"They're like buzzards flying over a dead cow." That's how World Modeling's Jim South describes the new agents/agencies on the block and players like Rob Spallone, Regan Senter and, now, Allison Roberts of Touch Me 2. Roberts' firm handles "high-end" European girls for photo shoots, particularly those for Penthouse, according to her.
Then, again, South might want to re-think the dead cow analogy.
Allison Roberts is saying that South's been calling some of the people she's doing business with. And it's not for idle chit-chat. Roberts claims South is using strong arm tactics. Telling people that if they do business with her [Roberts], South is going to cut them off the girlie bandwagon. "South threatened Scott Taylor of New Sensations," Roberts says. "Let him [South] deny it."
Problem is, neither Taylor nor South recall any conversations between them to that effect. Matthew [he goes by just plain "Matthew"] of New Sensations attempted to clarify the issue.
Matthew: "I do our castings so I have daily and weekly contact with everyone over at World Modeling. There was a moment where, on a phone call with one of Jim South's girls, she was talking to our director Nick. Nick said some things to this girl who, unfortunately, wasn't very intelligent and misunderstood some of the things Nick said. She got off the phone a little freaked out. She was going on her first shoot; and, Nick, in a kind sort of way, tried to give her some advice. She took it as a scary-type warning. She overreacted.
"I was sitting there. South was sitting there. A number of people were sitting there. When she got off the phone she relayed what she thought she heard. She was told to disregard it, that it would be handled and it would be fine. In a way, that pissed off Jim South because he felt Nick was speaking out of turn. Nick may have overstepped his bounds; but, for the most part, the girl miscontrued the information that was being given to her. [South says Nick was also dating one of his girls named Gina Adorabella.]
"On top of that, the only other situation I've had is with Alec [Orleans] here. He's dating one of South's girls. I got a phone call from Jim South saying that Alec had put Eva, a redhead Alec was dating, in contact with another woman agent [Allison Roberts].
"Jim was very pissed off about that because he felt his toes were being stepped on because the work was being taken from his pocket. Understandably so, if that was the case; but, from what I've heard, Alec talked directly with Jim, and all of that was cleared up. South never gave me the name of Allison Roberts, and I never went any further with that. As far as using Allison's girls? Never once has Allison been mentioned to me by Jim South. All the girls we use from Allison are out of the country. [Matthew says Kate Moore is the only girl he can think of off hand that New Sensations has used.] I don't know where Allison is getting her information. That's not the case at all."
South pretty much concurs with New Sensations' story, and claims he had never even heard of Roberts' company until contacted by Gene Ross. South corroborates Matthew's story, including the part about Alec Orleans dating one of South's girls.
South: "All I know is I get this screaming phone call from someone named Allison Sandoval [Roberts] about a Czech girl. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. She drowned me out. She told me about how her girls are a step or two above mine. Then she gets into how her husband is partners with Paul Fishbein on a number of different deals. Is there a 'Darrien' Roberts over there?" [It's Darren Roberts, and Roberts says, "No comment" about the business deals. Fishbein says Roberts is partners in the IA 2000 venture.]
South: "Then she [Allison Roberts] starts blaming me for an incident supposedly involving her and Bobby Hollander years ago where Hollander was supposed to have offered her drugs. I ask her, 'you're blaming me for this?' Allison claims I repped her at the time, that she was talent. [Roberts went under the name Brooke Fields.]
South: "This bullshit is amazing. These new agencies are becoming a fucking nightmare of politics."
South describes all his dealings with New Sensations as being "civil". Roberts remembers it a slightly different way.
"Scott and Alec got threatening phone calls [from South]," says Roberts. "Jim's got this hold on things." Roberts says she gets 20% of what the girls make, paid to her by the talent. South's fee is 60 bucks paid to him by the producer or director.
South: "This is part of the nightmare. The talent are raising their fees [to absorb the 20% shock imposed by managers]. I had [director] Ray Anderson scream at me because one of my girls raised her fee from $750 to $950. He had shot her a week before, but a husband/wife managerial team came in and started repping her. Anderson wanted to shoot her again and found that she had raised her day rate."
Roberts: "I don't solicit girls. They hear about me through other avenues." Roberts says she deals strictly with European talent and hasn't even considered adding American girls to her roster. "I don't know at this point if I'd do that," she said.
