Slain talent agent Richard Shaw didn?t make stars ? but he made more than a few customers dissatisfied.
Angry clients lodged 22 complaints against the 56-year-old owner of the talent agency Kidz in the Biz with the State?s Attorney?s Office over the past three years, said spokesman Kevin Enright. One case is still open, he said.
Police have asked that the files be sealed, but Lt. David Waltemeyer, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County said police none of these former clients are suspected of killing Shaw, who was found shot to death in his Hanover office last Tuesday.
“No one is those files has been identified as a suspect,” Waltemeyer said.
Former clients of Kidz in the Biz, which is also called the Annapolis Agency, describe Shaw as a polite, friendly man, but said he was consistently hard to reach by e-mail and phone.
The Kidz in the Biz Web site boasts of “connections in New York and Hollywood [including] clients ranging from many Fortune 500 companies and industry insiders,” but the former clients say they never booked a job with Shaw.
Baltimore resident Frederick Rich sued Shaw in 2004 after he paid more than $1,000 up front for photographs of his daughter, an aspiring model and actress, that he considered unsatisfactory.
“They were just unprofessional ? it was probably something I could do myself,” Shaw said.
A Glen Burnie District Court judge ordered Shaw to pay Rich about $1,400, he said.
Crownsville resident Paul Ganbarz said his 18-year-old daughter, Sabryna, was excited to pursue an acting career with Shaw on her side. She went to the agency about a month ago, forked over a startup fee, and never heard from Shaw again.
“There was no follow-up to the e-mails and phone calls she made,” Ganbarz said.
A Gambrills woman, who did not want her name published, said she had a similar disappointing experience with Shaw.
She paid Shaw about $700 to take professional photographs of her 18-year-old daughter. The pictures had to be retaken, and after a year at the agency, her daughter hadn?t heard from any perspective employers.
“She hasn?t gotten any jobs from it,” the woman said.
No employees at Kidz in the Biz could not be reached Monday.
Waltemeyer said police do not have any suspects in the killing.
