Page Ostrow: Ostrow and Company Take your money and run; promises of full service and she won't take your calls; her deal would have cost me money Beverly Hills, California
Page Ostrow contacted me claiming a rep had seen my film at a film festival. She claimed to love my film and that she had had recently received a lot of calls for Native American documentaries. She explained her price -- at that time $10,000. When I told her I made my film on grants for 35K, she didn't miss a beat, but kept pressing. She pursued me for months with calls and entreaties.
Finally, she wore me down, and I signed -- handing over cash I did not have so she could rep my film in Toronto. As soon as Page Ostrow got my money-- she stopped taking my calls. She handed me over to an assistant. I received monthly disposition reports-- places where my film was sent-- places such as animation distributors, places looking for Oscar nominated films, action-adventure, even places approaching soft-core porn. No direct calls. No direct one on one contact the way she had promised with anyone who would have been interested in a niche film about a Native American elder.
She did finally land me a deal-- with a company that refused to pay the SAG actors I had used for recreations in my doc. Those payments would have to come out of my pocket, and from the paltry percentage I would be making minus their take and expenses. That deal that would have ended up costing me money. When I sent her email after email about this deal-- I received no reply.
I called and my calls went unanswered. I wanted specifically to know if she would continue to represent me if I did not take the deal as it was not a good deal for me as per my attorneys. No reply. She has an ironclad clause in her two page contract: "best effort." And she knows it. No lawyer would take my case. I sued her in small claims court. I lost. But it was a thrill to tell her to her face and to a judge exactly what I think of her.
I just heard she is now going after filmmakers to the tune of 25 thousand. She was recently at The American Film Market and was "very interested" in a company that was trying to find some backing for a film-- a film that I had co-written. Very interesting. Even after I had sued her? Buyers beware. This one is a ripoff artist of the highest order.