On Thursday, literary agent Peter McGuigan filed suit on behalf of himself and the literary agency Foundry in New York Supreme Court against former business partner Yfat Reiss Gendell, charging breach of contract, conversion of funds, intentional fraud and fraudulent conveyance, negligent misrepresentation, and more. Alleging “criminal embezzlement,” the suit says that Gendell illegally transferred…
Agency News
People: Richman to Co-Lead Media Rights at UTA, Trimmer to Head MTV Books Relaunch
UTA has promoted book-to-film agent Jason Richman to co-lead its Media Rights Group, alongside Keya Khayatian. Richman has been at UTA since 2010. The agency says that the department has closed over 250 deals in the past year, licensing literary properties for film and TV. Separately, Christian Trimmer will lead a relaunch of MTV Books….
Publishers Are Holding or Bifurcating Foundry Payments
Following our story from last week on authors receiving bad checks from Foundry Literary + Media for payments due — along with advocacy from the Authors Guild — we have learned that multiple large publishers have moved quickly to protect authors’ funds. The Penguin Random House royalty department told a representative of Foundry in an…
Foundry Authors and Former Employees Warn On Payment Problems
Both authors and former employees of Foundry Literary + Media have indicated problems recently in receiving payments due from the agency. In September, Foundry’s co-founders Yfat Reiss Gendell and Peter McGuigan went separate ways to create YRG Partners and Ultra Literary respectively. Authors represented by Foundry report having received royalty checks that bounced, starting some…
AAR Changes to Focus On Literary Agents, Adds Non-Profit Arm
The Association of Authors’ Representatives has changed its name to the Association of American Literary Agents which “better reflects the membership and aligns the organization with its core mission of empowering and educating literary agents.” Along with the new name, the organization is updating its branding, communications, and website and aims to “offer deeper resources…
People, Etc.
At Writers House, Maria Aughavin has been promoted to evp, finance; Albert Araneo moved up to evp, business affairs; and Cecilia de la Campa is now evp, global media & licensing. Jonathan Morris has been promoted to production coordinator at Random House Children’s. Rights At the end of the year Penguin Random House Canada is taking back…
