Interesting how the information in Red Temple's post is 180 degrees different from what Ashton told AJ in private email. I don't have the email on this computer but I'll get it from AJ and quote from it.

I suspect what's going on here is some backpedaling and revisionist history in order to save face, which is fine... I don't have the slightest problem with someone saying "I'm new to the industry and this is what I'm trying to do", but that wasn't at all the impression that we were given.

The statement by the model was not a "request", it was along the lines of "I'm exclusive to Red Temple, you have to talk to them" at which point AJ said "We're not interested in doing that..." a conversation ensued, and AJ left it with "Well, we have a bazillion other models, so if we can't work with you directly, then sorry, but we're not interested" and that was pretty much the end of it from our perspective.

Then, with no contact from us, we received an email from Ashton (apparently the model had contacted him) in which he told AJ in no uncertain terms that he had a written, exclusive agreement with said model and that ALL interactions/negotiations/etc HAD to go through him, even though said model had originally contacted us before he was with Ashton. He was very, very clear that there was no other option, though he "generously" agreed to forego his commission on this transaction.

AJ raised the issue with Ashton that we weren't particularly interested in working with a model that had shot a bazillion bareback scenes, and Ashton responded that he had *no idea* that the shoots in for said model would be bareback. If true, then he simply hasn't done his homework because anyone who has been in the industry for more than 5 minutes knows that Helix shoots bareback, so the question should have at least been raised during discussions and negotiations, even if it was simply a referral and not a representation situation.

Additionally, said model told us he was planning to shoot additional bareback scenes for another studio which, if Red Temple does not allow its models to shoot bareback, kinda shoots the "exclusive representation" thing in the foot.

I'm not trying to start West Hollywood drama (or any other kind of drama) here. Howard has demonstrated and described how a professional agency relationship is supposed to work and what terms customary to the industry look like. If Red Temple some day comes up to that standard, we would consider working with Ashton. We just don't have time for people who are inserting themselves into the loop unnecessarily and creating complications that don't need to exist. Having worked with over 150 models in the past several years, we've developed a means of working with them that treats the model ethically and fairly, gives us a reasonable deal, and our models go away very happy. We've had models with "agents" before, and what we've done is work the deal with the model, who then runs it past the agent, and that's fine, and a lot simpler for everyone.

Bottom line is, if people are ethical and approach things with a "let's find a solution" mentality instead of a "You have to do it my way or else" approach, they win a lot more friends in the industry.