williammorrisendeavor

posts about #williammorrisendeavor more →
Ari Emanuel Reminds the Troops That Hollywood's Always Been a Mess
Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
WME Assistants Now Being Paid Like Teenage Babysitters
The William Morris Assistants Lose Pay So the Endeavor Kids Won't Feel Bad

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britneyspearstears
11/03/09

In reply to Ari Emanuel Reminds the Troops That Hollywood's Always Been a Mess
pertually reeling from wave after wave of media bad news.

That's one fucked-up fragment, media-bad-news man. #ariemanuel
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shostakobitch
11/03/09

In reply to Ari Emanuel Reminds the Troops That Hollywood's Always Been a Mess
Yah and back then people were worried about global cooling see. what is this guy trying to say that obama's cap and trade stuff is totally cuckoo bananas?
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Edited by shostakobitch at 11/03/09 6:44 PM shostakobitch was starred shostakobitch was unstarred

PandoraSpocks
07/29/09

In reply to WME Assistants Now Being Paid Like Teenage Babysitters
Okay, I'll say it: I love Entourage. Especially Lloyd.
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randomnessish
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
Geishas for the 21st century?
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Sir Thomas More
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
Maybe this could be the end game for JA.
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MissNormaDesmond
07/28/09

@Sir Thomas More: No, you have to be charming and attentive to someone else. She might be able to pull off the former, by some people's standards, but I'm pretty sure the latter is beyond her.
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Carol Gardens
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
This is the doc about male hosts:

http://www.thegreathappinessspace.com/
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m4ximusprim3
07/28/09

@Carol Gardens: There's also a similar one for female hosts: TheGreatHavePenisSpace
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MissNormaDesmond
07/28/09

@m4ximusprim3: If you say that really fast, it sounds the same, which makes it an onomatopoeia. Sort of.
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m4ximusprim3
07/28/09

@MissNormaDesmond: Close: Horseshoes, hand grenades, and gawker wordplays!
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Jim Topoleski
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
Im glad I'm not the only one completely confused where they got the hosting/sex thing mixed up.

Hosts are basically TRUE escorts, and not the perverted meaning of the word its been turned into where they are really prostitutes and hide behind the escort name.
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dirtydeer
07/28/09

In reply to WME Assistants Now Being Paid Like Teenage Babysitters
As Sally Field reaches the top of those dark, polished stairs, right in front of the old William Morris portrait, she quietly holds up a sign. The clattering of the assistants' keyboards quiets as they all look up to read, "WHERE'S MY LATTE?"
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MissNormaDesmond
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
Did you mean "precursor"? Because I don't think it's anything like a prerequisite. It's not really a precursor, either, but it's definitely not a prerequisite. Nobody's stopping and saying, "Wait, before I pay you for sex, have you ever been a hostess?"
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Housebroken(mostly)
07/28/09

@MissNormaDesmond: heh heh- if "Hostess" is not on their submitted resume, I expect a discount.
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MissNormaDesmond promoted this comment

Carol Gardens
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
It's not the NYTimes that misrepresented the hostess/sex industry connection. It was the poor use of the word "prerequisite". Not sure what word you were actually going for. This implies that you MUST be a hostess before you become a hooker or porn star! Anyway... the NYT isn't really so far off. And note they attribute the observation to third parties:

"Hostessing does not involve prostitution, though religious and women’s groups point out that hostesses can be pressured into having sex with clients, and that hostessing can be an entry point into Japan’s sprawling underground sex industry."
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badasscat
07/28/09

@Carol Gardens: This is no different from what some people say about Geishas, which were also long-thought in the west to be prostitutes. And I'm sure that even in Japan, you could have found some fringe group somewhere ("religious" groups in Japan??) that would have said "geishas are pressured into having sex! shame!" and therefore westerners must assume they are prostitutes because hey, it's obviously their *intent* that people pressure them into having sex, right?

In fact, what a hostess does is almost exactly the same as what most geishas do, in really broad, general terms. (Geishas have a lot of formal training in really specific techniques that hostesses don't, but I'm just talking about the overall "offering service and conversation" thing.)
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Carol Gardens
07/28/09

@Carol Gardens: Let me clarify: I'm not agreeing with the views of those groups; I'm simply stating that the original article did not say that having sex for money is part of the job of a hostess ( "almost whoring.) And let's bring back dime-a-dance girls to Times Square!
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Niko Bellic
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
We should really stay away from doing trend pieces on cultures we don't know enough about.

