The 35-year-old Gilla Roos Agency, a print and commercial house based in Manhattan, seems to have shut its doors under odd circumstances. According to Hollywood Reporter columnist Andrew Solomon in "Gilla Roos Talent Agency Shuts Down":

"at least 75 actors and models say they are missing back wages totaling at least $150,000 and probably much more. The exact amount can't be determined yet, but at least two estimates put the loss at about $3,000 a person. Based on that, the agency might have lost close to $250,000 of its clients' money."

David Roos, the owner, has gone the way of the dodo. In other words, he's vanished.

One client, Danny Fischer, spoke to Roos recently. "He says he's bankrupt, he's homeless, he can't pay, he can't feed his two daughters. I said, 'That's horrible, but what happened to our money?'"

I feel sorry for these models, but this is why you have to trust your gut. It seems that the agency was slow with payment; in fact, they had a reputation for being bad with money. They were so lax that both the Screen Actors' Guild and AFTRA forbade their members from working with the agency. Not many people know of the shutdown, I guess (the article was written on March 26th, 2009), but words will soon spread.

If an agency starts being late with money, start figuring out how to leave. One late payment can be an accident. Two or more is a problem. Many among different folks is a catastrophe.