Young actors struggle with agency pay delay

New administration system and communication mix-up blamed

Christine Conway waited more than nine months to be paid for one day's work.

The 21-year-old aspiring actress appeared in a television commercial filmed last August - but has had to fight to be paid by the Auckland agency that represented her.

She is one of several people who say they have had problems with payment from August Models and Talent.

Ms Conway, who is from Hamilton, began emailing and phoning staff at the agency in November.

She began contacting the agency weekly after about January. After repeatedly having her requests ignored, she made progress this week - after the agency was contacted by the Weekend Herald.

The owner, Erin Ashby, said Ms Conway's cheque for $614 was sent to the wrong address. The agency sent it again this week and she received the payment yesterday.

"I realise apparently she did contact our office previously but there was a mix-up in our communication and I am sorry that this situation arose," she said.

"Since relocating premises very recently, we have been making a lot of company changes, and upgrading our administration systems has been a priority. I am doing everything I can to make sure that we get this side running smoothly so we don't have these problems."

Junior Rangi, who appeared in the Navy's TV recruiting campaign, also had his cheque sent to an old address.

The agency tracked the 23-year-old down after a Sunday newspaper reported hisconcerns.

Another Auckland woman, 24, who asked not to be named because she feared it would limit work in the small industry, said she also waited nine months for payment.

"It wasn't that much, it was like $600 after tax, but it was a ridiculous time to wait."

She said she called staff at August more than 10 times and emailed them every few days and was also told the company had sent a cheque to the wrong address.

She said she met five other people who told her they had struggled to get payment from August.

"I met so many people who had trouble getting paid," she said.

"The only reason I got paid was I met another girl who said she hadn't been paid and she said she went in there and pretty much said she wasn't leaving until she had the cheque and they had to write it out for her. I just went and did the same."

After a two-hour wait, she left with her money.

She said she had moved house in the time between completing the job and being paid but she had tried to contact the company enough times for it to ask her for her new address.