Sort of like New York Times should stay away from doing trend pieces on New York City.
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BookishLookish
07/28/09

@Niko Bellic: Lulz. Maybe they should hire writers who have lived here more than two minutes. "Wow! Underground clubs! Wow!"
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AliHajiSheik
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
This is a fairly gross mischaracterization of what hostesses do. Hostess girls do what escort adds claim to, basically having drinks with clients at the club, or attending social functions which generally consist of a group of salary men and their hostess dates. Really not a sex thing at all. Go to Chateau Joel Robuchon or Ristorante Aso on any weeknight and you'll see them giggling at the salary men's bad jokes and that's pretty much the extent of it.

Its a safe assumption that every trend story on Japan in an American newspaper is 99% bullshit.
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MissNormaDesmond promoted this comment AliHajiSheik was starred AliHajiSheik was unstarred

BookishLookish
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
This is not a new story. Please watch Naruse's "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" if you have not done so.
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mfnher
07/28/09

@BookishLookish: Adding it to the Netflix. The Great Happiness Space is also good. It's a documentary on male hosts in Osaka. Interesting to see it from the either side.
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Edited by mfnher at 07/28/09 11:27 AM mfnher was starred mfnher was unstarred

mfnher
07/28/09

@mfnher: other. Too early out West to be commenting.
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Alessar
07/28/09

@mfnher: I'm adding the host's movie too. I've heard so much less about them than ladies.
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Motoko Kusanagi
07/28/09

In reply to Downtrodden Japanese Women Turning to Almost-Whoring in Droves
The more you know about Japan, the more depressing it is to watch "worldy" Americans come late to the party, making a big, stupid, clumsy fuss.
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Trulymadlyme
07/28/09

In reply to WME Assistants Now Being Paid Like Teenage Babysitters
a mandatory 50 hour work week

I hope they're paying overtime!
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kimsama
07/28/09

@Trulymadlyme: Wow, yeah -- I hate to be a nerd, but overtime pay is federally mandated for all non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours/week.

There are companies that try to claim non-exempt employees are exempt (so that they can screw them out of overtime), but the U.S. Dept. of Labor doesn't like that too much.

I wonder if anyone there would be pissed off enough (or know enough about FLSA) to blow the whistle and trigger an audit?
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Edited by kimsama at 07/28/09 9:44 AM kimsama was starred kimsama was unstarred

Trulymadlyme
07/28/09

@kimsama: Yeah, an FLSA class action with punitive damages could seriously blow up in this agency's face. I've seen it happen so many freaking times.
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Trulymadlyme
07/28/09

With few exceptions, to be exempt an employee must (a) be paid at least $23,600 per year ($455 per week), and (b) be paid on a salary basis, and also (c) perform exempt job duties. These requirements are outlined in the FLSA Regulations.

/nerdery.
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Edited by Trulymadlyme at 07/28/09 9:57 AM Trulymadlyme was starred Trulymadlyme was unstarred

Hiphopopotamus
07/28/09

@kimsama: No one will say a thing - they all know there are 1000 people willing to do their job for even less pay than they are making now.

Fear will keep them tethered to their desks.
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bess marvin, girl detective
07/28/09

@kimsama: paradigm hasn't paid their assistants overtime since the strike, but they do get that hour and a half lunch!!
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Edited by bess marvin, girl detective at 07/28/09 11:17 AM

Kitten_Witawip
07/28/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Not always. Someone who is pissed off enough will blow the whistle. Whether or not WME can keep up this for very long is the real question.
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Trulymadlyme promoted this comment Kitten_Witawip was starred Kitten_Witawip was unstarred

Trulymadlyme
07/28/09

@Kitten_Witawip: Considering the amount of attorney's fees on the table here, I'm shocked there aren't plaintiff's lawyers salivating over the chance to take this sort of case on.
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Blue Plate Special
07/28/09

@Trulymadlyme: Depending on how the agency operates, that might be how the assistants make a semi-living wage. Back in the day (~7 years ago) I worked at a big entertainment PR firm where I went from being the receptionist to an assistant. When I quit my Swimming With Sharks-esque boss was stunned to learn that I was making a whopping 28K a year (apparently receptionists were paid better than assistants). "Don't you think that's a big...much?" she asked me. Yeah, lady...I am rolling real deep under the poverty line.

However, while working for her she was always encouraging me to jack up my hours to make overtime money on the back end, explaining that that was how everyone in the department was able to afford to live.
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Trulymadlyme promoted this comment Blue Plate Special was starred

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