Surrender Notice for DeSanti Talents, Inc

SAG-AFTRA has received reports that there may have been some financial/accounting irregularities with respect to DeSanti Talents, Inc.'s payment obligations to SAG-AFTRA members pursuant to the union’s franchise requirements. This agency is no longer franchised and was surrendered on December 19, 2023.

As a precaution, SAG-AFTRA advises you at this time to review your own records regarding any SAG-AFTRA covered work that you have completed through this agency. Should you discover any abnormalities in how payments were made to you for SAG-AFTRA-covered work, please notify the union’s Professional Representatives Department by the close of business on Thursday, February 15, 2024. The union will assist you in any way it can to rectify the situation. If, however, you fail to discover any irregularities in your agency’s payment obligations to you, SAG-AFTRA reminds you of your continuing obligation to promptly pay your agent [within ten (10) days of receipt] its rightful commission, as it becomes due — up until the date of the agency’s franchise surrender. If you are confused about your obligations hereunder (or indeed, your agent’s obligations to you), please do not hesitate to contact our office for assistance.

Regarding any existing check authorizations: At this time, SAG-AFTRA would also like to remind you of your right to revoke any and all check authorizations currently on file for this agency, if you wish to do so. For TV/Theatrical work, please contact residual.trust@sagaftra.org or call 855-724-2387 for this purpose. For commercial work, please note you also have the right to revoke any and all check authorizations in that field by contacting the applicable paymaster and requesting its assistance. Again, please note that the potential revocation of any pre-existing check authorizations does not negate your continuing obligation to promptly pay your agent commissions if and when such sums are owed.

This notice is in regards to all work covered by SAG-AFTRA’s jurisdiction only.

By copy of this letter, we are also placing DeSanti Talents, Inc. on notice and reminding it of its obligations that any and all talent payment checks now in its possession, or which may hereafter be received by it in connection with SAG-AFTRA represented performers, are to be held in trust for the benefit of the performer on whose behalf the check is issued, in accordance with SAG-AFTRA Agency Regulations, and applicable state law. DeSanti Talents, Inc. remains a fiduciary of our members’ funds.

Please do not hesitate to contact SAG-AFTRA’s Professional Representatives Department at (323) 549-6745, if you have any outstanding questions. This department can be reached by email at agency@sagaftra.org or by calling (323) 549-6745. Thank you for your attention to this matter.