Do casting directors pay attention to the caliber of the agency submitting an actor? I keep hearing about Level A, B, or C talent agencies, but don’t know how to identify them. Suppose one wants to change agencies. How does one identify which Level the agencies are?

Great questions. While there are certainly agencies that people regard as “A-List” due to the fact that their rosters include celebs who are on the A-List, that’s not exactly the same way casting directors weigh things out.

For me, an A-List agent is one who reps great actors, who consistently submits and pitches actors accurately, who doesn’t submit his entire roster on every project I cast, and who is a pleasure to work with as we close the deals. Those issues are far more important to me, as a casting director of SAG low budget indies, than the “name value” of the actors an agent reps.

I would suspect, for an actor, an A-List agent is one who returns phone calls promptly, who hustles for bumps in billing and rate quotes, who doesn’t pressure you to do work you’re opposed to doing (FiCore if you’re SAG, nudity if you’re anti-R-rated work, etc.), and who understands your overall marketing objectives.

In your situation, where you’re looking to begin shopping for a new agent, you want to be sure you move up (or move linearly at the very least), rather than moving down to a less-effective agent, just for the sake of making a move. Begin by researching the sign-in sheets at the auditions you get. What agencies are listed by the names of the other actors coming in for the projects? If you’re at a commercial facility with a lot of auditions going on at once, do a lap around the waiting area to skim all of the sign-in sheets and get an idea of which agents have actors “out there.” This, of course, doesn’t indicate how many submissions are being made, but it does give you an idea of whose people different casting directors are bringing in.

Talk to actors in your acting class (or those with whom you’re friendly at audition waiting areas) to find out which actors love their agents and why. Certainly, it’s tough to make a move to an agency where actors of your type are already in place and getting sent out (like those you’d chat with in the waiting room), but at least start asking questions to see which names keep coming up. Consider posting a question anonymously at any one of the actor resource forums online to see who’s doing good work on behalf of his or her clients. Also, if you have a membership to IMDb-Pro (or even if you get the free two-week trial), check out which agents rep which actors. Look at those actors who are at your tier and above (but not too far above) and track their “people.” You’ll begin to see a few agency names over and over again. If, in looking over those agencies’ client lists, you like the way you perceive those particular actors’ careers to be going, consider that to be a sign of A-List qualities.

The point is, all casting directors make piles of A-List, B-List, and C-List submissions. As for what criteria we use to create those piles, I can only say that it must be different for each of us. My A-List agents are ones whose actors I would see sight-unseen, because the agents have never steered me wrong before. I’m excited about those agents’ submissions and I can’t wait to see the actors they’ll sign next. My B-List agents are ones whose actors I’ll consider and bring in on a case-by-case basis, because sometimes the agents have been off-the-mark or have over-exaggerated qualifications of actors they rep. My C-List agents are ones whose actors are fine, but who — themselves — are difficult (won’t finish paperwork on time; will commit an actor to a project and then switch things up when a better offer comes along, leaving me to have to recast at the last minute; ask for extras they know I cannot provide within the constraints of the budget).

Ask casting directors which agents they love dealing with the most! We all have our favorites. Of course, some of us may be more open than others about sharing that list for any number of reasons. Ask in confidence and off the record and you may get some great tidbits that help you in your decision-making process.

Good luck!

Now, let me remind my readers that I posed a series of questions of you two weeks ago regarding casting director workshops. I opened the floor for any and all opinions on which CD workshops are the best and why, as well as how to know a workshop is not the best match for you. I get dozens of emails each week regarding my column, but I have only received four emails regarding this topic. Frankly, I’m shocked. It seems that there is so much people want to say about CD workshops, but when asked point-blank to offer up opinions, all but four people have chosen to say nothing.

Well, I will write the column soon regardless of the number of opinions I receive; it just seems that the information will be more balanced if a few more people drop me a line. Having never participated in a commercial CD workshop as a casting director (I have done similar events for the unions) and having last paid to be an actor in a CD workshop in 1999, I can’t do this topic justice without you guys! Help me out. Thanks.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000265.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.