There are mainly 4 people you should know about-your agent,
the Casting director, Producer and director. I’m going to go over each of them
and tell you a little about what they do and how it affects you, starting with
what every actor wants the talent agent.
The Agent
The main job of
the agent is to basically find you acting work. Then he/she usually gets paid
10% of what you earn(Never pay an agent before getting a job this is usually a
scam an agent only gets paid once he/she gets you work.)Some agents will handle
all types of acting work while others may specialize in a particular area.
There are agents who handle television and voice-overs or just film and
television.
How do you
get an Agent?
A number of ways exist on how to get an agent, you might even
get invited to audition for them if they have seen your work in a
movie/play/indie film, another way is a referral from a casting director. But
the most common way is to find the agents offices in your city(if any) is to
send them head shots, your resume, and cover letter (these things will be
discussed in later blogs) but sometimes this might not work but be persistent
this is a good thing and it shows them you are serious. You can do this by
every few weeks send out a follow up what this does is show the agent your
progress and any new work you get Ex. (dear (name of agent) I recently sent you
my photo and resume a few weeks ago and I am still looking for representation I
have had a callback from the play Les miserables by the director Jane doe unfortunately
I wasn't cast but Jane said she loved my work. I am also now enrolled in John
smiths scene study class. I'm looking forward for you representation and would
like to meet at your convenience sincerely, Spencer Mill) Notice how I mention the names of the
director and my classes teacher when I only got a call back (but is important
to say) the agent might know that director and be good friends with them and if
they respect that person and think highly of their work it might say something
about your talent. If and when you get asked to audition for a talent agent the
important thing to know is your type what I mean by this is are you the athlete,
the nerd, the super intelligent kid, a jock, the comedic type, a rapper, a
lawyer? agents need to know this so they now what roles to cast you in. if you
don't know ask your acting coach or you drama teacher and your friends and ask
them what part In a movie or TV show they could see you in and keep a tally of what genre and type of
character comes up most often.
Ok so say you have an agent that doesn’t mean you can sit
back and have them do all the work, you still need to be auditioning by
yourself and if you get something tell your agent communication is key for a
good actor agent relationship. So your agent will send you out to auditions
with the location and time and type of film/play/commercial.
Freelancing
Freelancing
This is the difference between New York agents and Los
Angeles Agents. What freelancing means is that an agent starts working with you
but is not under contract with you, this is to mainly see if the two of you
work well together and if he/she can get work for you. This is only in New York
I haven't heard of any agent freelancing in LA. So in LA it’s immediately under
contract.
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