How successful an actor becomes is directly tied to their relationship with their agent.
Actors that have a solid relationship with a quality agent have an incredible advantage over actors who have a more common relationship with their agent.
Most actors know that and it’s something that is on their mind constantly.
Whenever I have spoken with actors over the years, their most common questions are along the lines of how to get an agent or how to get a better agent.
That’s something that has probably been on your mind quite frequently too.
Successful actors focus on signing with the right agent as early in their career as possible. If you want to build a career as a professional actor this is something you have to do sooner rather than later...
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Unfortunately, most actors go about finding an agent the wrong way. You can’t go after just any agent, because quality agents have a specialty.
They work best with a particular type of actor. That doesn’t mean they won’t work actors in different categories, they absolutely will but it all depends on what career stage those actors are in.
Something I want to clear up is that you don’t need a top tier, A list agent to make it in the industry and trying to sign with them is almost always a waste of time.
Instead, what you should be looking for is an agent that will partner with you. Usually, this agent will also be in a similar career stage as you, meaning they are still building their career as an agent too.
That doesn’t mean you have to sign with someone that is fresh out of the mailroom.
You need to have a defined set of criteria that your future agent must fulfill, if you are ever going to consider signing with them.
Actors are usually reluctant to do this because they are afraid that disqualifying agents will mean they have fewer chances of signing with the “right one.” In reality, this minimizes the chances of you signing with the wrong agent which can be an absolute disaster.
Some time ago, I spoke with an actor that signed with an agent that seemed like a good fit but she soon found that things weren’t quite what they seemed.
When meeting with him, he was enthusiastic about signing her and said he would be putting all of his energy into getting her auditions.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that she was just one of too many clients on his roster. The agent wasn’t being very proactive and nothing was really happening with her career.
Not one to just sit around and wait for the phone to ring, she found an opportunity on her own by doing many of the things that we talk about here. It was for a pilot that was eventually picked up and ran for 3 solid seasons.
The problem was that, even though she found this opportunity on her own, the network didn’t work well with her agent.
Phone calls went unreturned, emails went unanswered and they eventually moved on and ended up casting someone else.
The actor missed out on a great opportunity because of the agent she was signed with and she was still contractually obligated to him for some time after that.
I want to be clear, I don’t think this agent was sabotaging her intentionally. The problem is that when agents take on too many clients, hoping that at least a couple of them end up booking a few jobs, actors inevitably fall through the cracks.
Contrast that to what it’s like to work with an agent that is a partner and 100% committed to seeing you succeed.
They actively look for opportunities for you, and they aren’t satisfied with just submitting you to whatever comes across their desk.
That is the kind of agent that will actually help you build your acting career.
Come up with a list of agents you would love to sign with. Don’t leave someone off your list simply because you think they won’t even consider you.
We’ll talk about how to make that a nonissue in a sec...
What you want to do is determine their criteria for new talent. That will take a little bit of research but it’s not difficult to do.
Everyone announces when they have signed with a new agent so you will be able to see what was going on in their career at the time.
You can see whether they were relatively new to the industry or if they had a good amount of experience and a lot of credits. You can also determine if their agent has a particular kind of talent they like to sign.
You can even see if their talent work on particular kinds of projects.
Compare what you are able to find out about the agents and the type of actors they sign, with what is going on in your career.
If your career is in a similar place to the actors they like to sign, leave that agent on your list.
If you are way off, then take them off your list for now. That doesn’t mean, you won’t sign with them one day, but you might need to sign with an interim agent first and build your career a bit more before you have a real chance of signing with them.
Once you have a list of agents that might be a fit, don’t reach out to them the same way that everyone else does.
Build a relationship with them.
Start by reaching out and complimenting their work and don’t ask for anything in return. Don’t even ask if they are accepting new talent at this point.
Build a relationship with other people in their office too. Do it the same way, without asking for anything from them.
Once you have determined that you fit the criteria for the type of clients they typically sign and you approach them about representing you, you won’t exactly be a cold submission.
In fact, if you are like the actors they typically sign the agents you want to sign with may even approach you first. It always helps to be highly visible in the places where they are already looking for talent. Here’s how I can help with that.
If that happens, try to contain your enthusiasm and let them know that you would be open to having a discussion about it.
Even when you sign with the right agent, it won’t be an automatic path to success
If you want to build your career as a professional actor you need to give your agent every tool possible for them to help build your career. This is one of those career building tools that can really help.
Most actors focus on signing with the right agent because they think things will automatically get a lot easier but that is only one part of what it takes to build a successful acting career.
A good agent can help you get your foot in the door but casting will still look into you, whenever you are being considered for a role. Make sure that what they find shows that you are a true professional.
Take what we talked about today and consider whether it’s time to start thinking about a new agent, or at the very least have a conversation with your current agent about how things are going.
Signing with the right agent is incredibly important so remember I’m always only a comment or an email away if you want to talk things through.
Feel free to get in touch anytime and let me know how your agent search is going. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’m always happy to lend a hand however I can because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott