First things first – this case of unpaid commissions probably wouldn’t make it on to Criminal Minds. But here in Hollywood, today’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking “no less than $480,000” from Craig Dorfman and his Frontline Entertainment against the veteran CBS drama’s Thomas Gibson has all the makings of a classic. “Dorfman’s management company Frontline has literally been on the frontlines, recusing Gibson’s career from professional crises of Gibson’s own making,” says the vivid and detailed 7-claim jury seeking complaint by Frontline Management and Dorfman filed in LA Superior Court today (read it here).
After all that, Frontline say that for their efforts and heartache for the actor what they got was Gibson earlier this year demanding they cut their commission from 10% to 7.5%. In a document not at all short on personal info and supposed workplace bad behavior, it, as always, comes down to money. As today’s filing reveals, Gibson apparently makes $200,000 an episode on the long running CBS series and a total of about $4.8 million a year to which Dorfman says he’s entitled to the long standing portion of 10%. After Dorfman refused Gibson’s cut down of the commission, the Criminal Minds actor dumped Frontline on June 24 this year. He also stopped paying the management company. Which is why Dorfman is taking his old client to court for the money he says he’s owed for the guidance Frontline gave Gibson since the two sides made a management agreement in 2003. The relationship actually goes back much further than that to 1996 when Gibson was on Chicago Hope and Dorfman became his agent.
Bryan Freedman and Jordan Susman of LA’s Freedman & Taitelman are representing Dorfman in the action. (Full disclosure: Freedman also is the attorney for Deadline’s parent company PMC.)
