I am a union actor on the east coast jumping back into the business after a five-year hiatus. I want to go out as much as possible to rebuild my respectable but slightly musty film/TV resumé. So, I was wondering, since agents on this coast don’t hold you to exclusivity, should I get an agent in each of the major hubs near my home? New York, Baltimore, DC, and Philly are all within a two-hour train ride or a two-hour drive. OR should I just find one excellent agent and tell him/her to submit me for breakdowns for all four cities (and trust that it’s really happening)?
I realize that you are a casting director and not an agent, but I wanted an industry person’s advice on how to approach this. Since part of this comes from a desire to make up for lost time, I don’t want to make a rash decision that backfires. More to the point, I don’t want appear crazy and possibly make a bad name for myself because these markets are small.
I have the time and the resources to dash off to any one of those cities at a moment’s notice, and I am prepared to be upfront, honest, and professional giving each agent his/her respective commission.
Mary-Anne Black
Wilmington, Delaware
Hey Mary-Anne and thanks for writing. I want to address, first, that “desire to make up for lost time” thing. Boy, do I hear a lot of that! So many actors (and creatives of all kind) feel that there’s a ticking clock and that they must get things figured out and settled down by a certain age or else there’s some magic window of opportunity that has closed.
Let me assure you, there is no time to make up for. The time you took away from the industry — for whatever reason — was time you simply *cannot* recover and you shouldn’t try to recover it. You are where you are and that’s awesome. There are people who will be eager to work with you exactly where you are in life right now. You’ve just gotta find ’em!
Certainly, there are actors in your area who are repped by multiple agents. And there are those who are repped by one agent for the entire region. I grew up as a kid actor in Atlanta, and I had both agents in Atlanta who would submit me outside of Atlanta *and* agents in other markets that were driving distance for us. The important element is communication among all parties. You want to be sure that every person on your team is aware of the size of your team!
Especially because nonexclusive representation can cause stress about where commissions will go, it’s vital that you are communicating fully with your team about how you’re handling commissions. Are you paying a cut to everyone who submitted you when you book a job? Or does the commission go to the agent who reached you first about the audition? Or to the agent who closed your deal, ultimately? Because some agents may feel less inclined to submit you if there’s a chance their work could be duplicated by someone else, to whom you end up paying the commission, your forthrightness about all of this will be appreciated.
Show professionalism in whatever you decide to do. If you have an agent in New York who is more than happy to cover the surrounding minor markets, that’s awesome! Some actors have their agents pull up a submission report from the online casting services to show, monthly, where the submissions have been happening. This is a great way to see how everyone on your team sees you, which headshot they’re using to submit you, and where their coverage leads to auditions vs. where it does not. Of course, not every agency is open to providing this information.
Basically, what I’m saying is you’re in a “case by case” situation and the conversations you have with the potential members of your team BEFORE signing will let you know whether you’re building a team of complementary players who all have the same goal in mind for you or whether you’re creating expensive redundancies that could eventually wind up costing you coverage due to everyone’s certainty that “someone else has her over there.”
There’s no one RIGHT answer on this, because it all depends on the people involved — including you! Decide how much managing of your team you want to do before you make it bigger than is manageable, y’know? And, of course, remember there’s a lot of hustling you can do before assembling your new team. 😉 Good luck and let me know what you end up doing! Welcome back and woo hoo!
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/001816.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.
Bonnie – this is exactly the post I’m looking for, five years after you posted it!
When both your agents are non-exclusive and generally not going to be getting the same breakdowns all the time – one is on Breakdown Services and SAG-franchised, for example, and the other is not using the national databases but is known and knows people who trust her client list – is it feasible that BOTH agents could be listed on a resume? Is there an accepted way to do this?
I’ve just met with a second Hell Yes! agent and have been told I’ll be repped, and she knows about the other one, so I’m trying to prep for when it happens.
Hiya Emily! When I was repped in Atlanta — a place where non-exclusivity is also the deal — I put both logos on my resumé. Keeping in mind that your physical resumé isn’t handed over ’til someone has already checked you out electronically in most cases, it’s fine to have a bit of info about both agencies on the same document. Just don’t end up looking like a NASCAR with logos all over the place, crowding out the most important info on your resumé (which is all the stuff that helps us learn how to cast YOU). 😉 Glad you found my post and here’s to more badassery to come!