I agree with Scott. As long as he didn't sleep with your wife - and some in town wouldn't even consider that a big enough offense - I'd say your best bet is to just work together and push the damn thing forward. And look at this way: you could have TWO management companies pushing it forward if you were able to wrangle up another rep for yourself. The more people that believe, the more likely it will be conceived...er, or something like that.

"he is partner in a management/production company, but my contract with him was only for management services" Just out of curiosity -- how many people who have managers actually signed a contract with them? From what I keep hearing echoed from Craig Mazin and John August's blogs is that no one signs contracts of this type anymore. At least not professionals. You are free to come and go as you please. It benefits everyone that way. Agents/managers can dump talent they think isn't pulling their weight without being contractually obligated to try and secure them work. And talent can leave if they feel their reps aren't pulling their weight. From my own experience that's also been my case. The only things I've had to sign are NDAs and Attachment / Option agreements.

@James: I'm curious about the no contract working relationship that you mention. How does that work? Wouldn't a no-contract situation make for an accounting nightmare? How do you know what percentage/fees to pay? That just seems like a very dangerous way to do business. And it doesn't sound at all professional.

As far as I have seen it, if you are making money you will generally sign a piece of paper authorizing a talent agent and a lawer to do their things on your behalf. I believe the professional licensing bodies of the state of CA require this. This isn't a contract with a specified term, though, but rather an agreement that the agent will get ten percent and the lawyer will get five percent of all film work you do until one party informs the other that the agreement is terminated. This kind of paperwork isnt something I've really seen with a manager, though. Rather, you simply authorize your agent to pay your manager his percentage of what you get paid (your employer pays the agency, they don't pay you directly.) You get a quarterly statement from the agent telling you where all the money went. On the other hand, if your manager sees himself as functioning in an additional producorial capacity, there might be a short form letter to that effect on a per project basis (or I guess all projects if you felt like giving a manager that kind of control.) But it's amazing the volume of deal making that functions purely on the basis of handshakes. After all, a verbal agreement is legally binding. Conversely, if you are represented but have not yet been paid through for something through your agent it's common to have no paperwork at all.

I remember hearing that Alan Alda never had a signed contract, all his deals were verbal and hand shakes. I can't vouch for that, but Bauer-Benedek, my first agency, did rep Alda, and I believe I heard that from them. It reinforces the fact that Hwood is a small town. And a deal between agency and a studio business affairs office, negotiated over the phone, may not get finalized on paper for months. So the town has a long history of verbal agreements.

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I'm reluctant to share any more details in this forum, but suffice it to say that Scott's advice and everyone's comments are very helpful. I hear a lot about handshake deals, and I understand it's industry standard for a lot of people, but I don't get it at all. Why would you want to leave yourself open to the many issues that can pop up?