A talent holding deal is a contract

Contract

A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...

 between an entertainer or artist and a representing agency

Employment agency

An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In all developed countries there is a publicly funded employment agency and multiple private businesses which also act as employment agencies.-Public employment agencies:...

, valid while the agency is developing a movie

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, television program

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

, live performance act, album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 or other entertainment venue for artist. In this context, the "agency" may actually be a television network, music or movie production company, or an individual agent. It is a type of retainer agreement

Retainer agreement

A retainer agreement is a work for hire contract. It falls between a one-time contract and full-time employment. Its distinguishing feature is that the employer pays in advance for work to be specified later...

 in that the artist is compensated for work yet to be determined. The deals usually requires exclusivity for a fixed period of time, in which the entertainer agrees to not sign or work with any other agencies during the period of the contract.

Uses and examples

There are a variety of reasons for an entertainer and an agency to enter this type of contract. Some examples include:

• Vanessa Williams
  Vanessa L. Williams
  Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American pop-R&B recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine...
  
   signed a talent holding deal with ABC
  American Broadcasting Company
  The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
  
   after coming off two successful consecutive television programs on the same network, Ugly Betty
  Ugly Betty
  Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
  
  and Desperate Housewives
  Desperate Housewives
  Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
  
  . The deal allowed ABC to keep an exclusive working relationship with Williams while they created a new show for her, while she was in between staring roles in their productions.
• Dianne Keaton had maintained a talent holding deal with HBO after a failed pilot for "Tilda", for work in future undetermined programs. allowing the network to maintain a relationship after failing to once previously to get her program broadcast.
• A talent holding deal may also be used as a prize for a contest, such as when NBC
  NBC
  The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
  
   held its Stand Up For Diversity Talent Search , awarding the contract well in advance of developing a broadcast show or medium for the winner of the contest.
• Another use is when a network wants to recruit talent from a different network but doesn't have a specific show or program to offer the entertainer. An example is Corey Reynolds
  Corey Reynolds
  Corey Reynolds is an American musical theatre, television, and film actor known for originating the role of Seaweed in the Broadway adaptation of Hairspray, and for the TNT crime show The Closer.-Early life and career:...
  
  , who had spent the past seven seasons portraying Sgt. David Gabriel in the drama The Closer
  The Closer
  The Closer is an American crime drama, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Georgia police detective who often closes her cases using sometimes-questionable methods...
  
  , a program on TNT. He was offered the chance to play the role in a spin off program to be titled Major Crimes with costar Mary McDonnell
  Mary McDonnell
  Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves, and she is also very well known for her performance as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, the President's wife...
  
  by TNT, but NBC was able to convince him by the offer of a talent holding deal.