Negotiations: Featuring interview with Professional Athlete Greg Dilligard

Contract negotiations can be one of the most stressful conversations in business. However, when you’re able to hone in on a few techniques and utilize effective communication skills, one will see that you can have more successful negotiations than not. I’ve been blessed to meet a lot of entertainment, media and sports professionals throughout my life. To get an inside look on how the pros do it, I was able to reach out to a fellow Illinois State Alum.

Greg Dilligard is a professional basketball player. He currently plays for Aguada in Uruguay. He has been playing professional basketball for six years and in four different countries. He has two agents that have been helping to negotiate his various contracts throughout his career. Being a professional athlete, negotiations are a “necessary evil,” he said when we spoke via Skype.  

“I have one agent in the states and another here in South America. They both work together in the off-season to work out the best deals for me. They bring the options to me and we all figure out what the best opportunity for me will be.” Normally, the bulk of the negotiations are between the interested team’s board members, the coach and his agents. However, he was able to directly be involved in a negotiation when he wanted to leave a particular team in the middle of a season.

In this particular situation, Greg found out that the coach for the team he was playing for wanted to release him midseason in order to pick up another player. Greg contacted his agents and they started negotiations with another team that had previously showed interest in him. A verbal agreement was set and Greg made the decision that he wanted to move to that team. Before an official contract could be signed, the team he was already on set up a negotiation meeting. The coach of the team that he was already on had a change of heart. They wanted to see if they could work out a new deal to have him stay on the team. Greg and his agents were able to come into that negotiation with a best alternative to the negotiated agreement, or BATNA. Unless his current team came up with an “out of this world” offer, he was moving to the new team.

Greg and his agents did not appreciate the fact that they had to hear about the team’s original wish to release him from a third party source. They didn’t feel that it was very professional. Although Greg wasn’t very happy with his coach at the time, he was able to separate the person from the problem. He could have approached the negotiation angry and allowed emotions to control the conversation but they knew that would not contribute positively to the negotiation. The team’s offer ended up not being better than his BATNA and he was amicably released and able to sign with the new team that year.

Greg was also able to give me an interesting story where he was victim to a dirty trick during negotiations. During off-season negotiations with one team, another team became interested in him. The second team contacted the team that he was in negotiations with and asked for an injury report on him. He had fairly recently come off knee surgery but was cleared to play. The first team gave a false injury report on him in order to keep him from even starting negotiations with the second team. Greg found this out after he agreed to the play for the first team. The potential contract from the second team was actually for more money but he found out too late. One thing he and his agents learned from that situation was to always ask questions. On their end, the lines of communication closed suddenly with the second team. If they asked a few more questions, they may have been able to intercept the false injury report before signing any contracts.

Greg says that he prefers to leave the negotiations to his agents because of situations like the two he described for me. It takes a patient person to be able to look at all sides of an argument objectively and communicate in a way that will mutually benefit all parties involved. I’m grateful to have been able to speak to him regarding his personal experiences and learn from them as well.

The Side Hustle

One of the most important aspects of making money in the entertainment industry is finding ways to create multiple income streams. I like to call this having a "side hustle." With my background being in dance, one of the most seamless ways a choreographer can create new income is by creating a clothing line. Dancers and performers in general love to look good. The image is sometimes more important than your level of talent. Business wise, a choreographer’s main revenue streams are the different “jobs” or “gigs” they book. These can include, but are not limited to, choreographing for a particular stage show, commercial or movie. They can also include anytime they are invited to teach at a dance workshop such as Monsters of Hip Hop or The Pulse.

NappyTabs

 Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo are a husband and wife hip-hop dance choreography duo. They are most widely known for their work on the dance show So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew. To add to their amazing resume of choreography work, they also have their own clothing line, called NappyTabs. NappyTabs can be found on dancewear websites as well as at various dance workshops that they teach at. Nappytabs is a funky dance clothing line that caters to hip hop dancers who are looking for something stylish to wear to dance class or to even perform in.

Brian Friedman

Brian Friedman is another dancer who has made his way up the ranks to choreographer for the stars. He’s worked with Michael and Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber to name a few. He has most recently added a clothing line called “Brian Says B Free.” He played with this idea a few years ago when he partnered with a shoe company and came out with his own shoes (which I own and love). BSBFree is now branching into clothing and continuing to grow.

These are just two examples of dancers and choreographers who have decided to make a clothing line their side hustle. In the world of entertainment, one must be flexible and multi-talented. The more hats you’re able to wear, the more opportunity to make money.

Let's Do the Math

As an artist, I think we care 100% about the art that we’re making. Regardless if it’s creating music, dance choreography, or physical paintings, sculptures etc.: the art is the most important thing to us. We want to put out the best material possible, and the ultimate dream is to be able to make a living sustainable doing what we love.

One of the most important aspects of the entertainment industry that artists tend to be fairly clueless about is the business side of things. Artists will often trust contract negotiations to their managers and sign without knowing what exactly they’re signing.

Industry insider, Russell Brennan gives some great tips on how artists can be a bit more educated about the types of agreements they’re signing, especially regarding record labels. One of the most well known examples of young artists getting into agreements that they don't completely understand is TLC. At the peak of their career, they were the highest selling female group. Their manager, former singer, Pebbles and her company Pebbiton worked as managers for the group. Unfortunately, the deal that they had with Pebbiton and LaFace Records didn’t allow them to make much off of their first two successful albums. At the height of their careers, they were forced to file bankruptcy. There are several other instances where successful bands, artists or groups signed agreements that they did not understand very well. This generation as the luxury of learning from these artists' mistakes and becoming more and more reliant on themselves to get their art out to the public. The internet is a great tool that allows artists to build fan bases, without the help of a record label. The moral here is to educate yourself. When a contract in presented to you, have a great lawyer on standby that you can trust to look it over and make sure it's in your best interest! 

The Association of Talent Agents

Looking into talent agencies and how they do business is a great way for me to get an idea of how my creative directing and artist development company may work. I came across the Association of Talent Agents (ATA), which has been around since 1937. 

The ATA looks to connect talent agencies with talent and give out advice and information regarding the industry. There is also a lot of information on different talent agencies as well as news regarding labor laws and potential changes, especially in the state of California.

One of the most recent articles informs its members that California Labor Commissioner has announced an online application system to obtain a Child Performer Services (CPS) permit. The article also provides a direct link to the CPS permit to make it easier for its members as well. The link not only includes the website for the CPS permit, but the entire press release explaining the new change. 

Any agency or company that looks to hire children without this permit being verified is subjected to a $10,000 fine. The press release also includes information for parents of child talent and how they should make sure the people they work with have valid permits and how to do it.

I know many artists don't look into talent laws, permits and things of that nature because they’re more concerned and interested in making the art. One of the things I suggest to any artist, and/or management team, is to make sure to get as educated in the “fine print” as possible. If you’re not sure what something means, consult a lawyer. Make sure to ask questions. Contracts are often drawn up with jargon that the artist doe not readily understand. I want to not only help perfect my artist's crafts but also their knowledge of business as well.