quarterly for such expenses or deduct same from funds received by L.L. for Author’s account.
4. L.L. shall provide a quarterly itemized account of all expenses to the Author and no expenses shall be due and owing until that itemized account is produced.
5. All funds received by L.L. on behalf the Author shall be held in Trust by L.L. and L.L. shall exercise a fiduciary duty with regard to those funds and on behalf of the Author.
6. The Author shall have the right to an annual audit of the financial books and records of L.L. with regard to the Author’s account and L.L. shall produce all records relevant to the Audit. L.L. shall give the accountant conducting the audit access to all financial books and records relevant to the Account. The Audit shall take place at the principal place of business of L.L. unless the parties agree to a different location.
7. Any written notice called for by this Agreement must be sent by registered U.S Mail, return receipt requested, or by FedEx, DHL or UPS overnight courier to the addresses set forth in this Agreement.
8. This Agreement represents the complete understanding between the Author and L.L. and supersedes any prior oral understandings and may not be amended except in a writing signed by the Author and L.L.
9. This Agreement shall be construed under the laws of the State of California.
10. This Agreement is effective on the date of the final signature.
And an official opinion on it:
“Putting on my former lawyer hat (practiced corporate entertainment law for many years, law degree from Harvard, former VP of Legal Affairs for an entertainment co, former director of legal services @ NY’s Volunteer Lawyer for the Arts – just providing creds to let you know that I have a lot of experience in this sort of thing), NEVER pay some dude to read your script as an advance on his future manager commissions. This is a scam – you’ll never hear from him again. Real management agencies won’t ask you to pay them – where’s the incentive for him to do anything? And there’s no term, no ability for you to get out of it — I have too many comments on this management agreement to post in a small space. But needless to say, it’s something you shouldn’t sign.”
Shortly after sending this article in the body of an e-mail without any supporting text, Lenny messaged me his response, claiming the article’s author was a hack, insisting I “go fuck” myself. And with that, I never heard again from Lenny the Book Crook, but a girl can dream.
What a fucking mess. And when I say this, I speak for Lenny and myself. Naivety only goes so far, especially in this business.
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